Calls to speed up Pa. broadband expansion renewed

HARRISBURG — The start of the 2021-22 legislative session brought renewed calls to give greater priority to expanding high-speed internet access to unserved and underserved areas of rural and urban Pennsylvania.

The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania has unveiled its priorities for 2021, placing broadband expansion No. 2 on its list.

Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Lycoming, chairman of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, said last week that “more needs to be done to ensure this essential service is available, and affordable, for all of our rural residents.”

The county commissioners want greater emphasis on creating partnerships among federal, state and local government and the private sector to develop strategies for broadband expansion in Pennsylvania.

The commissioners suggest that higher education and research centers can help develop the data needed to support broadband expansion.

“Communities cannot continue to wait for infrastructure that is critical to our economic vitality and our personal quality of life,” Mifflin County Commissioner Rob Postal said.

The challenge facing Pennsylvania is to provide reliable internet service to an estimated 800,000 residents.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed the lack of broadband availability and need for reliable and highspeed internet for businesses, education, health care, emergency services and agriculture, the commissioners said.

A recent study by the Joint State Government Commission said the pandemic has put regions without broadband access at a disadvantage in health care, education, agriculture and economic development.

The Legislature should follow up on recommendations made in a new study by the rural center, Mr. Yaw said.

He said the research in the study shows a willingness of rural Pennsylvanians to pay for highspeed services.

This study on “the cost and price elasticity” of broadband internet services in rural Pennsylvania suggests the “sweet spot” in that regard is in the under-$60-a-month range, he said.

Mr. Yaw suggested changing Pennsylvania’s current definition of broadband at a download speed of 1.544 megabits per second and an upload speed of 128 kilobits per second to meet or exceed the federal definition.

The Federal Communications Commission defines broadband as a download speed of 25 megabits per second and an upload speed of 3 megabits per second.

The study calls for a further study to find a formula to determine how much low-income households can afford to spend on broadband without having to sacrifice other necessities such as rent, food and medical care.

Two state laws enacted last year — Act 132, which provides $5 million to help start a broadband expansion fund, and Act 98, which eases restrictions on the ability of rural electric cooperatives and cable companies to attach broadband units to existing utility poles — will support this initiative, Mr. Yaw said.

He and the county commissioners association look to regional electric cooperatives as part of the solution to broadband expansion.

Mr. Yaw cited the example of the Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative in north-central Pennsylvania in this regard.

Tri-County is building a broadband network to install 2,800 miles of fiber lines during the next six years with the help of state and federal grants and loans.