Internet access is often taken for granted. When you don’t have the same access, you quickly realize how valuable it is. About 19 million people lack high-speed Internet access, according to the FCC. Most live in sparsely populated, rural areas that phone or cable companies are unwilling to serve because extending their networks to such communities means laying expensive fiber-optic cables over wide expanses without recovering those costs from a dense customer base.

The usual option for people beyond the reach of wired broadband is satellite Internet access, which only requires a clear view of the sky. Historically, high costs for equipment and the service itself, stringent usage limits, slow connections, and the lag induced by the 44k mile round trip data must take to and from orbit have made satellite the broadband of last resort.

More recently, satellite services have been offering faster plans with higher data quotas.

Wireless broadband from a cellular-data service can be another option, but that too often fades out in the countryside. Subscribers complain of slow connections that “at times stalls and frequently even drop.”

JMF has been offering wireless internet products for businesses along its footprint for years and has just recently begun looking at the feasibility of providing SOHO solutions to select test markets in rural Mississippi. These rural areas will be offered a product for roughly $100 per month providing 10gig of synchronous data. This will allow any household to watch 10 hours of HD quality video using internet streaming something that had not been a possibility for homes on dial-up.

About IXP Farm

IXP Farm is the revolutionary decentralized middle mile network that is changing internet connectivity as you know it. With over 219+ node points, we are connecting people and businesses like never before across rural Alabama. The state of Alabama ranks 47th in the US for digital connectivity with 23% of Alabamians having no broadband access at all. This low access hinders our economy and holds our state back from any potential educational or technological growth. This also has a negative impact on our healthcare services with many hospitals struggling due to low internet speeds. IXP Farm sets out to completely reverse this and make Alabama one of the most connected states in the country.

We will create the state’s first Middle Mile Network that will connect every person from the top to bottom of Alabama regardless of location. To do this we will utilize existing infrastructure. Infrastructure such as the connection points that are already available in most communities and 219+ BGP Peer-to-Peer node connections throughout the state. This will lead to our Middle Mile Network forming 219+ Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) such as the Montgomery Internet Exchange (MIX). We will bring groundbreaking connectivity to rural Alabama without ever actually breaking ground. We will provide 100GB speeds, 5 ms latency, and up to a 50% reduction in internet expenses across Alabama. To learn more head over to ixp.farm.

City officials that are interested in our JMF Powered City product please contact our sales department.