IE 11 Not Supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

Internet Expansion Underway for Communities in Rural Oregon

Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties, along with the Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments, are working together on this initiative to expand broadband needs to underserved populations within the area.

Aerial,View,Of,Mobile,Phone,Cell,Tower,Over,Forested,Rural
Shutterstock
(TNS) — People living in Linn County may be able to look forward to faster and more reliable home internet speeds in the future, but it will only happen if enough community members participate in at-home speed tests.

Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties, along with the Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments, are working together on this initiative to expand broadband needs to underserved populations within the area. The need for better home connections became apparent during the pandemic, Linn County Technology Director Steve Braaten said, when people experienced connectivity issues working and learning from home.

"It's always kind of been a problem, and it's never really been addressed," Braaten said. "We've seen little pockets of the United States improve, but overall, we haven't improved much as a country compared to other nations."

Those spearheading the project are encouraging people in the community to run at-home speed tests to identify the areas where federal funding is most needed to boost broadband needs within the county. People can visit www.fasterinternetoregon.org, and the program will automatically generate a report of upload and download speeds.

Braaten said the recently passed federal infrastructure deal includes expansion for broadband, so the county is trying to capture those funds while they're available and use them to increase internet access as a county.

"The focus of this is not to provide faster internet for downtown Albany," Braaten said. "This really is for rural areas where we don't have good broadband coverage, for towns such as Sweet Home where they do not have high speed internet."

He added that there are some areas in which the county will never be able to provide high speed internet, such as a home high up in the mountains where it is financially impossible to serve their broadband needs. The goal is to serve a majority of the population, he said.

Greater Albany Public Schools is a key participant in the initiative, and GAPS Technology Director Rob Singleton said the district's communications team is working to get parents engaged in these at-home speed tests.

When students transitioned to remote learning in March 2020, emergency COVID-19 relief funds allowed the district to deliver T-Mobile hotspots to whoever needed them. The district provided nearly 430 hotspots, Singleton said, and many of those are still in use.

There were three main reasons, he said, why so many students and staff needed these hotspots: Either their homes had no internet, a very poor internet connection or there were too many people working from the same household at once to result in quality service for everyone.

So, when can people expect to experience faster internet in their homes?

The county is currently in a six-month research period to identify where federal funding is needed. This will be followed by a grant application process, and hopefully, Braaten said, people will start to see significant changes in their internet speeds in about two years.

The at-home tests are private, meaning no personally identifiable information will be stored beyond the address residents provide. Information will not be used for commercial or marketing purposes.

"This could result in new service into their residence, or better service at a lower cost," Singleton said. "That's the skin in the game for them to want to participate. It could result in something better."

© 2022 Albany Democrat-Herald, Ore. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.