Remote jobs on the line
Need proof that getting universal high-speed broadband internet access in the Adirondacks is a vital piece of the region’s economic jigsaw puzzle? Just ask Suzanne Hurtado, who lives on Lost Pond. Within days of getting fiber-optic access in 2017, she was able to live video chat several times a day with students she teaches in China.
Yes, China.
“At the start, I had satellite internet,” she shared in an email with Joe Steiniger, chair of Schroon Lake’s broadband committee. “Many times my classroom would not load and I could only teach early in the morning and only one class a day, [affecting] my pay and bookings. Our fiber-optic internet was installed mid-December and it has been wonderful!”
It’s a story echoed by others in Schroon Lake, according to Steiniger. Within ten days of access, he reported residents had logged into their work virtual private networks, processed applications for customers in Hudson Valley, uploaded files from their law office in Philadelphia and down-loaded architectural drawings for clients.
Stories like these were the exception rather than
