Missouri will be awarding parts of a 14 million dollar grant in December to educate people on internet use. The grant is part of a bigger effort to give people broadband access in Missouri.
As more people gain access to fast internet, people who have not had access may lack knowledge about effectively using it.
B.J. Tanksley is with the Missouri Department of Economic Development's Office of Broadband Development. He said internet access can allow people to work from home and expand opportunities for rural communities.
“That does take a higher level of skills and for someone who hasn’t been a part of this whether by choice or not or if they didn’t have access previously,” Tanksley said. “We want to make sure they are getting those skills into their hands.”
Tanksley said reliable internet access is becoming increasingly necessary and lack of access can hurt rural businesses of all types.
The Office of Broadband Development is awarding grants to support broadband infrastructure in places that don’t have fast internet access.
One of the companies awarded a recent grant is Socket, which plans to add broadband in Northern Boone County.
Matt Kohly is Socket's Director of Business Development. He said the demand and need for fast internet in rural areas increased during and following the Covid pandemic, with schools having trouble using internet hotspots as a stopgap.
“These hotspots weren’t working,” Kohly said, “The cell coverage there wasn’t working and one school district referred to them as paper weights and by bringing fiber to the homes to these places they can now do school from home, they could work from home.”
The Northern Boone County broadband project is slated to wrap up in the coming months.
The Office of Broadband Development is still expanding access with more grants supporting broadband infrastructure in places that don’t have it.