In an effort to expand high-speed broadband service, Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper's administration is asking residents, especially those with slow broadband service or no service at all, to complete a short survey. The results will help the county determine areas that need addressed as officials work with Internet service providers, utility companies, broadband organizations, municipalities and the state and federal governments to expand access.
The survey is available online at https://broadband.eriecountypa.gov or by calling (814) 451-7440.
The goal is expand broadband access to all of the county's 274,541 residents. Broadband is defined as minimum speeds of 25 megabits per second for downloads and 3 megabits per second for uploads.
Currently, 99 percent of the geographic area north of Interstate 90 has access to high-speed broadband service, but only 25 percent of the area south of the interstate does.
The coverage area is expected to grow some by 2020, opening up broadband services to thousands of Erie County residents. Specifically, broadband access will expand to an area bound by Peach Street on the west, I-90 and I-86 to the north, and an area that roughly runs from Route 89, Route 8 and Wattsburg Road on the east and south.
It's part of a project by Butler-based Armstrong Broadband, which began installation last fall.
Armstrong received $2.6 million from the federal Connect America Fund and another $1.2 million from Pennsylvania's Broadband Investment Incentive Program. Shawn Beqaj, Armstrong's vice president of regulatory policy and interconnection, told the Erie Times-News in March that the company is spending as much as three times that amount to expand to those areas of southern and eastern Erie County.
But without the grant funds, he said at the time, the expansion wouldn't be possible long-term. The cost to install, maintain and operate lines in areas where there are only four or five homes per mile wouldn't be profitable, he said.
That's why other Internet service providers have been hesitant to expand in rural areas, including those in Erie, Crawford and Mercer counties.
The county's survey will help identify gaps in coverage and determine where state and federal funding should be used.
"We encourage all residents to take the survey, either on their computer, on their mobile device or by phone," Dahlkemper said in a prepared statement. "We are working hard to make high-speed Internet more affordable and accessible in all corners of the county, but we need input from our citizens to help make that happen."
The survey website also lists alternative broadband options for residents who live outside an existing coverage area. Those options include mobile and satellite broadband services.
©2019 the Erie Times-News (Erie, Pa.)Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
