Diary of a semi-rural teleworker

As a full time freelancer, I work at least 40 hours a week on average. But sometimes it’s more and sometimes it’s less. I really value this load shifting ability, as well as the ability to work where I want to.

Earlier this year, I made plans to spend quite a bit of time in rural Michigan this summer. The work that I do requires me to check email and surf the Internet, but with a 3G-capable laptop and a cell phone, I figured I was in good shape.

Over the last few weeks, that expectation has been put to the test. I’ve managed to get my work done but I’ve found that doing so hasn’t been as easy as I anticipated. As a result I have a deeper appreciation of the impact that broadband and wireless communications—or the lack or imperfection thereof—can have on people in rural communities.

I present my experiences in journal form. Although I didn’t actually keep a daily journal during this time, I’m pretty good at remembering what happened when and this approach seemed to work best for what I had to say.

Visit #1: June 27-28
My first two days in Michigan since school got out. My daughter is going to day camp, my husband is painting the basement and my work goes quite well, other than I have to take the laptop out onto the deck to get EV-DO at peak times, then rush back in when it drizzles a bit.

When it appears like it’s going to rain in earnest, I pack up and drive a few miles into Gobles (population 829) and have a pancake and tea and finish my work at the café, which apparently is closer to my wireless carrier’s tower and gets EV-DO even indoors when it’s raining.

June 29
As I walk into the kitchen to grab some breakfast this morning, my husband tells me he can’t get the laptop to boot up. We speculate that it may not have liked being carried in and out from the deck while it was running. He makes a few calls and sets out for Kalamazoo (population 250,000, 45 minutes away) to see about getting it fixed.

On the way he drops me at the Internet café about 15 minutes away that has WiFi. Fortunately we also have a netbook, which has WiFi, enabling me to get my work done there. At one point I need to do a phone interview so I sit outside on a picnic table with my cellphone.

June 30
Another day working at the Internet café. We get back the big laptop, which needed a new hard drive. My husband took the opportunity to upgrade to a 3G modem that plugs into a USB port so it can also be used with the netbook. The only downside: We used to have an unlimited plan and were grandfathered in but because we got a new device and the carrier doesn’t offer new unlimited plans, we will now pay a penalty if we exceed a certain amount of bytes. Also the netbook still needs some software on it in order for the 3G stick to work and the big laptop needs Word and other programs re-installed on it so I will have to work at the Internet café again tomorrow.

July 1
The Internet Café makes a great egg salad sandwich.

July 2-4
Fourth of July weekend. I don’t touch a computer for three day’s straight.

July 5
Last day of this stint in Michigan. I get my work done without any problems and we drive back to Chicago a day after most people do, so there isn’t much traffic.

Visit #2: July 12
Back to Michigan again. My daughter is going back to a three-day camp, sleeping over this time, along with a friend from Chicago whose mother Marie is a friend of mine. Marie and I are going to stay at the house for a few days, and we’re hoping to find some time to hang out, although I told her I would be working part of the day.

The only hitch with my work plan this time is that my husband had to take the 3G stick and the big laptop with him on a business trip so I will have to rely on the netbook and Wi-Fi at the Internet café.

July 13
We drop the kids at camp, I drop Marie at the house and proceed to the Internet café--which has a sign on the door saying “Closed until further notice.” What a shame.

Undaunted, I drive to the Gobles library, which also has WiFi but learn that it doesn’t open until 10:00.

I try driving into Bloomingdale, another nearby town (population 528). It turns out that library also doesn’t open until 10:00 but by now it’s almost 10:00 so I wait outside until it opens, and then move inside to do my work.

The people working at the library are talking about how the power was out for 24 hours because of a big storm that passed through and so they didn’t open yesterday. I’m glad I wasn’t trying to work here yesterday. One woman says she still doesn’t have power and in lieu of a shower (which would have required a functional water pump), she dabbed herself with rubbing alcohol this morning.

A little after noon I realize someone who said he would get back to me in plenty of time for my 1:00 deadline hasn’t done so. I email him and he emails back saying that he left a voice mail message. I had left my phone on low planning to step outside if anyone called but hadn’t heard anything. When I pull my phone out of my bag, I realize it is displaying the icon that indicates there is no cellphone service available. Even when I step outside and try a few places on the block and across the street the phone doesn’t work. I realize this is a rural area but it hadn’t occurred to me that a major cellphone company would not have coverage in what is, however small, a population center.

I pack up my stuff, drive back to the house (where Marie tells me the power has been cutting in and out all morning), call the person I’m trying to reach, write a story based on what I learn from the call and drive back to the library to file my story.

July 14
I know my cellphone works in Gobles but the Gobles library is closed on Thursdays so I have to work at the Bloomingdale library again. I make any necessary phone calls before I leave the house and therefore have no problems getting my work done.

July 15
The Gobles library is open today and I complete my work without any trouble, stepping outside briefly to make a pre-scheduled call. I get back to the house in time to pack up, and we pick up the kids and head back to Chicago.

The next time we come back, I’m looking forward to using the 3G stick so I can work from the house. And I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I won’t go over the usage cap.

Take-aways
Not everyone has exactly the same communications needs that I do, but increasingly more and more rural residents need to have cellphone and broadband connectivity.

I should note that DSL is available to me in Michigan, but it’s difficult to justify the expense of paying for broadband there and in Chicago. There are, however, about seven million U.S. households, primarily in rural areas, that don’t have broadband available to them at all. Some of them may have 3G but if their coverage is anything like mine, they probably experience the same sorts of problems that I have encountered.

Policymakers are hoping to make broadband available to everyone in the U.S. and as they debate how to do that, here are a few observations:

1. As today’s voice-focused Universal Service program transitions to focus on broadband, policymakers are talking about 4G as a viable alternative to landline broadband. One thing I hadn’t thought of before, though, is that anyone who relies on that option will probably have a usage cap to contend with, making it a less than optimal alternative to landline service.

2. The broadband stimulus program funded a lot of connectivity to anchor institutions, such as local libraries. That connectivity is a great option to have, but depending how far you are from the library, it can be considerably more limiting than having broadband to the premises.

3. From time to time I hear about how power goes out a lot in rural America and that certainly seems to be true. The smart grid is supposed to help minimize outages and address them more quickly. And as more and more of us become increasingly reliant on broadband, it would be great to see that happen sooner rather than later.

4. It would also be nice to see better cellphone service in rural areas, especially now that people are talking about phasing out the PSTN. But business seems to be getting increasingly challenging for rural wireless operators. And without a local presence, I don’t see the large national companies having the ability, even if they have the desire, to effectively address rural coverage holes. It seems like we need some more creative thinking there.