(8/2023) July has been a busy month for broadband activity in the Pennsylvania and Adams County and it foretells any even business remainder to 2023. The first large item is that county staff and our broadband taskforce analyzed and came to a final decision on a federal Capital Projects Fund grant. Additionally, there have been a few conferences in Pennsylvania, where we were able to make our case for why rural outreach is critical in developing a broadband plan and applying for grants.

The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) just released their five-year plan for the federal BEAD program grants. Meanwhile, the Broadband Taskforce is close to receiving our final Broadband Feasibility Study report, which, along with the state plan, will enable us to begin our own strategic planning efforts. It’s been a busy month and now the hard work begins for the task force, county staff and hopefully for some dedicated residents and businesses in Adams County.

Since April the Adams County Broadband Task Force has been focused on a specific broadband grant. On April 10th Senator Bob Casey came to Gettysburg to announce the release of $200 million for broadband expansion. The Capital Projects Fund had been on the top of our list, as these funds specifically target rural communities that lack access to affordable broadband. As the task force was working with staff and consultants to create a county application for $10 million, we were approached by three separate companies to support their projects.

Knowing that the state is unlikely to fund multiple projects in one county, the taskforce began reviewing these other applications. At their July 18th meeting the task force determined that it was in the interest of county residents and businesses that they recommend the county support Comcast’s application for Capital Project Funds. While I did not see this coming, after seeing the details of the Comcast proposal, I had to agree with the taskforce. The county commissioners followed up on July 26th to formally accept the recommendation and approved a letter of support for Comcast’s application.

Quite simply, the Comcast application served more locations and underserved residents, than the county proposal did. The board of commissioner agreed that they should support whichever entity had the best application. We and our staff all accepted that the Comcast proposal did that better than our own proposal. Supporting the Comcast application also allowed the county to preserve Covid Relief Act funds, which we had set aside for our local match. These funds can now be applied to future broadband grant applications. Fingers crossed that the state looks favorably on this application.

Meanwhile, I had the privilege of being asking to serve on two separate panels highlighting rural public outreach efforts. On July 13th the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration hosted a broadband summit at Penn State University. In attendance were telecommunication companies, state and local elected officials, and businesses interested in broadband expansion. That panel was followed up a week later with a panel hosted by the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank on how local input is critical to developing a solid funding plan for broadband expansion. These panels stressed the importance of obtaining information about the needs of rural communities from residents in rural communities. I stressed the importance of creating a local broadband taskforce, as we have here, to make sure the right industries and population segments are at the table to discuss their concerns.

I honestly have to say that these were my first real professional panels and it was worth the stress to draw attention to our efforts and make a huge amount of contacts in the broadband field. There is so much more to learn than at these two events, I look forward to more.

On July 26th the PBDA released their long anticipated five-year action plan for the BEAD program (Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment). This action plan will serve as a blueprint for the state’s use of $1.16 billion in grants. These grants will again be focused on rural Pennsylvania counties, such as Adams.

The taskforce and county staff will quickly review this document and provide comment to the state prior to its final release. The taskforce also expects to receive our own Broadband Feasibility study from Design Nine, one of our broadband consultants, in the coming weeks. The taskforce will have plenty of reading before their September meeting. These two documents are a huge step forward for the state and the county, as we plan how best to apply for BEAD funds.

The next step for the task force is the development of a countywide broadband strategic plan. Our vision, as outlined in the county resolution, which created the broadband task force is that every Adams County resident and business has access to affordable hi-speed internet services. Currently, funding sources are focused on under or unserved residents, but our vision is larger than just bringing everyone up to an acceptable level. Our vision is for everyone to have it. The three pillars that support this goal are, access, affordability, and digital literacy. Basically, what is access worth, if it isn’t affordable or someone doesn’t know how to use the internet. Sort of like having a racetrack, but not owning a sports car or a drivers license. We need all three to create a community where success becomes the inevitable outcome.

In order to learn the issues on the ground in Adams County, the taskforce is creating subcommittees to help with the effort. There should be committees focused on access, affordability, and digital literacy, but with enough community volunteers we could also expand that list. I envision committees focused on specific industries, such as agriculture and tourism, as well as, committees focused on specific user groups, such as the unserved populations, small businesses, education, medical needs, large data consumers, etc… In order to do this, we need your help.

It is critical that the task force learn about the issues that locals are facing. It will take local information AND following commonly held best practices for this project and future grant applications to be successful. With over a billion dollars on the table, we must add more people to our effort. Every rural county is at a digital crossroads. We have an unprecedented amount of funding set aside for rural broadband. I hope Adams County residents and businesses embrace this opportunity and we use it to move forward as a community.

To that end, if any readers want to learn more about the task force and how you can help, let me know. I am available at mqually@adamscountypa.gov or you can give me a call at 717-339-6514.