Is it time to update state law on broadband?
Even though some rural residents express frustration with finding an option for internet access, officials say the requirements of a state law guaranteeing universal broadband access are being met.
A state law known as Chapter 30 required telecommunications providers to make broadband, the term generally used to mean high-speed internet access, universally accessible to customers by 2015.
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"All telephone carriers are reporting (they have) reached 100 percent deployment," said Nils Hagen-Frederiksen, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Utilities Commission. "If someone is not getting access to the type of broadband defined by state law, the commission wants to hear about it."
What's "defined by law" mean?
The state defines broadband as having download speeds of 1.544 mbps and upload speeds of 128 kbps. That's fast enough to stream a movie from Netflix, as an example, though the website recommends faster speeds: 3.0 mbps for standard definition quality or 5.0 for high definition quality.
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Verizon spokesman Michael Murphy said in an email that since the fall of 2015, "we have made broadband service available to 100 percent of our Pennsylvania customers using the technology that best fits each customer’s location. That could include DSL, Fios Internet, Verizon Wireless 4G LTE broadband or satellite broadband. Each of those services meets Chapter 30’s definition of broadband."
The satellite broadband is provided through a partnership with HughesNet, he later clarified.
The state law also doesn't say how the companies have to provide the service, Hagen-Frederiksen said, whether it's through fiber, copper or mobile broadband, for instance. Customers can't demand a particular type of technology.
"It may not be the solution they're seeking. It's a solution that meets the state definition," Hagen-Frederiksen said.
The Chapter 30 requirements only affect telecommunications companies. So cable and satellite internet companies, for example, are not governed by the requirements.
Hagen-Frederiksen noted that the law was established 15 years ago, and a lot has changed in technology during that time. There are conversations happening at the state level about whether that law is outdated.
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In December, state Rep. Pam Snyder, a Democrat in the western part of the state, indicated she planned to introduce legislation that would increase broadband speeds.
"Chapter 30 intended to ensure that reasonable and affordable broadband service is available to all Pennsylvania residents," she said in a sponsorship memo. "While the incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) have all reported 100 percent compliance with the current regulatory standards, many problems still exist, with rural areas experiencing the bulk of the hardships. Quite frankly, Pennsylvania’s current required broadband speeds are woefully inadequate by today’s standards."
State Rep. Kristin Phillips-Hill, R-York Township, in a column in the York Daily Record, suggested a need for promoting broadband conduits in conjunction with transportation projects to reach more rural areas.