Carol Johnson, Southern Indiana Business Report
BEDFORD – The challenges of building out high-speed internet has widened the digital divide that affects rural communities. On Monday, AT&T announced that two developments will narrow that divide in Lawrence County.
AT&T and Human-I-T donated 100 refurbished laptops to nonprofits and government groups to assist Lawrence County families who lack consistent access to the internet. AT&T President Bill Soards said the company worked with the Lawrence County Economic Growth Council to identify groups to receive the laptops. Recipients included the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence County, ReGeneration, Hope Resource Center, Becky’s Place, the Men’s Warming Center and Lawrence County Probation.
“Millions of families across the country fall in that digital divide. AT&T has made a national commitment to help fix this because we know that when we connect someone to the internet, we’re connecting them to greater possibilities,” Soards said.
In a second announcement, Soards said construction has begun to bring broadband to 5,000 homes and businesses in Lawrence County. Much of the expansion is the result of a public-private partnership with the Lawrence County Commissioners.
Soards said three projects undertaken with the commissioners and a fourth project funded by a Next Level Connections grant from the state of Indiana represent a $12 million investment. Work will be completed over the next two years. Two projects are north of Bedford, one is between Bedford and Mitchell and the fourth is west of Bedford.
Lawrence County Commissioner Rodney Fish said he wasn’t always aware of the digital divide until the pandemic closed schools and offices, sending students and office workers home to work and learn remotely. He recalled speaking to a Lawrence County mother who told him she drove her child to a parking lot so he could use public WiFi to complete his homework.
“We’re so appreciative of AT&T’s efforts to not only bring high-speed broadband to Lawrence County, but to also provide laptops to families who don’t have their own devices at home to access the internet,” said Rodney Fish. “In today’s digital world, fast connectivity is crucial to all aspects of daily life. AT&T has been a great provider to work with, and we’re excited that construction has begun to bring AT&T Fiber to our communities.”
Southern Indiana’s hilly and rocky topography have made expansion of broadband challenging and costly, but that is changing, Soards said.
“We’re proud to work with Lawrence County to help close the digital equity gap for rural residents through fiber availability and device donations,” Soards said. “We believe Indiana communities large and small deserve high-speed fiber connectivity.”
Nonprofits grateful for donation
Heather Flynn, director of the Men’s Warming Center in Bedford, said many of the homeless men who stay at the shelter have cell phones, but there are limits to what they can accomplish with those devices.
“To file for disability, food stamps, apply for jobs, it’s much easier to do those things with a laptop. They can also use the laptop to work on getting their (High School Equivalency) job certifications or study for a driver’s license test,” Flynn said.
The center has internet and a laptop clients can use, but having additional devices will be a benefit to many more men served by the shelter.
The organizations receiving the laptops have the option of loaning out the devices or making them a permanent gift.
Frank Decker, chief professional officer at the Boys & Girls of Lawrence County, said the club has a number of members who could benefit from a laptop loan-out program, especially middle-school age youth.
“Most of the kids at the club have school-issued Chromebooks, but not all of them can be checked out to go home and some of those families don’t have the ability to provide their own,” Decker said. “So we’re probably going to target select families who can use them.”
One of the laptops was given to a local woman to assist with a job search. Sara Clardy, described as “hard working” said she has been thrown multiple curveballs during her work life and said using a cell phone to fill out detailed questions on job applications or polishing a resume is not easy.
“This is going to help me get past this curveball and hopefully find what I want to do for the rest of my life,” she said.
According to a press release from AT&T, plans call for residents and businesses to have access to superfast internet – delivering up to 5-Gig speeds with symmetrical upload and download speeds.
The announcement took place at the StoneGate Arts & Education Center. Other speakers were State Sen. Eric Koch and Joe Timbrook, director of Career Development Lawrence County Economic Growth Council.
“As the co-author of legislation that created Indiana’s broadband grant program, I’m pleased it’s being put to use to connect Hoosiers in Lawrence County,” said Koch.
