Pearl River EPA: Bring Broadband to 100% of US

Update from Matthew Ware, PRVEPA General Manager

Pearl River Valley EPA is very excited to share the news that we have joined the nationwide electric cooperative high-speed fiber movement! The network will deliver world-class gigabit-speed fiber internet to Pearl River Valley Electric homes and businesses.

Services will be offered through PearlComm, a subsidiary of Pearl River Valley EPA. Fiber construction is expected to begin this summer. The deployment will take five years and encompass 4700 miles of fiber within south central Mississippi communities served by the co-op.

“A fiber network will allow us to provide you with high-speed internet and quality voice services and will help to usher in a new era of economic, educational and community growth in our communities.”

For more information, or answers to your questions, please visit our FAQs site by clicking here: https://prv.helpscoutdocs.com/category/103-broadband-internet

Broadband Benefit: According to a 2018 study by the NRECA, "households in co-op service areas that don’t have broadband would receive an annual average of nearly $2,000 each in economic benefits—more than $12 billion total—if they had access." The benefits to households include but are not limited to "improved health care, online learning opportunities, increased productivity for local businesses, higher housing values, and consumer savings through access to more products from competitive online sellers." Source: https://www.electric.coop/issues-and-policy/broadband/

You’re not alone.

“For about half of Americans, high-speed internet - a modern necessity, especially now during the COVID pandemic - is either unavailable or unaffordable.”

Poor oversight and accountability could be partially to blame.

"The FCC has now, for well over a decade, paid out tens of billions of dollars to rural broadband companies to build internet access in places where there isn't any," Sohn said. "And the fact of the matter is, is that the government has gotten a very, very poor return on its investment. This FCC has not done a very good job of demanding that these companies tell us what they've actually built with the money they've got."

Source: CBS News

Story: The great broadband divide: Living without high-speed internet access

Link to Story: https://cbsn.ws/3fmOKs0

FYI. MoveOn Petitions is an open tool that anyone can use to post a petition advocating any point of view. Please don't let the views of the MoveOn organization discourage or distract anyone from the singular focus and purpose of this petition, which is asking the EPA to provide broadband internet to our rural areas.

Almost 200 new signatures in less than 24 hrs. Thanks for sharing with friends and family.

Updating petition to include Marion and Lawrence County residents that use Pearl River EPA, per Joshua and Dewayne's requests.