Why are you offering broadband service?

Our communities have long suffered from a lack of broadband equality – access to the same speeds and capabilities as those in less rural areas. Broadband availability across our service area will help close the digital divide between those who have access to advanced technology and those who do not.

A few of the many advantages of broadband access are:

• Online education opportunities – allowing students to learn from home
• Healthcare benefits such as telemedicine
• Work-from-home interoffice connectivity and videoconferencing capabilities that will help professionals stay in their homes while being productive
• Quality of life improvements through enhanced communications
• Economic development and growth in rural areas – access to high-speed internet can raise home prices and attract businesses to communities

In addition, by connecting South Central Arkansas Electric Cooperative’s electric substations and offices with fiber, we will create a smart grid with more automation capabilities to better serve our members. Smart grid capabilities – the standard for optimum electric infrastructure – allows our devices to communicate with each other and delivers benefits such as improved power outage response times, better load balancing, more efficient electricity delivery, and more.