Funding has been awarded to increase access to reliable, high-speed internet. Out of $14.7 million, $5,777,538 is headed to Perry County for broadband infrastructure projects by Zito and Brightspeed. The projects are specifically aimed at providing broadband connections to areas which are either unserved or underserved.
“Perry County is among the 11 counties statewide where more than 50 percent of tested broadband connections were measured as ‘unserved,’ having internet speeds below 25/3 Mbps,” said state Rep. Perry Stambaugh. “Better access to high-speed internet service will begin to bridge the rural-urban digital divide and bring world-class telecommunication services to our businesses, schools and families.”
The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority was formed Dec. 22, 2021, and had $200 million to distribute across the state for broadband projects. Perry County submitted applications through three vendors — Brightspeed, Zito and Comcast. Of the three applications, only Comcast was unsuccessful. According to Perry County Commissioner Brenda Watson, the applications were intense and required identifying specific addresses to be served. The authority reviewed the applications and removed addresses that already were served or underserved by existing providers.
“Each vendor, unless they were teaming with another vendor, had to submit their own application,” Watson said. “Each vendor had to not just identify an area, but identify addresses. Each building that they deemed they were going to serve had to be looked up and checked to make sure that they’re not covered.”
Brightspeed initially requested $989,422 to serve 342 locations. After the authority’s review, the number of locations was reduced to 311, and Brightspeed was awarded $782,163. Brightspeed’s total project cost, including its own investment, is $1,319,230. Brightspeed also is doing build-outs in Newport, Oliver Twp., Duncannon and Marysville at its own expense, without county funding.
Zito’s project, called Perry East, is a fiber-to-home project serving 1,061 unserved and 126 underserved buildings, totaling 1,187 buildings. Zito was awarded $4,995,375, with a total project cost of $6,497,906. Like Brightspeed, Zito is not asking for county funding.
Watson said that the projects should be underway by the end of 2024.
“The county has no expense in this, not a dime,” Watson added. “They have collaborated, they have worked with the county, but they have not asked for any money. If they were going to, it would have had to have been in the applications.”
Made feasible by the federally funded Broadband Infrastructure Program, a total of $200 million in competitive grants was awarded to projects across the state lacking 25/3 Mbps internet service. Matching funds are required, and stringent oversight and other provisions will require accountability.
“Broadband access is critical to quality of life, economic growth, and safety,” state Sen. Greg Rothman said. “We’re pleased that residents in underserved areas will finally receive the connectivity they deserve — and can depend on. Projects like these will help to ensure students in rural areas have access to quality educational opportunities, residents have adequate levels of emergency services and businesses can grow and thrive.”
The county previously had conducted a broadband assessment and estimated that providing coverage throughout Perry County would cost $30-35 million. The next round of federal funding, called the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, has $42.45 billion available. The county plans to apply for approximately $26 million from the BEAD program to complete broadband coverage. The county will work with vetted vendors and ensure affordable internet access for residents.
“They’re looking for large projects,” Watson said regarding BEAD funding. “They’re not looking for the couple million-dollar projects, but they’re also putting a concentration on finishing things. A rough estimate by our consultants put the cost at approximately $26 million to finish broadband. I’m going to try to put enough applications in to cover the $26 million.”
Watson said that the first round of funding was hard-won. She traveled to Harrisburg many times to speak with state officials about the lack of broadband access in the county. She’ll be redoubling her efforts, she said, during the application process for BEAD funding, which is expected to be released within a year.
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