Mar 3, 2023 By Mike Jones, For The Greene County Messsenger 4 min read

news@greenecountymessenger.com

With initial high-speed internet expansion projects underway in Western Pennsylvania, area officials are now looking toward future broadband phases with more federal money becoming available in the coming years.

The next steps in the process were explained during a Regional Broadband & Connectivity Summit hosted Thursday by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission that brought together leaders from the 10-county area to discuss the next steps.

Fayette, Greene and Washington counties have been moving forward with various broadband projects over the past year to install high-speed internet in pockets with underserved or unserved areas, mainly using pandemic stimulus funds. But more phases will be getting underway soon with a portion from the federal government’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure act that is earmarked for telecommunications projects.

More than $45 billion is available through the Broadband Equity, Access and Development program that will be disbursed across the country for projects over a four-year period beginning in 2024. Pennsylvania is expected to receive about $1 billion and counties will be pushing to receive funds for local projects through the state’s Broadband Development Authority.

It’s still unclear whether the “BEAD” money will be funneled directly to internet service providers for the companies to decide which projects to pursue or if counties will have a significant say in the matter similar to public-private partnerships.

Greene County Commission Chairman Mike Belding sat on one of the panels to discuss the hurdles rural counties face in connecting residents in remote locations to broadband internet services. He thinks Greene County is already “ahead of the curve” with several projects either completed or in the planning stages that have include $9 million in federal stimulus money or corporate donations.

He thought the summit and the collaborative ideas that came from it will be beneficial as neighboring counties both compete and collaborate for available broadband funds.

“It’s a continued collaborative effort with SPC and their counties to try to garner our fair share, if not more, out of the programs that are going to be administered in the future and figure out what those requirements are and how we can work together regionally with side-by-side counties,” Belding said. “It was really well done. They had some high-level individuals with experience.”

However, Belding is also concerned that counties such as Greene that are already moving ahead with expansion projects could be punished if funds are diverted to places that are still in the planning stages. He added that many projects that are left in Greene County are more costly because telecommunications lines have to travel farther to fewer residents in rural areas.

“Our low-hanging fruit is gone,” Belding said. “The last part of it is going to be really hard. We’re talking about miles of fiber optics cables to get one or two residents.”

Fayette County Commissioner Vince Vicites, who is also secretary for the SPC board, said they’ve also been moving forward with broadband projects in their county with $6.5 million spent on initial phases and another $2.5 million ready for additional ones. He said Fayette County is currently working on a countywide plan broadband feasibility plan that will be completed in March, which is perfect timing for the new funding stream that could start to be disbursed by the end of the year.

“We needed to get up to speed on all of the opportunities that are available,” Vicites said of the summit that he attended through video conferencing. “We will be in a position with the countywide plan in place knowing what we want to do next and getting our game plan ready to go to aggressively seek these grant funds.”

There are also “middle mile” routes that counties are pursuing to install fiber optic lines along state highways that can later be connected to nearby homes or neighborhoods.

“Once we get it to those we can move them out to the homes,” Vicites said.

Washington County has already approved several phases for multiple projects using $30 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding over the past year.

The county recently put out requests for proposals for 10 additional groupings and received 47 bids from seven companies that would represent $278 million in total investment. While not all of those projects may be feasible, the infrastructure act’s “BEAD” money will likely help county officials to expand the broadband footprint to more residents, according to Washington County Authority Director John Timney, who moderated one of the panel discussions during the summit.

“This inaugural broadband symposium hosted by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission was well-timed and perfectly executed,” Timney said in a written statement. “Pennsylvania is in a pre-planning mode in receiving hundreds of millions of dollars related to the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program. The audience received recommendations on key criteria and timing (in 2024).”