High speed internet is not a luxury.

In fact, not having access should not even be considered an option.

High speed access is simply the world we live in.

Unfortunately, many people in rural Georgia have no access, much less high speed access.

Rural broadband initiatives are welcome news.

Sen. Jon Ossoff was in South Georgia this week touting the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that could fund multiple infrastructure projects in Georgia and across the nation, including electric vehicle charging stations, repairing bridges and highways and removing lead piping from buildings.

Just as notable is $100 million toward providing more than 650,000 Georgia residents with reliable broadband internet access.

Ossoff said, “There are more than a million Georgians who lack access to broadband Internet access. And these resources that we’ve passed in the Senate with this bipartisan infrastructure bill will go a long way towards making high speed Internet access universal in the state of Georgia.”

We liked Tifton Mayor Julie Smith’s perspective when she said, “The fact that Sen. Ossoff has worked so diligently to bridge the gap between the red and the blue, to bring this back to our state, which needs it desperately. We are in rural South Georgia, there’s a difference between Atlanta and rural South Georgia, and we’re just so appreciative for his efforts in working with his colleagues to make this happen for our community.”

She is right.

The need for infrastructure improvement, including improved broadband access, has nothing to do with being Democrat or Republican.

In today’s world, it is simply a basic need for so many things, viz. taking advantage of much-needed virtual health care services, accessing government services and students being able to do their homework. 

State lawmakers have loosened restrictions, allowing other utility providers to diversify and help expand broadband infrastructure but the process, so far, has been too little, too late. 

If Ossoff’s numbers are correct, and we have no reason to think they are not, in 2021 having more than a million Georgia residents without internet access is unacceptable. 

It is time to stop talking about broadband and start running cable to houses and public buildings.