Rural Broadband in Nebraska

Nebraska is a big state with over 75,000 sq. miles but a population of only 1.75 million. Half of the state lives in Omaha and Lincoln. There are 532 towns in the state, but 80% have a population of less than 1,000.

Football is big in the state. Virtually every one of the 200+ high schools have a team with four state classes of 11 man football, two of 8 man and even one of 6 man. Big Red Nebraska Football Saturdays could almost be classified as state holidays. Scores of fans make the weekly trek from Scottsbluff and the northwest to attend games in Lincoln, a 900 mile roundtrip.

The history of Nebraska has been shaped by access. It started with the wagon trains that trekked across the plains, replaced by the railroads. Eventually roads and then interstates took on added importance. Today its communications, specifically broadband access. I was interested in how “wired” the state was.

Roger Hahn of the Nebraska Information Network explained to me how connected the state was. Most of the 500+ towns in the state are connected and with multiple providers. The most wired is my top 100—Golden Eagle agurb® Kearney with 12 different providers, as many as there are in Omaha. The other agurbs® in the state Grand Island (10); Norfolk (10); and Sidney (5) also have multiple providers. The state capitol, Lincoln, only has 7 in comparison. The largest town without a broadband connection is Bee, NE (population 223) and there are only six other towns with a population of over 100 in the state without such a connection.

All but four of the 200+ school districts in the state are on broadband networks as are 130 hospitals, health centers and other public health facilities.

At the Nebraska Rural Institute, Kerri Kliewer of Henderson, NE (population 986) explained to me how she runs the US operations for an Austrian company that sells upper end jewelry clasps to companies like Nieman-Marcus, “People can’t believe that we can run a business like this out of rural Nebraska. But, we’ve got all of the technology we need right here in Henderson.”

In traveling around rural America, I’m impressed with by how wired the towns and even countryside are. Soon, I’m convinced that it will become second nature to think of all areas as being wired for broadband. We will look at broadband connectivity much like we do water, sewer or electricity service. It is expected as the norm and if you don’t have it, you will be completely out of the ED race.
With coverage like I found in Nebraska, why would you want to operate out of the rat race of a big city?