Business View Magazine - July 2023

109 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 7 The advent of the Internet over 25 years ago changed the way the world lives. It has been a net- positive in allowing for instant communication with family and friends, sharing of experiences in real- time and most importantly the ability to untether from an office and become mobile. The pioneers of this new way of living were van-lifers and digital nomads, becoming one with nature in a way that the Beat Generation did in the 1950s. In recent years, Covid accelerated this desire for mobility and travel to the outdoors, introducing millions of new campers to national, state and private parks. It is often said that visitors to the outdoors should be seeking a disconnect from technology and day-to-day connectivity. This is, of course, the goal, but few in our society have the title of Naturalist, as John Muir did in the 19 th century when he helped found the national parks concept. Prior to the availability of Broadband in parks most travelers who were employed could afford perhaps five days per year in nature. Many children therefore spent 360 days in the city, lucky to see green spaces in the local park and the occasional squirrel. Today, empowered by remote work policies and Broadband connectivity, parents can take their families to the outdoors and still maintain an income. They spend ten hours per day showing their children how to commune with nature and perhaps an hour in the evening on Zoom calls or sending emails. The result is an exponential increase in number of hours spent in the outdoors, marketing their experience in real-time to friends and family back home and inspiring millions more to travel (free marketing for parks). They spend 22 hours per day disconnecting while having the option to connect for one hour. It was technology, in the form of camera and typewriter, that allowed John Muir to market his vision of national parks to Americans over 100 years ago. The FCC definition of Broadband is a minimum of 25 Mbps of speed per device, especially during peak evening hours. Cellular or satellite with data caps do not count. As recently as five years ago there were almost no Broadband-connected parks in the US. Many parks offered a Wi-Fi connection in the lobby, with a $50 router from Best Buy fed from a DSL modem, or satellite. Or they bolt up a cheap DIY system in the park with no professional design or management. Speeds struggled to reach 1 Mbps; if one could load a web page during the peak usage in evening hours, it was marketed as “broadband”. The RV-park guides checked the box for “has Wi-Fi” with no assurance it was usable. This meant most visitors to the outdoors were, at least temporarily, unemployed; usually retirees, or families on their five days of allotted vacation for the year. For over 17 years AccessParks has been guaranteeing FCC-defined Broadband to remote parks and communities. Its enterprise-grade, professionally managed Broadband systems enable younger generations and those who can work remotely to experience the outdoors in record numbers. In a recent study by KOA, Broadband connectivity increased the average stay in a park by two days. Today, it is the only Broadband Wi-Fi concessionaire to national parks, state parks and private RV parks, serving over 30 million annual guests and residents. For more information, visit: www.accessparks.com GUARANTEED BROADBAND WITH END TO END SUPPORT Get fiber-optic speeds to any venue, or finally take advantage of the fiber you already have. Our unique solution enables 4K quality streaming, during peak evening hours, guaranteed. We’re an end-to-end managed service provider (MSP), so your staff doesn’t have to lift a finger. Zero up front cost for installation! 50 MBPS SPEED PER GUEST DEVICE, PROVEN WITH GUEST-FACING DASHBOARDS TV OVER WI-FI $9 GUESTS SERVED PER YEAR 30 MILLION Enabling HD Video with these partners: “Was able to work from my RV i eve ings even when everyone w the system, and our kids were a distance learning. This allowed in the outdoors all week— amazi – Su FIBER-OPTIC 24/7 MONITORING/ OPTIMIZATION WI-FI ADVERTISING &USER ENGAGEMENT 5 G TECHNOLOGY Call us now to get your free quote within 48 hours!