Source: Liora Engel-Smith, NORTH CAROLINA HEALTH NEWS, 12/8/20

When Karen Hammett wants to use her internet connection for a doctor’s appointment, a meeting or to check her blood test results, she thinks about her neighbors. Hammett, a retired educator who lives in the mountainous western North Carolina township of Fines Creek, knows she is competing with children engaged in virtual learning and parents working from home for limited broadband capacity. During those times, refreshing a sluggish internet page dozens of times is not unusual, she said.

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