Pennsylvania is in line to receive millions in funding to help expand broadband access to residents in the state.

Before that can happen, Butler County and surrounding areas plan to challenge a broadband coverage map made by the Federal Communications Commission that will determine how much federal funding the state and its counties will receive.

“All together, Pennsylvania could see a billion dollars to build out broadband statewide, which was created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that Congress passed,” Butler County Commissioner Kim Geyer said. “There are two buckets of funding. One addresses broadband equity access and deployment, and that’s roughly $42 billion nationally, and another $279 million will come through the American Rescue Plan Act.”

Federal funding is based around the FCC map that shows a majority of the county has access to broadband, but Butler County commissioners explained that while some residents have access to it, the broadband is not necessarily of the highest quality.

“Sometimes that service is weak or unstable,” Geyer said. “You get knocked off or lose service. This map will show areas with service, but the discrepancy comes when there are low signals. We want to make sure areas in our county are stable.”

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