Last weekend, I went to Aberdeen, South Dakota, for my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday. It was a significant milestone to celebrate.

Along the way, I struck upon another milestone.

My husband drove, so I could get some work done in the car. Years ago, I would get frustrated because as we’d drive, I’d lose cell service and drop a call. Now, however, as we drove along, I was enjoying (mostly) uninterrupted hotspot Wi-Fi connectivity. I was reminded just how far we’ve come – and how much further we have to go.

Clearfield has played a significant role in working with the independent telephone companies across the United States – and there are a number of them between Minneapolis, Minnesota and Aberdeen, South Dakota! Next on the telecom horizon will be the development of advanced cell services – 5G and the like. Working with the national wireless providers that will implement these technologies, Clearfield will have the opportunity to manage, protect and distribute the much higher levels of fiber demanded of these technologies (some studies estimate 16X the amount of fiber in a 4G network) and much of what I was driving through hadn’t been upgraded to that level quite yet.

High-speed broadband – both fixed and wireless, shortens the communications gap between families and makes out-of-office connectivity real-time. I just wish it could shorten that five hour drive!