County officials urge citizens to respond to internet survey
Like the old saying, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” Draper Supervisor Dirk Compton is urging county residents to speak up and respond to a broadband internet study and survey going on now in Pulaski County.
“It’s important we get these surveys filled out,” said Compton at a recent meeting of the Board of Supervisors.
He said responses to the survey will help determine “what kind of service we’re going to get or if we’re going to get it or not.”
“If we don’t show interest we’re not going to get it, so if you guys like broadband and all that good stuff, you need to start pushing your neighbors to get that survey filled out,” Compton urged.
County Administrator Jonathan Sweet agreed, noting a strong response is needed especially in Compton’s Draper District.
“We’re trying to determine the demand and that’s ultimately how we’re going to be judged,” Sweet said. “How much demand is there, how much interest is there, and how many people don’t have that 25/3 upload and download speed, which is considered the minimum desirable internet speed.”
Recently the county announced a regional initiative to study broadband internet accessibility and capacity. The study is part of a larger three-county broadband project which includes Bland and Montgomery counties along with Appalachian Power and private internet service providers.
The intent of the study is to establish the demand for broadband service and to develop a plan to deploy fiber optic and other broadband infrastructure to both un-served and under-served areas of the three counties.
Montgomery County recently completed a similar comprehensive broadband study. Pulaski and Bland Counties are now working together with the same consultants (Thompson & Litton / Blue Ridge Advisory Services Group), to analyze their current broadband capacity.
Pulaski County residents are being asked to complete a short survey to assist in obtaining information for the study. The survey can be accessed from the Pulaski County website at: www.pulaskicounty.org
As part of the survey, residents are requested to conduct an internet speed study using their home internet connection, not a cellular connection, and report back those findings. If residents do not have access to the internet, that information can be reported as well. Please notify Pulaski County Administration at: (540) 980-7705 with your name and street address so that this information can be recorded.
“This exciting initiative is in addition to the substantial investments in infrastructure the County is currently making in both Snowville and Hiwassee to provide service availability to more than 2,000 of our citizens through fixed-based wireless solutions,” Sweet said.
At their Nov. 23 meeting, the Board of Supervisors learned the county had been successful in applying for a Fast Track Broadband grant of $391,277 that will be used to construct two telecommunications towers at the Hiwassee and Snowville Volunteer Fire Departments.
The towers will have line-of-sight to the county’s tower on Peaks Knob and will address the problem of little to no connectivity in the Hiwassee and Snowville areas of the county.
The project will deploy broadband to approximately 2,050 individuals living in 900 residential units as well as improve public safety and first responder communications, service and response in the two areas.
With the COVID-19 pandemic there is now an unprecedented need for high quality, dependable broadband access for citizens across the county to learn, work and receive medical care and emergency services, which the project will provide.
According to an earlier press release from the county, for the purpose of this study, the federal definition of broadband internet is being used which is service at 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds or higher.
The project will involve installing fiber optic cable upon Appalachian Power’s utility poles, with the added benefit of providing a more robust communications platform for the company’s deployment of new electric meters and distribution automation (DA). The new smart meters and DA equipment improve service reliability for power customers.
Space on Appalachian Power’s middle-mile fiber infrastructure will then be leased to qualified private internet service providers. Appalachian Power’s pilot broadband projects are made possible by the 2018 Grid Security and Transformation Act, 2019 Broadband Pilot Program legislation. Grayson County is the site of the first pilot project of that act and this regional project is anticipated to be the next area to be developed.
Appalachian Power is currently developing a preliminary middle-mile fiber design.
Following the broadband study of Pulaski and Bland Counties, Appalachian Power’s intention is to file an application seeking project approval from the Virginia State Corporation Commission in the first half of 2021. The three-county pilot project is projected to serve approximately 15,000 new unserved broadband customers. The project involves installing a 96-strand fiber optic cable on Appalachian Power’s utility poles consistent with the Grayson County project. This pilot project will require approval from the Virginia State Corporation Commission. State and federal grant funds may be necessary to further assist the localities and private internet service providers with the last-mile infrastructure buildout.
By MIKE WILLIAMS, The Patriot