A coalition of groups, including Southern Chester County Digital Equity Coalition and Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority are looking to improve Internet access and cellphone service in Chester County. To that end, they and the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce, held a listening session in Kennett Square Monday to explain how to accomplish that goal.
According to state Sen. John Kane, D-9, “There are areas that are suffering without broadband.”
A press release sent out before the meeting, “The purpose of the Coalition is to come together as a Southern Chester County community initiative to address and advocate for digital equity in a way that focuses on the most vulnerable members of our community (low-income, non- English speakers, seniors), in the areas of access and literacy, so that each and all can pursue educational, social, and economic opportunities leading to greater community investment.”
But to make that happen, the FCC and the Broadband Development Authority need to know where those dead spots in coverage are.
Brandon Carson, the executive director of the authority, said his organization has $279 million to work with, and the federal government has more than $1 billion to fill in those dead spots to improve broadband coverage.
Ironically, one of the ways to let the authority and the FCC know where those gaps are is to go online at https://broadbandmap.fcc.gov/home and do an address search. Obviously, that’s not something that people without access can do from home, but Carson said they could use a community-based access point, such as a local library to get access.
If the map shows the property is covered by broadband, but the location isn’t covered, that discrepancy can be challenged on that site’s help page, found here.
Kalie Snyder, also from the Broadband Development Authority said the mapping and challenges would continue, but there is a current FCC deadline of Jan. 13 to get the information in. However, she added, continue to check, and challenge the mapping even after Jan. 13 because there will be updates.
Work to plug those gaps in coverage is expected to start sometime in 2023.
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