Source: Chris M. Spears, SAMPSON INDEPENDENT, 9/15/21

I think we can all agree that rural North Carolina needs better access to broadband internet. Recently, we have seen commercials and media from cable companies blaming the lack of rural broadband on electric utilities, including not-for-profit electric cooperatives, such as South River Electric Membership Corporation (EMC). Their claim is that electric cooperatives are blocking cable companies from using utility poles for broadband. That is not true. The truth of the matter is that cable companies want electric cooperatives and members to foot the bill for broadband deployment. To deploy broadband, cable companies add equipment and string fiber on cooperative utility poles.

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