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In farm country, forget broadband. You might not have internet at all

By: Shara Tibken - CNET

(October 23, 2018) - "We do apologize for the inconvenience this interruption of service may cause and wish you the best in finding a new internet service provider," the Cumberland Telephone Company said as it suggested satellite and cellular companies as possible alternatives.

This may not be a big deal for many Americans who have multiple, affordable options when it comes to broadband, but Hansen didn't have that luxury. Alternatives like satellite-based HughesNet have problems with lag time and are notoriously finicky in bad weather, while a cellular hotspot from a carrier like Verizon offers too small a data cap. None of the smaller telephone companies near her home in Iowa wanted to invest the millions needed to wire the area with fiber.

"We literally searched and searched for an internet provider," says Hansen, a retired teacher who lives on the outskirts of Atlantic, a southwest Iowa town with a population of about 7,000. "It was horrible."

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