Pennsylvania getting $200M for broadband improvements
Butler County municipalities may get funding for broadband expansion projects thanks to the approval of federal money to improve Pennsylvania broadband infrastructure.
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., the White House, U. S. Treasury and Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority announced the approval of $200 million in federal funding on Monday, April 10.
Brandon Carson, executive director for the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority, said the authority is releasing guidelines for a competitive grant program that organizations can apply to for capital projects relating to broadband.
“The Broadband Infrastructure Program will provide funding to businesses, nonprofits, local governments and economic development organizations with the goal of achieving last-mile connections and enabling access to universal high-speed internet for unserved and underserved areas,” Carson said.
Butler County Commissioner Chairwoman Leslie Osche said Worth, Muddy Creek and Lancaster townships had approached county commissioners with requests to improve internet access in their municipalities. Through the federal money, these improvement projects could receive funding and close gaps in service, Osche said.
“It would basically be extending lines in service,” she said. “We will convene with the local provider, in this case Armstrong, and the three municipalities that applied for American Rescue Plan Act funds for broadband and look at the application to be sure that the projects they are looking at will fit the requirements.”
In January, a number of areas in Butler County were included among about 35,000 locations statewide submitted as part of a bulk challenge to the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Map.
Carson said at the time that “submitting these inaccuracies will help ensure Pennsylvania receives adequate federal funding for high-speed internet access.”
“I think it’s important to mention that we’re not looking to re-create any planning work that’s already been done,” Carson said.
Worth Township supervisor Fred Brezel said communities such as his depend on grants for help with broadband because their budgets can’t fund the cost of installation.
Upon meeting with Armstrong, township supervisors were informed that broadband instillation would cost nearly $2 million, Brezel said in January.
At a news conference Monday, Casey said funding successful broadband infrastructure projects could lead to further federal funding in the future.
“This money is vital, but this funding is only the beginning,” Casey said. “We’ve got a lot more to do, and that’s why the infrastructure law, the infrastructure investment and jobs act is going to be vital to those future investments, future announcements of funding for high-speed internet.”
Casey also said he has heard stories of parents taking their children to school parking lots just so they could access the internet, which demonstrates the need for broadband infrastructure.
“Kids cannot do their homework without high-speed internet,” Casey said. “We know how vital it is, almost equivalent to what electricity was for generations before us.”
