JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The Mississippi Public Service Commission has created a new committee that will help identify internet connectivity challenges in the state amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The pandemic has highlighted the need for more internet connectivity in the state, Southern District Public Service Commissioner Dane Maxwell said.
“Mississippi’s a rural state,” Maxwell said. “We had been preaching this before COVID-19. We’ve been working on it before COVID-19, but it just brought it to everybody’s attention. People nowadays can’t operate without the Internet and that is our main focus.”
Telecommunications representative Christa Alexander said Broadband is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.
“You need it for telehealth, teleworking, distance learning. Even going to school now, you don’t have a choice, you have to do everything online and carry on,” she said. “I’m happy to be a part of the group that helps bring that to a reality for Mississippi.”
The Connect Mississippi Committee’s 13 members represent individuals working in education, economic development and medical services.
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