The rolling hills of Northwest Connecticut are certainly scenic, but telecommunications companies claim the hilly terrain is hampering Internet service.

As Connecticut looks to broaden its Internet infrastructure and improve broadband coverage across the state, there are some communities in the Northwest hills that are stuck with dial-up internet connections.

The telecommunications providers are blaming the terrain, while frustrated residents claim that the companies refuse to wire their towns because there aren't enough potiential subscribers to return their investment.

According to Fox CT, state and local officials say slow internet is detrimental to schools and businesses. State Representative Roberta Willis (D) of Salisbury is accusing telecommunications companies of failing to do enough to improve coverage. Meanwhile, representatives of both Frontier and Comcast say they have expanded their networks in Northwest CT.

I couldn't imagine having to use dial-up. It is amazing how quickly we've become accustomed to fast internet.  Just a short drive up Route 7, however, people are still waiting for the friendly chirp of the modem handshake. Whether the first thing they hear once they're online is "You've got mail!" remains a mystery.

Listen to Tim Sheehan weekdays from 3 to 7 PM on 95.1 FM. You can listen online at i95rock.com/listen-live or by downloading the radioPup app for your mobile device.

 

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