The Arkansas State Broadband Office met with Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde and other state and county representatives on Thursday to discuss new initiatives in providing more Arkansans access to reliable internet service.
Last year, the Federal Communications Commission provided $1.4 million for broadband services through the Infrastructure Investment and the Jobs Act. The broadband office estimates that it will cost $800 million to provide internet to those unserved in the state.
Currently, those living below the poverty line, the elderly, veterans, the disabled, those formerly incarcerated, those who speak a different language, members of a racial or ethnic minority group and those who live in rural areas make up 87% of the state.
These are the individuals who need reliable internet the most: for Telehealth, online school work, job applications, and government aid programs.
The broadband office estimates that as many as 275,000 of these residents don't have the digital skills necessary to take full advantage of internet services.
Libbie Dougan, a board member for Farm Bureau, said she pays $300 a month for HughesNet, but has trouble receiving emails and doing other online work.
"Whenever I try to talk to one of my children, they go, 'Mom I can't hear, you're lagging so far behind,'" she said.
"[HughesNet] is supposed to be for people that live in the country, but everybody around me, I'm out there where they built Amazon and all of those places, Love's Trucks, everybody has their own energy but nobody will hook me on."
Dougan said she may consider joining the county broadband committee.
The Arkansas Rural Connect Grant Program funds eligible projects through an application process.
The most recent awards were finalized in February and the office expects to continue the program with additional funding provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Although an estimated 72,000 households are eligible for assistance through the Affordable Connectivity Program, only 21,626 households have enrolled.
Hyde said broadband services have been introduced before, but he was disappointed in how the county fared.
"This is such a basic need in today's world," he said. "And the folks who need that the most are the ones who were underserved -- I'm not going to give you a long speech about how interconnected the other problems we have in our community are with these underserved communities, with the basic of necessities, and I'm not gonna say this is just as important as water, but it's a pretty damn close second."
Glen Howie, state broadband director, said it's an access, affordability and digital skills issue for most of the state.
"We have to attack all three issues at the same time with the same sense of urgency to accomplish that," he said.
"The next big wave of funding for Arkansas as it relates to broadband is going to come through the infrastructure bill. Specifically two buckets of money, one dedicated to infrastructure and one dedicated for digital opportunity programs. As part of developing these final plans for Arkansas, the state office filters the best way to produce the best plans that we can use to work through our local communities."
Howie said the broadband office knows that not "one size fits all," and community partners can be at the forefront of developing plans that are flexible to local residents.
Anyone is invited to be on the county broadband committee.
Heartland Forward, Winrock International, Arkansas Black Mayors Association and Communities Unlimited will be hosting focus groups to hear from the community in the near future.
The first one will be June 15 at 9 a.m. at the Hillary Rodham Clinton Children's Library & Learning Center, 4800 W. 10th St, Little Rock.