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B AN DERA COU NTY L I BRA RY P A TRONS
Area Libraries Offer Fast Internet Thanks to BEC Fiber BY MELISSA WHITFIELD BEC Staff Writer
MORE THAN 1,500 MONTHLY LAKEHILLS AREA LIBRARY PATRONS benefit from fast and reliable broadband internet provided by BEC, and hundreds more have taken advantage of the BEC fiber network available at Bandera County Library. “Everyone seems very pleased with it because it’s faster and more reliable than what we had before,” Dianna Landes, director of Lakehills Area Library, said. “People use it mostly for job searching, personal business or entertainment.” The response to BEC Fiber from patrons at Bandera County Public Library has also been positive. “They have been very enthusiastic. It represents a 1,000 percent increase in speed from 100 Mbps to 1 GB (gigabyte) with BEC Fiber,” Michael Gar, director of Bandera County Library, said. “We have seen a great improvement in speed and community usage.” BEC Fiber connected Lakehills Area Library in January, and Bandera County Library’s fiber broadband was installed in June. High-speed access to the internet is crucial to Texas’s economic development, especially in rural areas. The lack of access to adequate high-speed data or telecommunication services in rural communities has led to a digital divide, which in turn limits progress in health, economic and community development. According to a study commissioned by the Rural Telecommunications Congress and the Strategic Networks Group, an industry consulting firm, Texas ranks at 44 of 48 states surveyed for access to rural broadband. A growing number of electric cooperatives are leveraging their existing infrastructure to bring broadband to millions of underserved rural Americans. Various studies show access to fast broadband speeds is important for economic development, educational opportunities and enhanced quality of life. These two libraries have been able to fill in the digital gap, and patrons are making good use of the state-of-the-art
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fiber technology. “We have added a wireless printer in the library to accommodate all the tablet and phone users who want to print an email from their device,” Garr said. Lakehills Area Library responded to their patrons’ interest by providing services which make use of their increased internet speed. “We offer free Wi-Fi and a full digital library for people to use with their e-readers, tablets or computers. We also offer basic computer classes, and if anyone has questions about using a computer, our librarians are happy to assist,” said Landes. Lakehills Area Library has 10 desktop computers and 12 laptops for use by patrons. Library visitors aren’t the only ones who benefit from broadband internet. It also helps the libraries conduct business and even lower cost of operations. “Having fiber broadband is also very helpful on the library side of things. We now have quick and reliable access to our online catalog, which helps with book circulation and handling library business,” said Landes. “I just appreciate BEC getting us on so quickly and allowing us to be able to do our job of providing internet access and technology to the people in the area.” “On July 3, we began using BEC Fiber HD voice phone services and have reduced our phone bills by 40 percent. We use it for the phone and fax line, and it works seamlessly with our current equipment. I recommend it to everyone and have in fact become a customer at my own home with BEC Fiber,” Garr said. “I was extremely impressed with the professionalism of the technicians who installed the system and the office staff who followed up confirming the appointments.” For more information about BEC Fiber internet, visit BanderaElectric.com/Fiber
Co-op Power September 2018 BEC Texas
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