Advertised as a panacea, 5G claims to have speed and bandwidth to provide cellular service and the ability to replace internet connections in homes and businesses.
However, all the hype has left electric co-ops and their members in rural America with a very different reality.
In its perfect world, this new untested spectrum has some notable capabilities. However, bringing those benefits to the people comes with significant challenges.
5G is one complicated character, traveling in low, medium and high spectrum. These varying bandwidths are based on network radio frequencies. The highest spectrum (mm waves) brings extraordinary challenges. This short range travels 1,500 feet or less, requiring a dense array of unsightly antennas to provide acceptable coverage. Piggybacking on 4G for voice capability, it’s easily blocked by walls, trees and even rain, with spotty coverage that can vanish within a few feet.
Brian O’Hara (National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Senior Director for Regulatory Issues, telecom/broadband) stated, “It will be years before 5G arrives in many parts of the country, if it arrives at all.”
Building out 5G rural networks is not only difficult, its price tag is astronomical! That’s why hundreds of cooperatives are installing fiber optics. It isn’t cheap, however, it is the best solution for bridging the digital divide. Once you invest, it’s there forever; faster, cyber-secure, safer, more reliable – a very dependable, well-rounded character, saving 10 times the energy of 5G.
Please consider signing this petition asking La Plata Electric Association to provide broadband service: https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/lpea-broadband
Deborah ShislerDurango
