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| 0.08in } --> | | | | This creates a bit of a problem for rural Tennessee |
| The song "Rocky Top," is synonymous with the way | | | | residents who have a critical need for online access. |
| of life that Tennessee residents have come to love. | | | | This could be for something like a job from home |
| The song discusses in casual prose (and in a distinct | | | | that requires communication with a central office, or |
| bluegrass/country style) the simpler life that the | | | | perhaps connection to an older family member who |
| singer used to have in the hills of Tennessee. | | | | lives in such a rural area. Even if cable internet is |
| Themes of Appalachian culture are omnipresent in | | | | available, many residents might not want to pay the |
| the song, and it's become closely associated with the | | | | extra money required for a cable TV package. |
| Volunteers of the University of Tennessee since the | | | | Although not required in most cases, the internet |
| 1970's. Although Tennessee has changed a lot in the | | | | access without TV service is often prohibitively |
| past forty years, there are still many parts in the hills | | | | expensive. The same could be said about DSL from |
| that are just as rural as the singer in "Rocky Top" | | | | the phone company without a specific type of |
| suggests. Telephones and TV aren't found in every | | | | long-distance service. In these cases, satellite |
| household, but there are certainly some TN residents | | | | broadband internet access is an ideal solution. |
| that need to keep up with the outside world. For | | | | |
| those folks – satellite internet access offers new | | | | The technology itself has been around for decades, |
| options combined with ease of use. | | | | but it wasn't until recently that new providers came |
| | | | | along and drove down the cost of equipment, |
| The Tennessee hills have always been distinct from | | | | installation, and implementation. Today, satellite |
| the more urban and cosmopolitan populations found in | | | | internet equipment and service is remarkably similar |
| Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis. Although bluegrass | | | | to the satellite TV mini-dish services that many rural |
| and country music might still be king in these places, | | | | residents are already familiar with. All a customer |
| the aire is more sophisticated, and access to utilities | | | | needs is a clear view of the southern sky, and an |
| and public services is readily available. For folks living in | | | | installation contractor can have the service up and |
| the hills, the arrival of a phone line might have been a | | | | running inside of a day. The connection is always on, |
| relatively recent phenomenon in the last few | | | | doesn't require a phone line, and provides |
| decades. Cable TV and high speed cable internet | | | | lightning-fast speeds that make all facets of the |
| access are likely unavailable, or much further down | | | | internet available to the user at the click of a mouse. |
| the list in any case. | | | | |