Rural internet

Rural Internet describes the characteristics of Internet service in rural areas (also referred to as "the country" or "countryside"), which are settled places outside towns and cities. Inhabitants live in villages, hamlets, on farms and in other isolated houses. Mountains and other terrain can impede rural Internet access. Internet service in many rural areas is provided over voiceband by 56k modem. Poor-quality telephone lines, many of which were installed or last upgraded between the 1930s and the 1960s, often limit the speed of the network to bit rates of 26 kbit/s or less. Since many of these lines serve relatively few customers, phone company maintenance and speed of repair of these lines has degraded and their upgrade for modern quality requirements is unlikely. This results in a digital divide. High-speed, wireless Internet service is becoming increasingly common in rural areas. Here, service providers deliver Internet service over radio-frequency via special radio-equipped antennas. Methods for broadband Internet access in rural areas include: Mobile Internet (broadband if HSPA or higher) Hybrid Access Networks Power-line Internet Terrestrial Wireless Internet Satellite Internet ADSL loop extender Internet of Things White Space Internet Scholarship on the topic of the digital divide has shifted from an understanding of people who do and do not have access to the internet to an analysis of the quality of internet access. Because opting out of internet activity is no longer a choice with internet-only customer service, online banking, and online schooling, internet access has become an increasing need in rural communities with inadequate infrastructure. Although government programs such as E-rate provisions provide internet connection to schools and libraries under the U.S. federal government, more general internet access to a broader community has not been directly addressed in policy. The provision of "national" internet services tends to favor urban metropolitan regions. For a long time, even, many within the U.