Robert Bentley highlights need for faster internet in rural Alabama

Gov. Robert Bentley is meeting with rural educators to highlight his plan to expand high-speed internet service across Alabama.

Bentley visited the southwest Alabama town of Monroeville on Monday, saying an area can’t have a top educational system without a fast connection to the digital world.

Bentley hopes to use Education Trust Fund money to match a federal grant program called E-rate to expand connectivity in rural parts of the state.

A 2015 Federal Communications Commission report found almost 35 percent of Alabamians don’t have high-speed internet service.

Some rural schools, like Monroeville Elementary, have updated technology like personal laptops but are still hobbled by expensive and spotty internet service.

Republished with permission of the Associated Press.