How a digital divide leaves parts of rural America isolated

Low population density means phone and internet companies don't upgrade services - but in the Navajo Nation vital infrastructure was never installed

It's been two years since Sonia's husband's fatal heart attack. Almost anywhere else in the United States, emergency services could have helped her. But in an isolated corner of the 27,000 square miles that constitute the Navajo Nation, she, her daughter and one of her granddaughters had to manage without technology most of the rest of America takes for granted.

The family were outside Tolani Lake, in part of the vast Navajo Nation's land in north-east Arizona. "My husband had roped a bull that we were dealing with," Sonia said. "He said he needed to catch his breath. I told him to sit down and he did." He started to feel better, got back to work and then faltered again.