Stories

Broadband service is a lifeline for social entrepreneur Shel Horowitz, enabling his remote business, opening up cultural and educational opportunities, and connecting him to far-flung family and friends – things that have become even more crucial during the pandemic. We talked with Horowitz to discuss his experience and he outlined four important ways that broadband has empowered different aspects of his life.

Around here we talk a lot about broadband. From its promising uses for distance learning and home offices to gaming and streaming a diverse range of entertainment, broadband has become entwined in all our lives.

The COVID pandemic has been a once-in-a-century health crisis, upending lives and livelihoods worldwide. With the need for safe access to healthcare during the crisis came a renewed focus on an emerging phenomenon: telehealth, or the use of the internet to provide quality care at a distance. According to a new study, the use of telehealth to treat Medicare patients rose some 10,000% in the first six weeks of the pandemic. This exponential rise underscored a fundamental truth: the life-or-death importance of having a reliable broadband connection. Telehealth, then, is the crossroads between innovation and infrastructure. Let’s explore the latest telehealth trends, and how its advanced technology is being supported by a powerful broadband network.

The current pandemic has been a once-in-a-century health crisis, upending lives and livelihoods worldwide. With the need for safe access to healthcare during the crisis came a renewed focus on an emerging phenomenon: telehealth, or the use of the internet to provide quality care at a distance. 

Twenty years ago, the idea that videoconferencing, streaming-on-demand, and mobile phones would become such an integral part of our lives would have been hard to imagine. Today, an internet connection is essential for education, work, communication, and entertainment in ways previous generations would have found hard to imagine. 

Life on a farm conjures up idyllic images of communing with nature, working the land, and getting back to what’s essential. Increasingly, however, a successful farm is dependent on another factor: highspeed internet.

While Enosburg is blessed with natural beauty and proximity to state forests, watersports, and ski facilities, residents face a challenge that has held them back from accessing high-paying jobs and other opportunities: lack of high-speed internet. Fortunately, that all changed before the world began to shut down, and it changed the life of at least one Enosburg Falls resident—and his family.

With each passing year, broadband is getting faster, cheaper, and more widely available. Although we still have a way to go to ensure that every American has access to broadband, it is worth taking a moment to look at how far we’ve come.