I'm having trouble remembering my new address. It's less of an address than it is a confirmation number: the house number an unrelated string of digits, the street name another string of digits without a directional. I keep wanting to add a North or South or Northwest that isn't there.
But one thing is permanently burned onto my hard drive.
The zip code. 55927. 55927. 55927.
In looking for rural broadband service, I've entered my new zip code into the search engine of one Internet service provider after another: Qwest. Comcast. Frontier. Mediacom. CenturyLink. None provide broadband service to zip code 55927. I've felt like a gambling addict in Vegas, feeding quarter after quarter into a slot machine and fervently hoping I hit the jackpot with the next coin.
It's hard to believe that here in Bruno, a town of 102, we've had unlimited broadband access while roughly 20 miles from the Mayo Clinic, broadband is scarce. Our new digs are outside of the Dodge Center city limits, falling smack dab in the middle of a triangle formed by the cities of West Concord, Dodge Center, and Claremont. It's a Bermuda Triangle of sorts for rural broadband.
Frontier expanded its broadband service to Bruno customers about four years ago, and I can't remember what life was like without it. Things may change in time. Perhaps Frontier will expand its frontiers. For now, our choices for rural broadband are HughesNet and WildBlue. Do you have service through either of those providers, or have stories about rural broadband in general? Would we love it if you shared your stories? You bet!
But one thing is permanently burned onto my hard drive.
The zip code. 55927. 55927. 55927.
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| Picasa photo: roderick_clark |
It's hard to believe that here in Bruno, a town of 102, we've had unlimited broadband access while roughly 20 miles from the Mayo Clinic, broadband is scarce. Our new digs are outside of the Dodge Center city limits, falling smack dab in the middle of a triangle formed by the cities of West Concord, Dodge Center, and Claremont. It's a Bermuda Triangle of sorts for rural broadband.
Frontier expanded its broadband service to Bruno customers about four years ago, and I can't remember what life was like without it. Things may change in time. Perhaps Frontier will expand its frontiers. For now, our choices for rural broadband are HughesNet and WildBlue. Do you have service through either of those providers, or have stories about rural broadband in general? Would we love it if you shared your stories? You bet!
I’m lucky to know so many techy people! Thank you to Brian Webster for informing me of the national broadband map, and to @brettglass on Twitter for informing me of telecommunications companies I had never heard of.
ReplyDeleteLink to national broadband map: http://www.broadbandmap.gov/