Grant D. Crawford | Daily Press
Glen Clark, left, and Jordan Tinsley make sure everything is running smoothly with LREC s internet service.
Lake Region Cooperative Extension Service has continued bringing fiber-to-the-home internet service throughout its electric grid, which is important for many people who have transitioned to working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lake Region s project to expand its fiber optic network was affected by the pandemic, with more people sending in requests to receive the lightning-fast service. By April, the number of requests went from an average of about 30 per week to 80 per week. So the demand went up, and we connected a whole lot more people due to it, said CEO Hamid Vahdatipour. But on the other side, it s hard to get the equipment - the modems, fiber and all of that kind of stuff. So it puts a lot of pressure on us in building new services, too.