Broadband access opens new doors for rural residents, Cox study finds

High-speed, at-home broadband access can be directly tied to higher quality of life for many rural residents, according to new findings from Cox Communications.

In a report released last week, the internet company said 86% of new customers surveyed reported that receiving access to faster and better service “improved their lives.” The difference was most stark for households that make less than $50,000 a year, where home broadband service was “twice as likely to greatly improve the education” of children in those households, compared with homes that make more than $50,000 annually.

“Our survey shows that a high-speed internet connection brings optimism and economic prosperity to rural communities,” Mark Greatrex, president of Cox Communications, said in a statement. “By connecting these households, residents are empowered to learn, increase their earning potential, and thrive.”

Internet access not only helps children learn; it can also unlock new job opportunities and keep young adults from leaving town to search for work. Nearly three-fourths of respondents who are 30 or younger said improved broadband service encouraged them to stay in their communities, and 62% said it afforded them better access to online and remote work.

This has been true for the Muscogee Nation in the area of Tulsa, Oklahoma, according to Zechariah Harjo, the nation’s secretary. Speaking Thursday at a Washington, DC, event where Cox unveiled the results of its study, he said that public-private partnerships with companies like Cox are key to getting rural areas connected.

In December 2021, the group established the Muscogee Creek Nation Tribal Utility Authority to plan for and deliver broadband infrastructure to residents who have been left behind by purely commercial deployments. By combining government and private efforts to expand internet service, residents saw “immediate benefits in the economic, educational, and health livelihoods of the community,” Harjo said.

That includes creating more avenues for tourism in Eufaula, Oklahoma, a rural destination within the reservation’s boundaries known for its lakeside activities.

Some of the direct impacts of internet service in Eufaula include “increasing small business and local government access to effective and efficient digitized services, allowing small businesses to offer a wide array of payment options, social media engagement, networking, online check-ins, reservations, and orders—among many other amenities commonly offered by metropolitan and urban counterparts,” Harjo said.

Access to telehealth supported by high-speed internet service is also boosting tribal residents’ quality of life, he said.

“We saw, immediately, a decrease in our cancellations and an increase in confirmed appointments, and therefore an increase in funding from the federal government, as well as just a more reliable patient and doctor relationship.”

Other high-speed broadband benefits from the Cox study include:

• 87% of lower-income households and 66% of higher-income households say they’re better able to apply for colleges and vocational schools.
• 84% of remote workers say their ability to do their jobs improved.
• The majority of respondents said they felt “more optimistic about their economic and employment future,” according to Cox.