Posted on December 2, 2019
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI
Many members of the Starke County community turned out Monday night to a public open house concerning a plan to help initiate a better broadband experience in the county.
Starke County was the recipient of a $50,000 broadband planning grant to help determine how to improve internet access to all areas of the county.
Following the open house, Katie Clark from the firm Taylor Siefer Williams out of Indianapolis presented to the Starke County Commissioners and members of the public some of the highlights in several categories in the plan. Out of the 350 responses provided in a survey to residents, business owners and leaders, it was found that the need is great to benefit from high speed broadband internet access. It was noted that Starke County had the highest amount of feedback in the survey provided compared to other communities.
While Starke County has a pretty good infrastructure base, it needs to improve to reach several areas that currently experience poor quality or no internet service at all. The satellite and wireless aspects are being reached, but the wired internet capability needs better coverage.
The plan breaks down each township and how broadband would affect homes in the rural areas and where it can improve in the incorporated areas. It also relays placement of where the infrastructure would be situated throughout the township. The information also includes what type of consumer is currently using the internet and several demographic points were noted including education and opportunity of use.
Clark also noted in that speaking with the companies versus what consumers are saying the product the company says is being offered isn’t what the consumer is experiencing.
The plan will undergo several more tweaks before it is formally presented to the commissioners for approval in February after the Office of Community and Rural Affairs reviews the plan. Following that milestone, Clark said implementation will be determined. The county plans to submit applications for the state’s Next Level Broadband funding in a future round of grants to help offset the cost of the construction phase of the plan.
Showing posts with label broadband access in rural areas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label broadband access in rural areas. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Friday, May 3, 2019
State, Federal Officials Consider Ways to Expand Broadband into Rural Areas
Posted on May 2, 2019
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI
Expanding broadband access in rural areas would have impacts reaching far beyond those communities. That’s according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
It points out that the lack of rural broadband infrastructure makes it harder for farms to incorporate new technologies that can substantially increase food production. That affects people throughout the country and around the world, no matter where they live.
The State of Indiana has recognized the need for broadband, not just for economic development but also for community development, according to Gerry White with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. “So they have taken some of the funds that were received as a result of the rate increase on the tolls on the Toll Road and are transforming some of those dollars with a first phase of what’s known as Next Level Communications,” White said during last month’s Pulaski County Economic Development Summit.
He added that the program will provide a total of $100 million to Internet service providers looking to expand broadband to places that currently don’t have it. The problem is that many of those places end up being missed in the Federal Communications Commission’s maps. “What we’ve found is that when you dig into the data, if you have a census tract where one home is receiving one [megabyte] up, 10 down service, then the entire census tract has that service,” White explained. “So we’ve got a definition issue that we’re dealing with.”
White noted that rural electrification took 50 years, and that we’re still only about 15 years into the Internet age. But the USDA report says that attempts to expand rural broadband haven’t been able to replicate last century’s electrification effort.
One thing influencing broadband roll-out in Indiana, according to White, is the state’s decision to deregulate telecommunications. “I am not going to say the deregulation was a bad decision. I am not going to say it was a good decision, but we have seen impacts on it,” he said. “What it has said to providers is they’re in control of where it is that they’re going to be spreading Internet, and with that being the case, they’re not going to go somewhere where they don’t get a return on their investment.”
The USDA report says that deploying rural broadband in conjunction with “Next Generation Precision Agriculture Technology” could lead to more than $47 billion in economic benefits nationwide every year. But it also points out that there may be impacts that can’t even be predicted yet, just as electrification enabled the use of refrigeration, which in turn, changed the way Americans bought food.
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI
Expanding broadband access in rural areas would have impacts reaching far beyond those communities. That’s according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
It points out that the lack of rural broadband infrastructure makes it harder for farms to incorporate new technologies that can substantially increase food production. That affects people throughout the country and around the world, no matter where they live.
The State of Indiana has recognized the need for broadband, not just for economic development but also for community development, according to Gerry White with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. “So they have taken some of the funds that were received as a result of the rate increase on the tolls on the Toll Road and are transforming some of those dollars with a first phase of what’s known as Next Level Communications,” White said during last month’s Pulaski County Economic Development Summit.
He added that the program will provide a total of $100 million to Internet service providers looking to expand broadband to places that currently don’t have it. The problem is that many of those places end up being missed in the Federal Communications Commission’s maps. “What we’ve found is that when you dig into the data, if you have a census tract where one home is receiving one [megabyte] up, 10 down service, then the entire census tract has that service,” White explained. “So we’ve got a definition issue that we’re dealing with.”
White noted that rural electrification took 50 years, and that we’re still only about 15 years into the Internet age. But the USDA report says that attempts to expand rural broadband haven’t been able to replicate last century’s electrification effort.
One thing influencing broadband roll-out in Indiana, according to White, is the state’s decision to deregulate telecommunications. “I am not going to say the deregulation was a bad decision. I am not going to say it was a good decision, but we have seen impacts on it,” he said. “What it has said to providers is they’re in control of where it is that they’re going to be spreading Internet, and with that being the case, they’re not going to go somewhere where they don’t get a return on their investment.”
The USDA report says that deploying rural broadband in conjunction with “Next Generation Precision Agriculture Technology” could lead to more than $47 billion in economic benefits nationwide every year. But it also points out that there may be impacts that can’t even be predicted yet, just as electrification enabled the use of refrigeration, which in turn, changed the way Americans bought food.
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