Governor Bob Riley implemented the state ACCESS learning program to connect classrooms, educators & students statewide. The problem is they forgot about the children in the rural county areas and the lack of access to high speed internet. Limestone County schools were hooked up to Charter Cable in 2009, yet the majority of the 2000 students that attend schools in western Limestone County School District do not have access to Charter Cable or any other high speed internet access. Students at Limestone County Schools are at a huge disadvantage to students located in the city limits of Athens. County students are now issued laptops to do homework at home and are expected to get on the internet to access the curriculum with some students being required to access video lessons.
These students are also at a huge disadvantage not having high speed internet to be able to attend distant learning for college courses. Residents are also at a disadvantage because so many jobs today are virtual and could be worked from home but without high speed access this is just not a possibility. Streaming videos is not possible at all with dial-up and Satellite internet just is not a viable solution with data restrictions unless you pay an exorbitant price for the highest data package. Charter Cable would be the most easily accessible form of high package. Charter Cable would be the most easily accessible form of high speed internet since it is already running on the lines to the high school. Charter Cable would also attract businesses to the area. There is a volunteer fire department that would benefit from having high speed internet as well as approximately 8-10 businesses and 3 churches. Everyone would like to ditch the dish and go with cable!