From idea to reality: How one rural pharmacist used fiber internet to build something different

How a rural pharmacist built something different, and why fiber optic internet made it possible.

Donald Lansing spent 15 years as a pharmacist inside the traditional healthcare system. He watched the same barriers repeat again and again: hidden costs, insurance barriers, patients unable to afford medications even with coverage. So, he built something different.

PostScript Pharmacy is a licensed pharmacy in Lancaster, New Hampshire that skips the insurance system. Serving patients in New Hampshire, Vermont and New York, it offers transparent pricing, direct access to a pharmacist, and services for patients. And none of it would be possible without fiber.

How Cloud Infrastructure Becomes Possible in Rural Areas

Donald’s vision required something different than traditional brick-and-mortar pharmacy. Instead of building a retail location – which would have required expensive inventory and overhead – he created an app and website-based pharmacy. PostScript Pharmacy runs on the cloud, from prescriptions and customer orders to pharmacist coordination and inventory tracking. All relying on fiber optic connectivity.

Having already had Fidium Fiber installed at his home, when the idea of PostScript Pharmacy started to form, Donald knew he’d have the connectivity he’d need to bring his business to life, even in his rural New Hampshire community.

"Cloud computing lets us start up without having to buy the servers," Donald said. "A reliable fast internet connection is essential to access any of the cloud computing services. If you don't have a reliable connection, you're completely cut off from this opportunity."

Take remote temperature monitoring, for example. The system detects temperature fluctuations and feeds alerts into their software automatically. No manual logs. No daily check-ins. Just reliable monitoring powered by fiber.

"We're able to dial in the connection to a remote unit that detects the temperature and feeds into our software. If there's an excursion from the temperature, it gives us an alarm," Donald explains.

It's this kind of dependency that makes fiber internet non-negotiable for PostScript Pharmacy.

"Without Fidium, without fiber, this business, it couldn't be possible," Donald says. "We need a reliable connection 24 hours a day. If you start to have information that's dropped, the whole thing falls apart."

When Entrepreneurs Can Stay Local: Fiber Internet’s Economic Impact

Lancaster, New Hampshire, hadn't had an independent pharmacy in over 20 years. When Donald had the idea for PostScript Pharmacy, he saw a chance to bring that back, but not in the traditional way.

"When the downtowns lost their independent pharmacies, I think they also lost a big foot traffic mechanism," Donald explains. "Our vision is, let's start this small. We get to do it online from a property we own inexpensively. And if it works, we think about local pickup, putting the foot traffic back into a retail store that we own, back into a downtown that can also leverage it."

With a vision for the future that could lead to continued growth for Lancaster, Donald’s original idea may not have even existed if not for fast fiber internet access.

"I don't think it would have ever gone off the ground," Donald says. "I think it's a good thing fiber was here when the idea came into our heads. If it wasn't, I think we would have hit that roadblock and just set the idea down there."

Fidium expanded its fiber optic network to Lancaster in the summer of 2025. By October, PostScript Pharmacy had its pharmacy license. The timing wasn't random. Donald needed fiber internet access to make his idea work, and it arrived just when he needed it.

Entrepreneurs like Donald now have a choice they didn't have before. Stay in your community, build something meaningful, and keep your roots. It’s fiber that makes that possible. When entrepreneurs like Donald stay, their towns gain the talent, the business, and the opportunity that drives real change and makes a lasting impact.