Residents in rural Lewis County will now have better access to the internet. 

Charter Communications and Lewis County announced the activation of 27 public wi-fi access locations. 

That means residents will have free access to the internet at places like their local library, fire department or downtown areas. 

The wi-fi points will be provided at no cost by the county for three years. 

Lewis County Legislator Lisa Virkler said it's an important time for this kind of connectivity.

"The pandemic really highlighted the need for high speed internet, broadband wi-fi to not only watch Netflix, but to work, school work, remote college," she said. "So this is paramount to push our county forward. You need to have be able to have access to them."

Charter Communication is the parent company of Spectrum News 1.