One of the things we do as part of our community engagement efforts is to engage with local decision-makers, often in government, in the interest of the customers and communities Nex-Tech serves. When we talk with officials, we tend to ask questions relating to government policy, and also express the feedback we have received from our customers and our communities. It’s a great relationship where the public and private sectors work together to make lives better.

One question that people in our communities tend to have is: why is the government interested in who provides the Internet?

Well, below I will briefly highlight 3 reasons, amongst others.

1. Licensing (Right to Operate)
As in every positive endeavor in society, the authorities are involved in the Internet provision arena to set the rules of how companies should operate. This ensures some level of standardization of Internet services across the country.

2. Ubiquitous Access
This means the ability to access computing devices and services from anywhere and at any time. It is in the interest of the entire country that every part of America is technologically connected, such that there is no digital divide between urban and rural areas. The authorities help with this when they offer grants to companies like Nex-Tech to serve rural Kansas.

3. National Security
In a world where we conduct almost every aspect of our lives online (banking, healthcare, education, entertainment, trading; etc.), our collective safety and security as a society require the authorities to get involved in the Internet provision arena.

Earlier this fall, our team hosted state legislators and representatives of our federal legislators in Hays, Kansas. It was a perfect example of how the government and Internet providers work to make communities better. Please, read the full report here.

Watch the highlight of the engagement here: