20180201-RD-PJK-0029 TONED (25298828397)

Contract Lineman Brandon Sims climbed utility pole to frame for future stand wire as Virginia's BARC Electric Cooperative leads the way in the Lexington, Va. area installing fiber optic cables to the existing electrical grid, which will bring dependable high-speed broadband to the area for the first time.
Rural areas where business and residential consumers use broadband service are more likely to enjoy higher incomes, lower unemployment rates and stronger growth than those without broadband. Because broadband offers rural areas connectivity to business, education, health care and other services necessary for economic growth, it is rapidly becoming indispensable in all sectors of the economy.
Rural electric co-operatives across the country are increasingly involved in rural broadband deployment. There is growing concern about the lingering urban-rural broadband divide and who will work to deliver broadband to rural communities.

USDA Photo by Preston Keres