West Virginia's Broadband Deployment Council Story Archives

Despite A Decade Of Promises, Fixing Our Digital Divide Is As Slow As Country Dial Up

The pandemic has taught us the value of the internet; for work, school, even to order the essentials of life. The past year has also exposed the brutal realities of the digital divide. Access to reliable, fast internet is essential for city and country dwellers. In this episode of Us & Them, we’ll hear about the internet challenges from residents of rural Pocahontas County, West Virginia. Its stunning rolling farmland is home to the Green Bank Observatory, a high tech facility that can communicate with distant planets. Despite more than a decade of federal initiatives across the country, internet service in this isolated area cannot match speed with grazing cows or is nonexistent. One customer there calls it “dependably unreliable.”

After more than 10 years of federal money and a lot of inaction, we look at why high-speed internet service hasn’t found its way into more rural West Virginia homes.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and the West Virginia Humanities Council.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond. You also can listen to Us & Them on WVPB Radio — tune in on the fourth Thursday of every month at 8 p.m., with an encore presentation on the following Saturday at 3 p.m.

Ten Reasons Why W.Va. Should Build a High-Speed Broadband Network

West Virginia has some of the lowest rates of broadband access at some of the slowest speeds in the nation.

Sen. Chris Walters, R-Putnam, wants state government to build a sort of fiber-optic interstate highway and then lease it to private providers. The goal is to bring high internet speeds at cheaper costs.

On The Front Porch podcast, Walters gave ten reasons for building the network:

1. West Virginia has some of the slowest internet speeds in the U.S. and is slower than Romania and Bulgaria.

2. In the U.S., 17 percent of households lack access to advanced broadband service. In urban West Virginia: 56 percent, rural West Virginia: 74 percent

3. Slow connections are bad for business. Walters met a Pocahontas County farmer who wants to sell his livestock online, but doesn’t have broadband, so has to use an Alabama broker.

4. Businesses that move here, even to our cities, are shocked at their slow connections, Walters said, and therefore are unlikely to expand.

5. It’s also about education, he said. If you’re connection drops while you are taking an online test, you can fail the test.

6. What’s missing is the so-called “middle mile” between individual homes and the nationwide fiber networks.

7. Walter’s plan: build 2,500 “middle miles” of fiber connection costing $72 million. Two miles of interstate road construction costs $80 million.

8. How to pay for it: FCC grants for telemedicine, Department of Defense grants for wired line 911 emergency system, and bonds that would be repaid with proceeds from companies using the fiber network.

9. Opposition is coming mainly from existing providers that don’t want competition, Walters said.

10. The system would be operated by the state Water Development Authority. “All fiber is, is pipes – pipes with some cords in them.” The state WDA has bonding authority.

Subscribe to “The Front Porch” podcast on iTunes or however you listen to podcasts.

An edited version of “The Front Porch” airs Fridays at 4:50 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s radio network, and the full version is available above.

Share your opinions with us about these issues, and let us know what you’d like us to discuss in the future. Send a tweet to @radiofinn or @wvpublicnews, or e-mail Scott at sfinn @ wvpublic.org

The Front Porch is underwritten by The Charleston Gazette Mail, providing both sides of the story on its two editorial pages. Check it out: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/

W.Va. Broadband Council to Disband at End of Year

West Virginia’s Broadband Deployment Council plans to disband at the end of year.

The council is charged with expanding high-speed Internet in the state. The Legislature denied the council’s request this year for another $5 million to provide grants for broadband projects.

Without more funding, the council’s chairman, Dan O’Hanlon, tells the Charleston Gazette that there’s nothing left to do except report on past grants.

The Legislature allocated $5 million when the council was created five years ago. The council has distributed about $3.7 million in grants.

The council also hired a consulting firm to review grant applications and create an online map of broadband service in West Virginia.

O’Hanlon says the council has about $800,000 in leftover funds. The money will be spent on project audits and reports.