County urges residents to review FCC broadband service map

Keith Gushard, The Meadville Tribune, Pa.
·3 min read

Jan. 5—Crawford County officials are reminding residents they have a little more than a week to review the accuracy of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) broadband map to ensure high-speed internet access.

The FCC's National Broadband Map shows where internet services are and are not available, as reported by internet service providers.

The map on the website — broadbandmap.fcc.gov — is meant to be the most accurate data collected down to the local level. The website also allows consumers and others to challenge information shown on the map that they believe is inaccurate.

However, there's a Jan. 13 deadline to review and submit any challenge regarding the FCC's map.

"It's really important for people to review because the allocation of federal money to the state and local level to expand broadband will be based on the (FCC) map," said Zach Norwood, Crawford County's planning director.

"The map may show they have access to internet, but it may not be at the federal standard for download speed," he added. "Households know whether they have (broadband) service or not, or even service at all."

High-speed broadband is defined by the FCC as a download speed of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speed of 3 Mbps, but it dates from 2015.

In July 2022, the commission proposed to increase the national broadband standard to 100 Mbps for download and 20 Mbps for upload. The proposal would require new broadband networks built with funds from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to meet those requirements. The 100 Mbps download speed is fast enough for a family of four to video conference and stream videos.

In 2022, the Crawford County Board of Commissioners conducted a countywide broadband internet survey of households to see where to commit funding. Commissioners and the county's American Rescue Plan Committee is committing more than $3 million of the county's federal American Rescue Plan Act funds toward broadband improvements.

The survey found residents in eastern and northeastern Crawford County need and want broadband service, according to Eric Henry, chairman of commissioners. He credited officials in the local municipalities with getting their respective residents to respond to the county's survey.

"We definitely can see a defined area of need," Henry said. "We have a large number of municipalities in the northeast corridor where there's a lack of high-speed service or even any service."

The county also is looking into the possibility of utilizing Starlink in some very remote areas of the county that may have no other option for broadband service, according to Henry. Starlink is a satellite-based internet service through Space Exploration Technologies Corp. or SpaceX.

ACCURACY AND CHALLENGES

Crawford County officials are urging all county residents to check the accuracy of the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Map regarding internet service. An accurate map will help identify communities most in need of funding for high-speed internet projects.

Go to broadbandmap.fcc.gov and search for your address. If the information provided is incorrect, submit a challenge directly through the website.

Availability challenges: If the information about the internet services available at a residence or other location is incorrect, dispute the information by clicking on the Availability Challenge link on the right side of the map and submit the form.

Location challenges: If the information about the location point of a residence or other location seems to be incorrect, submit a Location Challenge to correct the information on the location. The link is to the right of the address on the map. To add a location, click on the appropriate place on the map where the location should be and then click the "Challenge Location" button.

More information about Crawford County's plans for broadband expansion and to learn more on how to challenge the national data, go to the Crawford County Communications in the 21st Century website: crawford-county-communication-21st-century-crawfordcountypa.hub.arcgis.com.

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.