currently surveying their service areas determining locations for towers or suitable buildings. For example, he said Linda Thomas of West Hills Community College has offered several buildings at the district’s two campuses that could be used. Herr said any building in which there is uninterrupted line of sight for several miles is a great option. He added that the topography of California’s Central Valley offers many opportunities, as it is relatively flat with few tall trees that would obstruct the signal. “We would urge anyone to give us a call if they can offer access points that would help us avoid building a tower,” he said. Of course, that would also give such building owners the advantage of having a
very strong signal within their property. Prior of ATN International said his company is actively and financially involved in developing other wireless solutions, including “near-line of sight” and “non-line of sight” fixed wireless options. The company is also investing in a low-orbiting satellite approach that could offer connectivity at a more rapid speed than currently available. He explained that satellites are an option but their placement far above the earth results in a time delay as a signal travels up to the satellite and back again. Prior is optimistic that over the next two to three years, much progress will be made to connect Rural America to the 21 st Century. However, he did caution
that connectivity will still lag behind that which is available in Urban America. He reasoned that these new rural build-outs are seeing huge upgrades as 25 Mbps (megabyte per second) systems are being put in place. He said that certainly is adequate for most applications, including video streaming. But at the same time, urban areas are seeing upgrades to 250 Mbps or even 1 gigabyte systems. For Linda Thomas, this federal program is a godsend that should help level the playing field for her students and community. For Terry Brase, it will allow his students to offer agricultural employers a technologically-advanced skill set indicative of the “Farm of the Future” program that they have completed.
24 Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com MAY | JUNE 2019
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