By: Jaron Harper
Region VII Planning & Development Council (Region VII) received a sub-grant award from the WV Office of Broadband to assist in data collection that will be used to develop the State’s Digital Equity (DE) and Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Region VII hosted a listening session for Tucker County on Thursday, April 13, at 1 p.m. at the Canaan Valley Resort & Conference Center to gather input. The entire region is considered rural, and sessions were open to the public.
- Individuals who live in covered households, meaning those earning at or below 150% of the federal poverty line.
- Aging Populations (60+)
- Individuals with Disabilities
- Veterans
- Individuals who primarily reside in a rural area – all West Virginia residents within the Region VII boundaries
- Populations with a language barrier, including English language learners and low literacy populations; and
- Members of a racial or ethnic minority group.
There are definitely advantages of living in a small rural area: Privacy, nature, local communities. However, to match these positives, there is one flaw that just about outweighs these bonuses due the change of technology and its incorporation into modern life. WI-FI access. The slow rates offered at inflated costs are not cutting it for the changing needs of Tucker County citizens, and upgrades are needed for them to improve the broadband infrastructure they have access to. Thankfully, there just might be some of these improvements coming to not only Tucker County, but all West Virginia within the next three plus years.
The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, “funded by the Bipartisan infrastructure law, is a federal grant program that aims to get all Americans online by funding partnerships between states or territories, communities, and stakeholders to build infrastructure where we need it and increase adoption of high-speed internet.” As stated in their detailed plan for the next three plus years, eligible entries to this plan includes all 50 states and DC, while the eligible use of funds include: “planning for the development of high-speed internet, including conducting research, collecting data, outreach, and training – deploying or upgrading internet in unserved or underserved area or improving service to community anchor organizations – installing internet and WI-FI in multi-unit residential building – adoption and digital equity programs – and workforce development programs and vocational training.” This includes the current five year planning time that is due to local government agencies by the end of this year, and a four year implementation process planned for 2024-2026 plus.
The equity programs mentioned above include and supply funds for: State Planning program – a $60M formula grant program for states to develop digital equity plans, State Capacity Program – A $1,44B formula grant program that will fund an annual grant program for 5 years in support of digital equity projects and the implementation of digital equity programs, and a competitive program – a $1.25B grant program that also grants annual grants for five years.
However, as good as these plans sound when written on paper, some of the community shared their fears on the plans on Thursdays listening session offered to receive feedback from the demographic of Tucker County. For example, County Commissioner Mike Rosenau, stated that “I literally see the challenges my nephew faces when he is trying to complete online classes when required.” He also shared that his sister lives not that far out of Parsons. This reflects a common reality too, as almost all 11 of the participants in this session experienced the same thing at their homes. Some even stated challenges in work that are stressful and job threatening, resulting in an overall lack in residential and population development, as people do not want to move to a place with such a bad WI-FI infrastructure.
Finally, another interesting comparison that came from the local participants, was our infrastructure compared to that of other developed nations. These examples included Canada and Estonia. The Canadian example described that our neighbor to the north wanted high-speed Wi-Fi to promote the population of those rural areas, so they done it through funds and action. Estonia executed similar actions, however, they implemented a more “border to border” idea, like the one announced to Tucker County.
Therefore, progress is planned, but the citizens that have heard the repetitive news for better WI-FI in the area remain suspicious of these providers pulling through and completing this task. We will also not be seeing much progress until 2024, leaving some of the members with unanswered questions and weary hopes.
Feedback from listening sessions will be shared with state officials and used to outline their plan for future broadband deployment across the State of WV.
For more information, please visit https://internetforallwv.wv.gov/