Running a business in a rural area can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, you get to
enjoy all that tranquility and peace away from the city life. On the other hand, staying connected to the digital world from the countryside can be a bit of a nightmare.
If you happen to be an entrepreneur in a rural locality, you surely have encountered more than your fair share of rural internet issues. As per a report by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2022, about 14.5million Americans in the countryside still lack access to broadband internet. If you think that is depressing, wait till you hear about this, the average internet speed in rural areas is as low as 25 Mbps slower compared to the urban counterparts. In a situation like this, it’s quite impossible for businesses in rural areas to thrive.
Without any further ado, we have listed down 7 rural network challenges that remote businesses have to go through along with their possible solutions.
- Limited Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
One of the main issues regarding the internet is due to scare Internet Service Providers in rural areas. For the city folks, they can easily pick one from a range of ISPs offering competitive packages. Whereas, ruralites often have one or two options, leading to higher costs and less reliable services.
Due to lack of competition, it results in subpar customer service and not enough incentives for ISPs to improve their infrastructure.
Solution
A possible solution to this could be advocating for more providers to enter the rural market. This can be done by participating in community efforts and voicing out your concerns to the local government officials.
- Inconsistent Internet Speeds
Even in areas where the internet is somewhat available, the rural business internet issue is inconsistent speeds. This mostly occurs due to outdated infrastructure or the sheer distance from the network hubs. Unreliable and slow internet can have massive impact over the day-to-day operations like processing transactions or communication with the clients.
Solution
Investing in a reliable, high-end router can help maximize the stability and speed of the available connections. Load balancing is another way to help with this rural network challenge. This means using multiple internet connections simultaneously to ensure a more stable internet connection overall.
- High Latency
A delay in the transfer of data or high latency is another problem for rural businesses. This issue is mostly problematic for businesses that rely on real-time data processing or communication such as VoIP services or video conferencing.
Solution
For this, using caching systems and CDNs (content delivery networks) can help diminish latency issues by storing frequently accessed data closer to the end user.
Moreover, opt for ISPs offering dedicated lines instead of shared connections that reduce latency.
- Data Caps and Throttling
Majority of the ISPs in the countryside enforce data caps and throttling. This significantly limits a business’s ability to function efficiently. As soon as you hit the data caps, the ISP may reduce internet speed drastically, hence making it almost impossible to perform essential tasks.
Solution
Educate yourself about the data caps and monitor your usage closely. If you can afford to, invest in a high-tier plan that offers more data or even unlimited data. You can also optimize data usage by compressing the files and using data-efficient applications. This can help stretch the available bandwidth.
- Limited Access to Advanced Technologies
Advanced technologies such as fiber-optic internet are quite limited in rural areas. Due to this, rural businesses come in as a disadvantage compared to their urban counterparts, since in the urban areas they can leverage high-speed connections to use advanced tools and services.
Solution
Staying in touch about local initiatives and government programs that aim to expand broadband access in rural areas. Being a part of such programs can benefit with installation of a better infrastructure. Since this may take a while to install, use technologies that require less bandwidth such as local servers for data storage in order to manage the limitations.
- Infrastructure Challenges
The physical infrastructures, such as cables and towers, needed for high-speed internet is usually scarce in rural areas. It’s pretty expensive and logically challenging to build and maintain such infrastructures in remote locations hence, the slow internet.
Solution
As a community in a rural area you can join hands together to form cooperatives to collectively invest in infrastructure. These cooperatives can end up qualifying for grants and subsidies to provide better internet connection. You can also opt for fixed wireless internet that uses radio signals to provide connectivity and can easily be deployed than traditional wired systems.
- Dependence on Weather Conditions
Another major rural network challenge is the severe weather conditions in such areas since they rely on wireless or satellite internet connections. Heavy rains, snow and fast winds can disrupt signals which cause internet outages or reduce the performance.
Solution
Always ensure that you have installed your antennas and satellite dishes are properly installed and are weather resistant. Keeping it maintained can reduce the disruptions. It’s also always a good idea to have a backup plan ready like a secondary internet connection or offline workflows so that you do not have to put your business on halt until the connection restores.
Embracing Solutions and Looking Forward
Even with all these rural business internet issues, the ruralites are finding innovative ways to thrive and stay connected. With all these issues addressed and their solutions, it won’t be long before businesses in rural areas function as well as they do in urban areas.
With the advancement of technologies and paying attention to the digital divide, we are hopeful that these problems are fixed. Until then, it is important to understand and take these issues seriously.
In a nutshell, while there is no denying the fact that rural areas do face connectivity challenges, there always is a practical solution for it all. Let’s work together towards a brighter future for the rural businesses no matter where you are located.