Wayne County broadband, 5G project looks to bring internet to underserved areas

Tech consultant, Kelly Lewis, presented a $12 million proposal to the Wayne County Board of Commissioners on October 20 which looks to bring internet access and 5G mobile networks to previously unserved parts of the county.

"The Commissioners and the Wayne County Broadband project have been knee-deep in trying to resolve this issue," said Lewis, noting discussions range back at least 10 years "So what we've been doing with this project is trying to get everybody to work together."

"Unlike other projects that I've worked on," Lewis continued, "we've got the three school districts. We've got the hospital and the three bans. We've got the county government and townships very supporting of this project, so we're excited to get this up and moving."

Read how the project started:Wayne County announces survey, first steps towards faster broadband internet development

Lewis' plan proposes the installation of over 20 new towers capable of supporting 5G cell service, broadband internet speeds, and what he described as "fiber along the pathway." What this means is that, in buiilding the network of 20 new towers, contractors will also lay fiber optic wires to improve internet speeds. These lines can then be tapped at a later date to branch the fiber optic connections to more places in a given location.

"What we're coming up with was a $12 million project that's primarily funded by the providers themselves that leverages our existing infrastructure here in Wayne County," said Lewis, noting additional funding exists in federal grants and other places.

The installed towers should bring 5G to more than 1,000 households which didn't have it before, Lewis explained. He noted the price to hook up to this service is estimated to be $60 per month.

Lewis explained 5G is the next generation of communication technology which offers upload and download speeds much faster than what many in the county can get.

Additionally, the new tower network looks to bring broadband to roughly 500 homes which previously had no internet connection and allow space for the county install more 911 relay equipment for better dispatch coverage.

"What we're trying to do is make Wayne County the model county for rural broadband," said Lewis. "We're near some famous cities…and this is a great way to get Wayne County positioned early as a place where the industry can make investments and get a strong return on investment."

A sample map of the proposed tower locations shows they will be distributed in areas where there are few other towers or none at all. This sees the majority of the proposed towers in the eastern half of the county and in northern municipalities. These locations are "flexible" said Lewis, noting that as funding and construction materializes, the locations may adjust slightly as needed.

While this will improve connectivity for many parts of the county, Lewis noted the project is only phase one of a multi-part infrastructure improvement plan.

"There's really not a county in the United States that has 100 percent coverage," said Lewis. "We see this definitely in the norther tier of Pennsylvania, that there's lots of dead cell zones."

"Wayne County's got a lot of hills and valleys," he continued. "It's very difficutl to get 100 percent service here, so this is the first step to build these towers out around the bigger dead cell zone areas. Then we can come back to phase two and phase three to get more towers and more coverage."

Learn about other broadband efforts:CARES Act funding boosts broadband connectivity

Lewis explained some challenges to broadband infrastructure in Wayne County include the Delaware River running along its eastern border, numerous acres of forest and undeveloped land, and the high cost/low return for companies to install the necessary infrastructure.

Prior to the project's start, local school districts had already created hubs of internet development around each of their school buildings. Those districts have provided input and pledged funding to this project to help further broadband development in the county to benefit their students and those students' families.

"We've found that, through our e-rate funding and federal programs, the schools were able to deliver fiber optics to our schools, especially in northern Wayne County," explained Scott Miller, Director of Technology at Wayne Highlands School District. Miller has also contributed input to county broadband development projects. "Because it was basically hybrid when we ordered the fiber to the school itself, we were able to bring the ISP down the roads and in turn those companies start delivering broadband to those students and households," nearby.

To generate this proposal, Lewis undertook a county-wide connectivity survey earlier this year. In total, 121 business owners and 1,600 household residents responded.

In total, there were over 3,300 survey responses identifying cellular dead zones within Wayne County. "They were capped at three different dead cell zones," said Lewis, "So I'm sure there would have been, you know, thousands more."

Lewis noted that a lack of cellular connectivity is especially problematic in the modern age as 93% of 911 calls are made from cell phones.

Over the next few months, Lewis will present this proposal throughout the county to service providers and employers to gather more partnerships to bring it to life.

"We're pretty confident we're going to get $3.4 million and get this project started before year end," said Lewis.

This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Wayne County broadband, 5G development plans for 20 new towers