BHJ collects comment on Internet needs

FOLLANSBEE -- Area residents had an opportunity to comment on present Internet service, or lack of it, available to them while learning of ongoing efforts to extend high-speed Wi-Fi to all parts of the state on Monday morning at the Brooke County Senior Center.

The stop was the last of several in Brooke and Hancock counties made by Craig Brown, community planning director for the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission, in an effort to collect data supporting the efforts by the West Virginia Office of Broadband and others.

Brown was accompanied by Derek Zelkowski, digital equity officer and project coordinator for the office, who listened as a handful of women told them they have been forced to use up data plans for their cell phones to access the internet and when they do have access to home-based internet service, it's very slow and frequently stalls.

Zelkowski told the attendees, "We're writing the plan to solve these problems and the next few years, putting the plan in motion."

He noted $90 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds awarded to the state and $10 million in state funds have been allocated for the extension of high-speed Wi-Fi through several internet providers, with Comcast to receive more than $10 million to reach many unserved or underserved areas of the Northern Panhandle.

Zelkowski said a target area map on the broadband office's website at https://broadband.wv.gov identifies targeted addresses with blue dots, with more tentative ones designated by yellow dots.

He said West Virginia differs from many states in that it has drawn from data from the U.S. Census Bureau and emergency 911 centers to determine the unserved areas.

Zelkowski said data collected at the BHJ meetings can be used to apply for more funding to be made available through the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.

He said he anticipates the office conducting its own online survey in the future.

Hancock County Commissioner Eron Chek, who attended Monday's program, suggested BHJ continue its programs at other locations.

While no others have been announced at this time, Brown said that's quite possible.

He said through those it has held, he has learned, "A lot of people are served but they want more reliability."

Brown said he's heard from some who use the internet to work from home, full- and part-time, and many who use it for social interaction, including contact with family members who live away; or entertainment, including streaming services.

Residents attending Monday's program said they also use it, or would use it, to pay bills online, schedule medical appointments or to set up web-based security systems to protect their homes against theft.

Brown noted local internet users are of all ages, saying, "We are hitting a lot of demographics here."

Chek said she's heard from mothers of young children who want to ensure the youths have access to Wi-Fi for their school work.

Brown said he and others also have been working to inform residents they may be eligible for the Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program, which offers a monthly discount of up to $30 on Internet bills for households with lower incomes.

Such households include those eligible for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, Medicaid, federal public housing assistance, aid through Women Infants and Children and Supplemental Security Income and those in which a member receives a veteran's pension or survivor benefits or is a current recipient of a federal Pell grant.

Information about the program can be found at www.affordableconnectivity.gov