By ALISA RATH

To succeed in our farm business, our family needs high-speed Internet service that is prompt, efficient and, most of all, effective. Our Internet service experiences have been just the opposite. On top of that, living in a rural area means our choices are few and expensive.

We used to have dial-up Internet service. Sometimes we would download information at night, hoping it would be completed by morning. This approach rarely worked as disconnections were frequent.

We live 3 miles from Colorado and 7 miles from Nebraska. When you hear the words, "rural Kansas," that's us. Like most farm families, we have one phone line. It's impractical and frustrating to get a busy signal at our home because we are online. We would often miss important business-related calls. Often, my husband calls from the field when he needs fuel or a ride home.

Without high-speed service, we knew instinctively we were missing opportunities. We knew how much more business we could conduct online if our service were faster. We visited Web sites offering market prices and agriculture research. But with dial-up it was just too slow to make the connection.

After much thought, we began looking into our options for broadband. To my surprise, there were none. Turns out we live too far out of town. A neighbor mentioned satellite-driven Internet providers that cater to folks like us. Although the monthly cost was exorbitant compared to high-speed service in town, we felt we had no other options. We agreed the benefits outweighed the costs, so we re-arranged the family budget and purchased it.

We realized the value of faster Internet service immediately. We buy bulls yearly and that market has migrated online. Catalogs and mailers from bull sellers now list a website and live, online auctions. We could now bid on a bull in South Dakota or Ohio. We now had the ability to analyze and compare costs, giving us a broader lot to select from.

We also were able to check the wheat prices daily, do our banking online, follow the weather, farm commentary and get the best deals on equipment and parts. All elements essential to helping our business grow and succeed.

Still, our satellite-driven Internet service is not without its challenges. We operate at half the connection speed our friends in town get with broadband access. We could upgrade to a slightly faster service, but again, our price would go up and we simply can't justify the expense.

Additionally, when the satellite dish in our yard went down, we were without service for nearly a month. The closest service technician our provider found was in Oklahoma. It took another week for him to make the trip to Cheyenne County, Kan.

Fortunately, the technician was able to fix our system on site. I can't imagine if he would have had to locate a part and come out another time. So even though we have an Internet connection, we are frustrated with our service -- especially given how much we are paying for it.

In today's electronically driven world, everyone should be allowed the same opportunity for coverage, regardless of how remote their location. As more and more work opportunities move away from the traditional 9 to 5 office role, we need access to the worldwide web and the opportunities it provides like everyone else.

If not, I worry that it's one more reason for us to leave our rural communities and move to the city. High-speed Internet service has become an expectation, like electricity, telephone service and cable TV.

If rural areas are to thrive in today's competitive climate, we need the same advantages available in town.

Alisa Rath lives with her husband, Noel, and their son, Jacob, in rural Cheyenne County.