By Kevin J. Jacobsen, General Manager of
Egyptian Telephone Cooperative Association

Are you connected to the Internet? Maybe, maybe not. The Internet seems to be everywhere. When you turn on the television or pick up a newspaper or a magazine, someone is asking you to visit their home page and view or buy their products or services over the Internet. Electronic commerce over the Internet, instant access to anything and everything, around the world with just a few keystrokes.

But how do you get connected to the Internet? Well, if you live in a metropolitan area such as Chicago or Springfield, you most likely have a choice of five to 20 different Internet Providers all clamoring to win your business. And when you select that Internet Provider, you simply call a local telephone number. But, if you live in rural America, odds are there is no local Internet Provider to be found, unless you make a long-distance telephone call to a metropolitan area. That can get expensive.

Kevin J. Jacobsen

However, that's not the case for Egyptian Telephone Cooperative Association's 2,850 members, located in southern Illinois. Egyptian became an Internet Provider in December 1995. Therefore, members of the cooperative can now access the Internet by simply calling a local telephone number from their computer and travel the world via the Internet. With the Internet, members are connected to the Information Superhighway. The Internet is providing rural residents access to resources and information from around the world, all by calling a local telephone number.

The demand for local access has been so great that in February, Egyptian Telephone extended its Internet service outside of its cooperative service area. We now offer local access to the Internet in 14 communities spread across five counties. Of these 14 communities, seven receive their telephone service from Egyptian and seven receive their telephone service from General Telephone. But all of the communities have access to the Internet from Egyptian.

Users on Egyptian's Internet service range from preschool children to senior citizens, from homes to businesses. The schools within Egyptian's telephone service area are also connected to the Internet. Egyptian provides the schools free dial up access to the Internet. The free access allows the schools to incorporate the Internet into their curriculum. Students and teachers can take advantage of the technology and resources available on the Internet. Students can find information for their research papers, businesses are selling their products and advertising their services, and everyone is sending E-mail from across town or around the world.

Egyptian's Internet service is provided by Egyptian Telephone Cooperative Association through its partnership with IlliNetworks. IlliNetworks is a consortium of 12 telephone cooperatives and companies that combined their resources. They are offering Internet services not only to the consortium members but also to other telephone companies and businesses. IlliNetworks provides turnkey Internet services, which include gateway access, shared services and technical and customer support.

Egyptian and IlliNetworks are also working with the University of Illinois' Cooperative Extension Service to provide end user Internet training classes. Through this venture, Cooperative Extension Service personnel are conducting a series of eight classes that teach the basics of the Internet. Each IlliNetworks Consortium member is or will be holding these classes in their local community. The classes concentrate on how to get connected and how to use the tools of the Internet such as E-mail, the World Wide Web, News groups, File Transfers and Telnet.

Rural America needs and deserves to be connected to the Internet. The Internet will help our schools, businesses and most importantly our citizens grow and prosper in this age of technology. And, local cooperatives and consortiums like Egyptian Telephone Cooperative and IlliNetworks will be there to provide for the needs of our members.

Kevin Jacobsen assumed the duties of general manager of Egyptian Telephone Cooperative Association, Steeleville, in 1991. His column provides an example of how electric and telephone cooperatives are linking rural residents to the fast-growing world of telecommunications.

4 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING • AUGUST 1996