A proposed plan could bring high-speed internet access to places across the four-county region.
State Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, has put forth legislation to establish the Rural Pennsylvania Broadband Deployment Act that would start a fund within the State Treasury to earmark federal and other funding for rural broadband/high-speed internet services. The bill is under consideration of the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee.
“Access to high-speed internet is not a luxury but a necessity for our students and teachers, our farmers and business owners, and our doctors and patients,” Causer said in a prepared statement. “With the issue finally getting the attention it deserves, both the president and the governor have pledged funding to address broadband infrastructure, and we need to make sure those dollars are invested in communities like ours where they are needed the most.”
Much of the region is underserved, said Jim Swanson, director of information technology at North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission. Many pockets exist without internet across the area, he said.
“This is a very good initiative. I’m very happy they’re taking this on because it has been talked about for a long time,” Swanson said. “It would be a substantial upgrade from what people have now.”
Under House Bill 2293, an advisory board part of the state Department of Community and Economic Development would investigate and make recommendations for the improved deployment of services and solicit, review and recommend proposals to use funding.
“It is important to have the fund and advisory board in place to ensure dollars dedicated to rural broadband deployment are directed to the most underserved areas of the Commonwealth,” Causer said.
But without a taxpayer subsidy, broadband could go the way of cell phone coverage, cable television, natural gas lines and other services, Potter County Commissioner Paul Heimel said. The private sector won’t have enough motivation to financially back the expansion of broadband service, he said.
A significant amount of fiber optic cable exists across McKean County for broadband services, Port Allegany Borough Manager Robert Veilleux said.
“I think the bigger issue with broadband is what they call the ‘last mile’ where you actually get broadband to the more rural areas,” he said. “Some of these areas can’t get DSL or internet through a cable provider, and in some cases the topography makes satellite service impossible as well, which may leave internet service through a cellular carrier as the only option (if there is cellular service available).”
For businesses and residents, the availability of high-speed internet is crucial, no matter if it involves children being able to complete homework or a business being able to operate, Veilleux said.
“Our nation and our state have a history of recognizing the importance of reaching underserved areas with essential services –– rural electrification and highways as examples,” Heimel said. “Broadband has evolved from being a medium for entertainment and communications, to becoming a necessity for everything from communication and business connection to health care, and other essential services.”
Other rural broadband initiatives under consideration in the state House include completing an in-depth investigation and audit into the compliance of non-rural telecommunication carriers; creating a special bipartisan, bicameral legislative commission to recommend improvements of high-speed broadband services in unserved and underserved areas; inventorying state department, agency, commission or institution-owned communication towers, poles, buildings and facilities to leverage existing state-owned assets for the provisioning of high-speed broadband internet to unserved and underserved areas; and auditing the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s administration of the E-Fund, a six-year education technology program targeting network modernization plans.
