Putnam County Gets Low Scores In National Analysis Of Broadband Expansion

One West Virginia county is being used as a case study in a report on broadband deployment across the country.

Putnam County received an overall low score, only six out of 20 points, on the Communications Workers of America’s (CWA) “Report Card for Broadband Projects Funded by the American Rescue Plan” (ARPA).  

The county entered a contract in February 2023 with Mountain State Fiber to deploy a 57-mile fiber-optic network that will serve as a middle mile backbone available for lease to internet service providers. As of June 2024, the Putnam County broadband director confirmed to CWA that the project is approximately 15 percent complete and is targeted to be finished by the end of 2024.

Ceilidh Gao, strategic research associate for CWA, said that as ARPA funds for broadband are spent, it gives communities an idea of how incoming funds from the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act will be spent.

“You know, the ARPA dollars really provide an educational example for us of what are best practices,” she said. “We all have an interest in seeing that this money fulfills its promise, connects all Americans, and also does so in a way that creates good jobs, in a way that’s publicly transparent and accountable and in a way that creates quality, long lasting infrastructure, which is really going to stand the test of time, and make sure that these funds are a good use of our public dollars.”

The report card evaluated fourteen county-level broadband projects on how well they incorporated transparency, equity, and labor standards within their selection process. Putnam County scored well for investing in fiber optics, for high wages and hiring local workers, but missed out on points for transparency and affordability. 

“When things are publicly disclosed, or when contracts are made publicly available, the public and stakeholders can play a part in giving feedback on how a program runs and also holding companies accountable to the promises that they make,” Gao said. “So to us, we see transparency as a pretty key part of a program that functions well.”

Putnam County received no points in the CWA’s transparency category. The report states the contract was not available to the public, reducing possible public participation, and information on funding for the project was only available in an audio recording of a meeting. There was also no map or timeline of the project. 

On affordability, Gao said that as a middle-mile project Putnam’s network build has not committed to participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program. (ACP) 

“ACP renewal is a big priority for CWA, and finding a path to have low income families have a broadband subsidy, because one of the big issues is, once the network is built, that’s great, but are the people in the area able to afford that service?” she said.