NEWS

FCC awards $369 million to expand broadband access for Pennsylvania's rural residents

J.D. Prose, USA TODAY Network - PA State Capitol Bureau

A Federal Communications Commission announcement earlier this week that nearly $369 million would be allocated to expand high-speed broadband access in Pennsylvania was just the latest development in the effort to give rural residents better internet service.

The FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I would help an estimated 327,000 Pennsylvanians in nearly 185,000 unserved homes and businesses over the next 10 years. During that span, about $9.2 billion will be spent on similar broadband programs nationwide.

Bids were taken from broadband providers in an auction-like process for projects in every county except for Northampton. Thirteen companies were chosen as bid winners in Pennsylvania.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the allocation was “great news for the residents of so many rural Pennsylvania communities, who will get access to high-quality broadband service in areas that for too long have been on the wrong side of the digital divide.”

Gov. Tom Wolf also lauded the project funding as vital to helping Pennsylvanians navigate telemedicine appointments – visits with doctors via live video – and school work amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the increase in school closures and virtual learning.

“In the 21st century, reliable high-speed internet service is a critical utility for homes and businesses alike. The lack of this technology in our communities inhibits our students and educators, businesses, the healthcare system and more from truly connecting locally and globally,” Wolf said.

“In the 21st century, reliable high-speed internet service is a critical utility for homes and businesses alike," said Gov. Tom Wolf.

“If we want to support our economy, give our students the tools to learn, and improve quality of life, we must expand broadband access,” said Wolf. "The current pandemic has vividly demonstrated the pressing need to expand high speed internet access to enable telehealth and allow students to connect with their classmates and teachers. As a result of this auction, hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians will gain this access, which is a significant step toward bridging the digital divide.”

The county allocations range from $340,000 for two Lehigh County projects affecting 138 homes and businesses to $22.8 million for Bradford County projects impacting more than 6,500 locations.

Several other legislative actions have been taken in the last several weeks to help push broadband expansion in Pennsylvania. On Oct. 29, Wolf signed House Bill 2438, introduced by Tioga County Republican state Rep. Clint Owlett, which would allow electric cooperatives to use existing poles for fiber-optic lines to carry broadband.

That drew praise from the Pennsylvania State Grange’s legislative director Vince Phillips, who said the bill gives broadband expansion efforts “a major boost” and a “major step forward” to closing that digital access gap.

“Broadband is to this time what rural electrification was to the 20th Century,” Phillips said. “Rural Pennsylvania can no longer be at an economic, educational and community disadvantage in today’s competitive world.”

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On Nov. 25, Wolf signed Senate Bill 835, introduced by state Sen. Wayne Langerholc, R-Cambria County, which would create a broadband accessibility funding program with projects needing to have at least 25% private investment.

Besides those bills, a study released on Nov. 30 by the state legislative Center for Rural Pennsylvania agency showed that rural residents are more inclined to pay for broadband service at every monthly price point offered up to $60 per month.

A release from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania said demand “drops off significantly” for rural and urban Pennsylvanians at that figure and “flatlines” at prices of $80 per month or more.

The study, conducted by Penn State’s Sascha Meinrath and Steven Mansour of X-Lab, found that 54% of urban residents have a cable internet connection while just 34% of rural residents do, and 17% of urban residents have a fiber-optic connection compared to only 2.6% of rural residents.

In 2019, Meinrath did a study that showed how badly Pennsylvania lagged in broadband access, especially for residents in 48 of the 67 counties designated as rural.

State Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Lycoming County, the chairman of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, said in a statement last month that the two studies “help answer some important questions and claims about the digital divide in rural Pennsylvania.”

Yaw said that “broadband is not available to many more Pennsylvanians than was previously claimed, and now there is evidence that rural Pennsylvanians are willing to pay for broadband connections, and, in some cases, are paying more than others for the same or slower broadband speeds.”