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Anti-ESG law raised municipal borrowing costs in Oklahoma: study

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Your Turn: Why Oklahoma should support railway merger

The combined rail network will connect key manufacturing centers with key distribution centers, undoubtedly benefitting Oklahoma export industries.

RURAL BROADBAND: Hundreds of millions spent but gaps remain

Zoom meetings, binge-watching, online shopping and virtual education have all become more common during the pandemic.If anything, COVID-19 has only increased the need for affordable, reliable high-speed internet to take advantage of these activities.No one knows for sure how much money has been spent to bring broadband to rural Oklahoma residents. But what’s clear is that many Oklahomans are being left behind. BlackOak Farms, near Devol in Cotton County is out there. “The one thing we do miss out here is wifi,” BlackOak owner John Collison said. Power poles tell the story. To bring electricity into the farm costs thousands of dollars. For internet – thousands more.“$20,000 to $25,000 just to get internet and power together so you can get your internet,” Collison said.That cost will cover the property, but there’s still the monthly fee. Bringing wifi to the hunting preserve is a costly investment. “So just to have the advantage that somebody in Oklahoma City or Tulsa or Dallas or wherever has, you start at $10,000 and you work your way up from there. … You can see the huge impediment that you start with just to have the same access that other businesses in the state of Oklahoma have,” Collison said. U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas offered a similar perspective.“Isn't it important that all people have access to these same resources? Do we want a two-tier society where urban areas are prosperous and better educated and have more economic opportunity?” he asked.Lucas, who represents the state’s Third Congressional District, said rural Oklahomans deserve the same opportunities as others to access online classes, conduct Zoom meetings and even stream their favorite TV shows. He knows the problem firsthand. “In the country, I get about half the same bandwidth I would get, the same speed I would get, in Canadian County. Here I get almost three, four times out of the basic system. So the difference between Roger Mills County and (Washington) D.C. is a factor or four, five, more – maybe almost 10 times,” he said. KOCO 5 Investigates identified nearly $600 million in federal spending on broadband for rural Oklahomans. But the total is likely greater. So why is there still a problem?“The bottom line is, it's incredibly expensive to bring this infrastructure where at the present time it does not exist. And if you don't have that infrastructure, are neighbors gonna stay in rural areas in complicated times like this?” Lucas said.He doesn’t see things changing much until new technologies cut costs.“We have to work with what we have, and that requires money, and we're trying to spend it, it's just a big old need out there to be filled,” he said.The challenges of living in rural Oklahoma are worth it to the Collisons. Like many rural Oklahomans, their roots run deep.“So this is actually going to be where John and I will reside,” BlackOak owner Monica Collison said, showing the barn that is being built that will also house events. Their corner of Cotton County, 7 miles from Texas, has been home for generations.“You can see the BlackOak Farms as far as the eye can see,” Monica Collison said. Legislative sources tell KOCO 5 Investigates that they are planning on unveiling a package of bills on rural broadband in the next couple of weeks.