MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – A Town Hall meeting on Saturday, September 17 at the Dotsonville Community Center brought together long-time residents with several people who have recently moved to the area; what they had in common was concern about the lack of reliable internet service in rural areas.
The Town Hall was scheduled after Kathleen Guevremont, who recently came to Woodlawn from Florida with her husband Don, had reached out to local legislators for information on what is being done to address these concerns at the state level.
Tennessee State Senator Mark Green was on hand to present information from the recently released study by Randy Boyd and the Economic Development Commission on the state of access to high speed broadband in Tennessee. After Green presented some of the findings of the study a discussion ensued in which participants debated the merits of three different courses of action and the estimated costs of providing fiber optic cable or wireless access to the thirteen percent of Tennesseans who do not currently have such access, which range from 1.3 to 1.7 billion dollars.
Participants discussed the benefits and potential drawbacks of each of the options; 78.57% favored a partnership between government and private industry.
Senator Green asked for additional feedback from residents about this issue, as he anticipates it will be on the agenda during the January 2017 legislative session. About half of those in attendance at the town hall are unable to access high speed internet at their homes; one of the greatest challenges they face is that their children are not able to complete web-based homework assignments without going to a location other than their home to complete assignments. Some of the participants also reported a lack of access to cell phone service, resulting in an inability to call 911.