Patrons at the Miami Public Library take advantage of the facility’s wi-fi and high-speed internet to complete school work. Much like the woolly mammoth and dodo bird, the public library of yesteryear has fallen prey to extinction. Modern libraries are an altogether different species. No longer merely book depositories with endless shelves of dusty and dated volumes, libraries are now vital hubs where community members gather to utilize high-speed broadband internet and valuable technology assets. Callie Cortner says the number of people…

Wave Rural Connect bridging the digital divide across eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas Wave Rural Connect (WAVE) recently named its 25,000th customer to sign up for fiber to the home. Established in 2018 as an Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperative Corporation (AVECC) subsidiary, WAVE has been committed to bridging the digital divide in the Arkansas and Oklahoma River Valley. Since connecting the first home in 2019, WAVE has expanded across the AVECC service territory, including in AVECC’s Oklahoma service territory, covering rural homes…

Janice Williams, Executive Director of the Haskell County Chamber of Commerce and Cookson Hills member Cookson Hills Connect recently reached a milestone in its commitment to bring high-speed fiber internet and phone services to rural households and businesses in eastern Oklahoma. With the recent completion of a fiber construction project that began in 2021, all 14,738 Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative members now have access to fiber from Cookson Hills Connect. Over 6,000 services have been placed in less than three years, and…