Sitting down with Mrs. Jonell Little, her five-month-old granddaughter Olivia, and her dog Scooter felt like catching up with family. There was an undeniable warmth in the room as Mrs. Little shared her experiences with Fybe, Roanoke Cooperative’s broadband internet service. With November here, the season of Thanksgiving is upon us, and Mrs. Little’s story shines with appreciation for what Fybe has meant to her and her community.
“We love our Fybe, and we’re so thankful to have it,” she began, reminiscing about the early days when Fybe was just an idea. Back then, Roanoke Cooperative had urged members to sign up to show interest, even before the service had a name. Mrs. Little had signed up immediately. “They were offering perks like Ecobee thermostats and water heater controls,” she said. “And they promised us internet for $49.99 whenever it finally came along.” Her household had waited nearly three years, but the Cooperative kept its word, providing everything they had promised from the start.
During the waiting period, a technician came out to install their Ecobee thermostat, and it turned out to be a familiar face—Shawn Dickerson. “Shawn went to school with my daughter, and he’d grown into such a fine young man,” she said proudly. Despite not being able to install the water heater control due to poor cell signal in their cellar, Shawn’s visit became a memorable part of the journey. And once their internet service was finally connected, Mrs. Little had more than enough signal to handle the water heater control if she’d wanted.
What made her Fybe journey even sweeter was finding out that their remote home was among the first to receive service. Living in a less populated area, Mrs. Little expected to be last on the list. She shared how her husband had asked Shawn about when they might get internet, and Shawn had guessed it would be a long wait. She spread the word to all her neighbors, encouraging them to sign up and express their interest to Roanoke Cooperative. When they learned they were getting Fybe installed, she was overjoyed.
Mrs. Little knew that the journey toward rural broadband access wasn’t just about getting service for herself; it was about helping the community. She told friends and family to register, knowing that the more people who signed up, the more likely the Cooperative would bring internet to other areas. “It was amazing to think that, for once, rural communities like ours might benefit from federal programs,” she said. Mrs. Little believed that without federal funding in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Roanoke Cooperative wouldn’t have had the resources to expand broadband so extensively.
For Mrs. Little, switching to Fybe was like night and day. “We cut the cord within a week,” she explained. Their previous satellite internet service had been unreliable and slow, prone to buffering that made streaming nearly impossible. Since switching to Fybe, Mrs. Little and her family have had only two brief outages over nearly three years, both of which were resolved quickly. And when Roanoke Cooperative added phone service, she finally had a dependable alternative to the corroded landlines they had been struggling with for years.
Thinking about her friends and neighbors who are still waiting for service, Mrs. Little offered some words of encouragement. “Be patient—it’s coming,” she said. “I know it’s hard to wait, especially when you can see the lines up on the poles. But the Cooperative is doing everything they can.” Her belief in the Cooperative’s vision runs deep, and she’s grateful for the leadership that pushed to bring broadband to areas where it might never have come otherwise.
Mrs. Little’s heartfelt gratitude for Fybe shines through when she reflects on how unique Roanoke Cooperative’s efforts have been, knowing that if they hadn’t done it, no one else would. She recounted that she and her family had often talked about how unlikely it was that any provider would bring high-speed internet to their rural area. She figured that the only way they’d ever get internet would be if a company could send it through the existing power lines—never imagining that fiber optics could actually run alongside them. “It just wouldn’t have been financially feasible for any other company to bring it out here,” she said, noting the costs and challenges providers face in rural regions. She expressed her amazement and gratitude for the vision that Roanoke Cooperative’s leadership had to undertake this project for the benefit of the community.
To her, Fybe’s service feels like a dream come true, a gift that Roanoke Cooperative didn’t have to offer but did out of a commitment to its member-owners. She’s deeply grateful for this vision and considers the arrival of Fybe a true blessing, hoping that other member-owners in more remote areas can be patient because the cooperative is doing everything they can to expand the service to all who need it.
Reflecting on her experience with the Cooperative, Mrs. Little shared some final thoughts on what makes Fybe so special. “It’s easy to complain about things in life, but when someone thanks you, it means the world. Fybe has been a blessing for us and all the people out here who usually end up last on the list.” Her story highlights the profound impact of Fybe and Roanoke Cooperative’s commitment to their member-owners, showing how connectivity can transform lives and bring communities closer—whether it’s to family, friends, or simply to the rest of the world.
