Some complained that accessing a website or turning a screen page during remote lessons happened at a snail’s pace, even though the school district provided students with laptops and computer equipment.
“It was surprising to me how many there were,” said Zembower, whose commission district covers most of east Seminole’s rural communities. “And there are some areas of my district — way out in Geneva, for example — which do not have [internet] access at all. ... We also were hearing from our urban people who said we have internet, but it’s so slow or takes too long to connect.”
Now county officials want to know which pockets of Seminole lack connectivity or high-speed access to the internet and ultimately set up a plan to improve broadband services to those areas. The county is earmarking $4.7 million from the $92 million in COVID-19 relief money it is scheduled to receive through the American Rescue Plan Act toward the effort.
As part of the project, Seminole officials are asking every resident to complete a survey launched last week that asks questions about their home’s internet access and speed. The survey and speed test can be taken online on their home computer through April 29 at the county’s website, seminolecountyfl.gov. If a cell phone is a resident’s only way to access the internet, they should use a local Wi-Fi connection through the mobile device to complete the survey.
Residents who cannot access the web-based survey can request a printed version by calling 407-665-7219.
The best time to take the survey and conduct the speed test is between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., when most people are accessing the internet, officials said.
The county is also putting up posters and distributing paper surveys in Seminole’s rural areas to encourage residents to take part in the project.
“In areas where we’re not getting any responses, we’re going to send postcards to them to make sure they are getting the information,” said Meloney Koontz, assistant county manager.
Lack of broadband is an issue plaguing not just pockets of Seminole but communities across Florida. The problem was realized in the early days of the pandemic when many of the state’s students and adults started working from home and struggled with subpar access to the internet.
That lack of access is linked to two factors: a deficient infrastructure in the county’s rural hard-to-reach areas and the high cost of broadband that has made high-speed internet access unaffordable, especially for low-income families or retirees on fixed-incomes in urban areas, officials said.
Federal officials estimate that roughly 30 million Americans live in areas that lack broadband.
According to a recent study by the Federal Communications Commission, about 68% of households in Seminole have access to broadband. But the U.S. Census calculates the access at 90%. By comparison, in Orange County, the FCC calculates that 71% of households have access to broadband, while the Census Bureau says it’s about 87%.
Pointing to the disparities in the percentages, Seminole officials say they want to conduct a survey that more accurately tells how many households lack broadband and where those homes are located.
Michael Lawrence, a spokesman for the Seminole school district, said lack of broadband access was “absolutely an issue” when the pandemic slowed life to a crawl for students. The district provided Wi-Fi hot spot devices to Seminole students who lacked broadband access.
“It has a major impact on our student families who use computer devices to do homework,” Lawrence said about lack of broadband access. “There are still children who still have to do quarantine, and they still have to connect with their student portal. .. And God forbid there is another pandemic.”
Last year, Seminole used about $200,000 of the federal money to hire Magellan Advisors to conduct the study and survey. The Denver-based firm is scheduled to present its report and recommendations to county commissioners in July.
“We really want to know: Who has it and who doesn’t? How fast is it or how slow it is?” Koontz said about broadband access across Seminole. “And whether someone can afford it or not.”
Zembower said commissioners will then come up with a plan, which may include the county working with private providers to improve the infrastructure or provide financial assistance to households that need it.
“We’re really trying to look at the landscape of broadband and see what is the best process moving forward so that all of our residents can have access to highspeed internet,” Zembower said. “But this is not meant to supplement the cost of broadband on someone’s monthly bill.”
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