Appalachia and Universal Broadband

[Source: Appalshop.org, February 10, 2010]
If you want high-speed internet access, and you happen to live in certain areas on and around Eastern Kentucky's Pine Mountain--currently there's only one thing to do: Move.
Living in a house that hangs onto the edge of Letcher County, whenever Samantha Sparkman, 21, pops open her laptop to surf the Internet, she has to deal with an unreliable dial-up connection. Internet frustrations aren't just about not being able to snag her favorite tunes. She needs to download online tests and lectures for her classes, classes that'll be hard to complete if she doesn't find a speedier way to connect.

Sparkman and the Pine Mountain Residents for Broadband are voicing their concerns with dialuprocks.org, an Appalshop-powered website that features a music video and tools for online organizing. Appalshop's work with Pine Mountain Residents for Broadband is an example of our ongoing effort to connect storytelling and online advocacy.  Read the whole story and view the group's new music video at www.dialuprocks.org.