CHEYENNE — Imagine you’re a cattle rancher in rural Niobrara County, where only 4.3% of the population has access to broadband internet speeds of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) or faster.
You want to trade your cattle online, but you have to go to the public library in Lusk to access internet fast enough, leaving your ranch office to make the long drive into town just for a Wi-Fi connection.
Imagine now that you’re a business on Hamilton Street in Douglas who – because of a bid from the state of Wyoming to a local company for fiber internet to the schools of Converse County School District 1 – now has access to speeds up to 250 Mbps because of infrastructure improvements in your area.