Small towns and cities, especially in rural areas, have long been underserved and sometimes even left behind in the new global economy. It is more competitive and interconnected than ever before. Thanks to investments in fiber internet, these areas are quickly changing.
Fiber consists of materials designed to keep up with technological advances and the increasing demand for bandwidth and speed. It is an investment that will yield dividends for our community for decades. It’s practically future-proof!
OEC Fiber’s fiber network invests in our community’s future and the next generation in four fundamental ways.
Fiber Helps You Work and Live Where You Love
Without high-speed internet, small-town America would be left in the dust. Small businesses and farms could not compete with their industrial counterparts. Families would miss out on essential benefits, like streaming entertainment or video calls with loved ones.
The expansion of fiber internet infrastructure puts small-town America on a more level playing field with more densely populated regions. The superior quality of fiber internet also allows smaller communities to attract new businesses and investments, bringing in well-educated and highly skilled younger people who previously departed for larger cities.
This rural migration makes it far less likely that families will have to choose between where they want to live or taking a great job opportunity. Fiber internet technology doesn’t just help you stay connected to other people—it’s also helping you stay in your community and keep the ones you love closer.
Remote Work and Relocation Fuels Job and Economic Growth
Online and internet-based jobs are no longer “the careers of the future.” They are the jobs of the present.
According to Forbes, 12.7% of full-time work is done from home, and 28.2% of jobs have a hybrid approach. These numbers will only grow. Fiber internet is helping to fuel the remote working trend and helping attract new workers to our community.
Another significant trend in American life is the relocation, or “recruiting,” of remote workers away from major cities to smaller and often more scenic, relaxed regions. Relocation, made possible by fiber internet, can be an engine to power sustainable economic growth and help our community thrive.
Today’s workforce depends on fast, reliable internet. Fiber internet draws talent to our small communities to work from home or even in the local coffee shop. It helps keep our families together and attracts new families into our community. As a result, the local economy gets a boost, from restaurants and shops to other small businesses and service providers.
Improved Schools and Educational Benefits
Today’s schools go well beyond chalkboards and desks. Resource-rich curricula use the Internet to bring learning materials from all over the world into the classroom.
Fiber’s reliable internet means teachers can easily access and share resources with their students, greatly enriching the learning environment and improving educational outcomes for our children. By bringing these critical education materials and tools to our schools, fiber internet makes perhaps its most crucial—and longest-lasting—investment in our community.
Fiber Enhances Farms and Keeps Agri-Businesses Competitive
Farmers, ranchers and other agricultural-related businesses also benefit from access to fiber internet. From up-to-the-minute weather information to soil and moisture data and access to global markets, fiber helps small farms and rural communities thrive.
Fiber improves connections to governmental and regulatory agencies, speeding up permitting, insurance claims and more. Modern tech powered by fiber can vastly improve efficiencies for livestock and agricultural farms, bringing more profit and stability to farming families. Plus, easier access to online knowledge and resources ensures our local farmers don’t fall behind competitors in other areas.
These are just a few ways OEC Fiber and its network invest in our community and the next generation. Whether helping to grow our economy, young minds or agricultural products, OEC Fiber’s high-speed, reliable fiber internet is built to sustain them all for years to come.
