![](\"http:\/\/www.dangeladvertising.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Waiting-to-connect-02-3840-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBRANCHLAND, W.Va. \u2014 Ada Carol Adkins lives with her two dogs in a trailer tucked into the timbers off Upper Mud River Road.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m comfortable here, but I\u2019m having health issues,\u201d said the 68-year-old, who retired from her job as a school cook several years ago after having a stroke. \u201cThings are failing me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her trailer sits halfway up a ridge miles from town and the local health clinic. Her phone and internet are \u201cwacky sometimes,\u201d she said. Adkins \u2014 who is fiercely independent and calls herself a \u201cMountain Momma\u201d \u2014 worries she won\u2019t be able to call for help if service goes out, which happens often.<\/p>\n
To Frontier Communications, the telecommunications company that owns the line to her home, Adkins says: \u201cPlease come and hook me right.\u201d<\/p>\n
But she might be waiting years for better service, frustrated by her internet provider and left behind by troubled federal grant programs.<\/p>\n
A quarter of West Virginia counties \u2014 including Lincoln, where the Mud River bends its way through hollows and past cattle farms \u2014 face two barriers to health care: They lack high-speed internet and have a shortage of primary care providers and behavioral health specialists, according to a KFF Health News analysis.<\/p>\n
Years of Republican and Democratic administrations have tried to fix the nation\u2019s broadband woes, through flawed attempts. Bad mapping, weak standards, and flimsy oversight have left Adkins and nearly 3 million other rural Americans in dead zones \u2014 with eroded health care services and where telehealth doesn\u2019t reach.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t![](\"http:\/\/www.dangeladvertising.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Waiting-to-connect-01-3840-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Blair Levin, a former executive director of the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s National Broadband Plan, called one rural program rollout during the first Trump administration \u201ca disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was launched before it was ready, he said, using unreliable federal maps and a reverse-auction process to select internet carriers. Locations went to the lowest bidder, but the agency failed to ensure winners had the knowledge and resources to build networks, said Levin, who is now an equity analyst with New Street Research.<\/p>\n
The fund initially announced awards of $9.2 billion to build infrastructure in 49 states. By 2025, $3.3 billion of those awards were in default and, as a result, the program won\u2019t connect 1.9 million homes and businesses, according to a recent study<\/a>.<\/p>\n A $42 billion Biden-era initiative still may not help Adkins and many others shortchanged by earlier federal broadband grants. The new wave of funding, the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, or BEAD, has an anti-waste provision and won\u2019t provide service in places where previous grants were awarded \u2014 even if companies haven\u2019t delivered on their commitments.<\/p>\n The use of federal money to get people connected is \u201creally essential\u201d for rural areas, said Ross DeVol, CEO and chairman of the board of Heartland Forward, a nonpartisan think tank based in Bentonville, Arkansas, that specializes in state and local economic development.<\/p>\n \u201cInternet service providers look at the economics of trying to go into some of these communities and there just isn\u2019t enough purchasing power in their minds,\u201d DeVol said, adding that broadband expansion is analogous to rural electrification. Without high-speed internet, \u201cyou\u2019re simply at a distinct disadvantage,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019ll call it economic discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018I Got Books Full\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Adkins keeps spiral-bound notebooks and calendars filled with handwritten records of phone and internet outages.<\/p>\n In January, while bean soup warmed on the stove, she opened a notebook: \u201cI got books full. Hang on.\u201d<\/p>\n Her finger traced the page as she recounted outages that occurred about once a month last year. Adkins said she lost connectivity twice in November, again in October, and in July, May, and March. Each time she went for days without service.<\/p>\n Adkins pays Frontier Communications $102.13 a month for a \u201cbundle\u201d that includes a connection for her house phone and wireless internet access on her cellphone. Frontier did not respond to requests for comment on Adkins\u2019 and other customers\u2019 service.<\/p>\n Adkins, a widow, spends most of her time at home and said she would do video calls with her doctors if she could. She said she still has numbness on one side of her body after the stroke. She also has high blood pressure and arthritis and uses over-the-counter pain patches when needed, such as after she carries 30-pound dog food bags into the house.<\/p>\n She does not own a four-wheel-drive truck and, for three weeks in January, the snow and ice were so severe she couldn\u2019t leave. \u201cI\u2019m stranded up here,\u201d she said, adding that neighbors check in: \u201c\u2018Do you have electric? Have you got water? Are you OK?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The neighbors have all seen Adkins\u2019 line. The pale-yellow cord was tied off with green plastic ties around a pole outside her trailer. As it ran down the hill, it was knotted around tree trunks and branches, frayed in places, and, finally, collapsed on the ground under gravel, snow, and ice at the bottom of the hill.<\/p>\n Adkins said a deer stepping on the line has interrupted her phone service.<\/p>\n David and Billi Belcher\u2019s double-wide modular home sits near the top of the ridge past Adkins\u2019 home. Inside, an old hunting dog sleeps on the floor. Belcher pointed out a window toward where he said Frontier\u2019s cable has remained unrepaired for years: \u201cIt\u2019s laying on the ground in the woods,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Frontier is West Virginia\u2019s legacy carrier, controlling most of the state\u2019s old landlines since buying them from Verizon Communications<\/a> in 2010. Twelve years later, the company won nearly $248 million to install high-speed internet to West Virginia through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, an initiative launched during President Donald Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n \u201cBig Daddy,\u201d as local transit driver Bruce Perry called Trump, is popular with the people of Lincoln County. About 80% of the county\u2019s voters picked the Republican in the last election.<\/p>\n The Trump administration awarded Frontier money to build high-speed internet to Upper Mud River Road residents, like Adkins, according to state mapping<\/a>. Frontier has until Dec. 31, 2028<\/a>, to build.<\/p>\n But the Belchers needed better internet access for work and could afford to pay $700 for a Starlink satellite internet kit and insurance, they said. Their monthly Starlink bill is $120 \u2014 a price many cannot manage, especially since Congress sunset an earlier program that helped offset the cost of high-speed plans for consumers.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t Meanwhile, the latest broadband program to connect rural Americans is ensnared in Trump administration policy shifts.<\/p>\n The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which administers the program, in April announced a 90-day extension<\/a> for states to finalize their plans during a \u201ccomprehensive review\u201d of the program.<\/p>\n West Viriginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, announced his state<\/a> would take an extension. The move, though, doesn\u2019t make a lot of sense, said Evan Feinman, who left the agency in March after directing the broadband program for the past three years.<\/p>\n Calling the work already done in West Virginia an \u201cincredible triumph,\u201d Feinman said the state had completed the planning, mapping, and the initial selection of companies. The plan that was in place would have brought high-speed fiber lines to homes ahead of schedule and under budget, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey could be building today, and it\u2019s just deeply disappointing that they\u2019re not,\u201d Feinman said.<\/p>\n When Feinman resigned in March, he sent a lengthy email<\/a> stating that the new administration wants to take fiber away from homes and businesses and substitute it with satellite connections. The move, he said, would be more expensive for consumers and hurt rural and small-town America.<\/p>\n Morrisey, whose office declined to respond to requests for comment, said in his announcement that he wants to ensure West Virginia spends the money in a manner \u201cconsistent with program changes being proposed by the Trump Administration\u201d and \u201cevaluate a broader range of technology options.\u201d<\/p>\n Commissioners from Grant County responded with a letter<\/a> supporting fiber-optic cables rather than satellite-based connections like those provided by Elon Musk\u2019s Starlink. Nationwide, 115 lawmakers from 28 states sent a letter<\/a> to federal leaders stating that changes could \u201cdelay broadband deployment by a year or more.\u201d<\/p>\n For Adkins and others, the wait has been long enough.<\/p>\n While legislators in Washington and across the country bickered over the broadband program, Adkins went without phone and internet. By late March, she said, her 42-year-old son was increasingly worried, noting \u201cyou\u2019re getting up in age.\u201d He told her: \u201cMom, move out, get off of that hill.\u201d<\/p>\n Worst-Case Scenario<\/strong><\/p>\n A few miles from Upper Mud River Road, past the McDonald\u2019s and across the road from the local library, Brian Vance sat in his downtown Hamlin, West Virginia, office. He said his company has been trying to \u201cbuild up there for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n Vance is a general manager for Armstrong Telephone and Cable, a regional telecommunications provider that competes with Frontier. He grew up in the community, and parents of a high school friend live off Upper Mud River. But he said \u201cit\u2019s very difficult\u201d to build fiber along the rocky terrain to homes where \u201cyou are hoping that people will hook up, and if they don\u2019t, well, you\u2019ve lost a lot of money.\u201d<\/p>\n A 2022 countywide broadband assessment<\/a> found that stringing fiber-optic lines along telephone poles would cost more than $5,000 per connection in some areas \u2014 work that would need big federal subsidies to be feasible.<\/p>\n Yet Vance said Armstrong cannot apply for the latest BEAD funding to help finance connections. And while he likes that the federal government is \u201cbeing responsible\u201d by not handing out two federal grants for the same area, Vance said, \u201cwe want to see people deliver on the grants they have.\u201d<\/p>\n If Frontier hadn\u2019t already gotten federal funds from the earlier Trump program, \u201cwe definitely would have applied to that area,\u201d Vance said.<\/p>\n The 2022 assessment noted the community\u2019s economy would not be sustainable without \u201cubiquitous broadband.\u201d<\/p>\n High-speed internet brings more jobs and less poverty, said Claudia Persico, an associate professor at American University. Persico, who is also a research associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research, co-authored a recent paper<\/a> that found increased broadband internet leads to a reduction in the number of suicides as well as improvements in self-reported mental and physical health.<\/p>\n More than 30% of Lincoln County\u2019s population reports cases of depression, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rate of opioid prescriptions dispensed in Lincoln County is down about 60% from 2014 to 2024 \u2014 but still higher than the state average, according to the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy.<\/p>\n Twenty percent of the county\u2019s population lives below the poverty line, and residents are also more likely than the national average to experience heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.<\/p>\n Lincoln Primary Care Center offers telehealth services such as electronic medical records on a patient portal and a pharmacy app, said Jill Adkins, chief quality and risk officer at Southern West Virginia Health System, which operates the clinic.<\/p>\n But because of limited access, only about 7% of patients use telehealth, she said.<\/p>\n Della Vance was a patient at the clinic but said she has never used a patient portal. If she could, Vance said, she would check records on the baby she is expecting.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t really get on if you don\u2019t have good service and no internet,\u201d she said. \u201cIt makes me angry, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n Vance and her husband, Isaiah, live off a gravel road that veers from Upper Mud River. There is a tall pole with black wires dangling across the road from their small home. Pointing to the cables, Isaiah Vance said he couldn\u2019t get phone service anymore.<\/p>\n Verizon announced plans last year to buy Frontier for an estimated $20 billion<\/a>. The deal, which must be approved by federal and state regulators, is expected to be completed in early 2026, according to an investor\u2019s press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n In its federal merger application<\/a>, Frontier stated that it had taken on too much debt after emerging from bankruptcy and that debt would make it difficult to finish the work of installing fiber to customers in 25 states.<\/p>\n In West Virginia, Frontier\u2019s Allison Ellis wrote in March 3 testimony<\/a>, seeking approval for the merger from state regulators, that Verizon will honor the rural program commitments. The previous month, in February, Frontier filed a motion<\/a> with the state public service commission to keep the number of customers using copper lines and the faster fiber-optic lines confidential.<\/p>\n Kelly Workman, West Virginia\u2019s broadband director, said during a November interview that her office has asked federal regulators for \u201cgreater visibility\u201d into Frontier\u2019s rural program construction, particularly because those locations cannot win the Biden-era infrastructure money when it’s available.<\/p>\n \u201cThe worst-case scenario would be for any of these locations to be left behind,\u201d Workman said.<\/p>\n \u2018Money Cow\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Frontier\u2019s progress installing fiber-optic lines and its unreliable service have frustrated West Virginians for years. In a 2020 letter<\/a> to the FCC, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) cited \u201cthe failure of Frontier to deliver on promises to federal partners\u201d and its \u201cmismanagement\u201d of federal dollars, which forced the state to pay back $4.7 million because of improper use and missed deadlines.<\/p>\n Michael Holstine, a longtime member of the West Virginia Broadband Enhancement Council, said the company has \u201cjust used West Virginia as a money cow.\u201d Holstine has been fighting for the construction of fiber-optic lines in Pocahontas County for years. \u201cI really just hope I get it before I die.\u201d<\/p>\n Across the state, people like Holstine and Adkins are eager for updated networks, according to interviews as well as letters released under a public records request.<\/p>\n Chrissy Murray, vice president of Frontier\u2019s external communications, acknowledged that the company was \u201cbuilding back our community efforts\u201d in West Virginia after a bankruptcy filing and reorganization. She said there has been a \u201cnotable decline\u201d in consumer complaints, though she did not provide specific numbers.<\/p>\n Murray said Frontier built fiber-optic cables to 20% of its designated rural funds locations as of the end of 2024. It has also invested in other infrastructure projects across the state, she said in a January email, adding that the company donated high-speed fiber internet<\/a> to West Virginia University\u2019s rural Jackson\u2019s Mill campus.<\/p>\n According to data tracked by a federal agency<\/a>, Frontier has connected 6,100 \u2014 or fewer than 10% \u2014 of the more than 79,000 locations it was awarded in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program.<\/p>\n The FCC oversees the rural fund. The agency did not respond to a request for comment. Frontier expects to receive $37 million annually from the agency through 2032, according to a federal filing<\/a>.<\/p>\n In April, a new batch of letters<\/a> from West Virginia residents filed as \u201csupport\u201d for Frontier\u2019s merger with Verizon appeared in the state regulatory docket:<\/p>\n \u201cMy support for this case depends on whether Verizon plans to upgrade or replace the existing Frontier infrastructure,\u201d wrote one customer in Summers County, in the far southern corner of the state, adding, \u201cWest Virginians in my neck of the woods have been held hostage by Frontier for a generation now because no other providers exist.\u201d<\/p>\n A customer from Hardy County, in the state\u2019s northeastern corner, wrote: \u201cThis is [a] move by frontier to to [sic] escape its responsibility to continue services.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Deep-Rooted\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Adkins moved to Upper Mud River with her husband, Bobby, decades ago.<\/p>\n For years, Bobby and Ada Carol Adkins ran a \u201ccarry-out\u201d on Upper Mud River Road. The old building is still at the rock quarry just down the hill and around the curve from where her trailer sits.<\/p>\n It was the type of store where locals kept a tab \u2014 which Bobby treated too much like a \u201ccharity,\u201d Adkins said. They sold cigarettes, beer, bread, bags of chips, and some food items like potatoes and rice. \u201cWhatever the community would want,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Then, Bobby Adkins\u2019 \u201chealth started deteriorating and money got tighter,\u201d Adkins said. He died at 62 years old.<\/p>\n Now, Adkins said, \u201cI\u2019m having kidney problems. I got arthritis, they\u2019re treating me for high blood pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n Her doctor has begun sending notes over the internet to refill her blood pressure medicine and, Adkins said, \u201cI love that!\u201d<\/p>\n But Adkins\u2019 internet was out again in early April, and she can\u2019t afford Starlink like her neighbors. Even as Adkins said she is \u201cdeep-rooted,\u201d her son\u2019s request is on her mind.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m having health problems,\u201d Adkins said. \u201cHe makes a lot of sense.\u201d<\/p>\n KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.dangeladvertising.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Waiting-to-connect-012-3840-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.dangeladvertising.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Waiting-to-connect-010-3840-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.dangeladvertising.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Waiting-to-connect-017-3840-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.dangeladvertising.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Waiting-to-connect-024-3840-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.dangeladvertising.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Waiting-to-connect-025-3840-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.dangeladvertising.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Waiting-to-connect-020-3840.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.dangeladvertising.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Waiting-to-connect-022-3840-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nUSE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n