Verizon receiving $13.5 million to bring high speed internet to Somerset County
Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority has approved $204 million in Broadband Infrastructure Program grant awards to 53 projects in 42 Pennsylvania counties.
“Too many Pennsylvanians don’t have the high-speed internet they need to do their homework, support their small business or stay connected with loved ones. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, we’re changing that,” said U.S. Sen. Bob Casey in a news release. “This funding will help close the digital divide in Pennsylvania communities that need it most, rural and urban areas alike.”
Somerset County will receive about $13.5 million of Verizon's requested $29.5 million to complete these three projects:
$17.5 million toward the general areas of Friedens, Hooversville, Stoystown, Hollsopple, Somerset and Boswell.
$9.95 million toward Friedens, Hollsopple, Boswell, Central City, Hooversville and Schellsburg.
$788,769 will go toward the Salisbury, Meyersdale, Springs and West Salisbury general areas.
Expanding broadband access: Accessing broadband in Somerset County one step closer
Executive Director Brandon Carson announced the awards will connect 40,000 homes and businesses, bringing high-speed internet to more than 100,000 Pennsylvanians, according to a DCED Office of Communications press release. The grants, awarded to businesses and nonprofits, will be matched by more than $200 million in private investment. The combined investment of more than $400 million will expand broadband in unserved and underserved areas of the Commonwealth, it said."Unserved and underserved home and/or business locations across 21 counties, including Blair, Clearfield, Huntingdon, McKean, Pike, Somerset, Warren and Westmoreland, will have access to our award-winning Fios service," said Jeff Kew, Great Lakes communication manager for Verizon, in an email. "These rural broadband projects, funded in partnership with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, will deliver fast, reliable fiber broadband service over Verizon’s tested and proven fiber-to-the-premises network, with symmetrical download and upload speeds of up to 1Gbps."
Projects awarded funding are to be completed by Dec. 31, 2026.
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“The impact of the nearly $13.5 million in combined awards to Verizon will address the issue of broadband access for a large number of our residents and businesses in Somerset County who don’t have service, or currently have service so slow, it is of no use," said Somerset County Commissioner Pamela Tokar-Ickes.
Project applications were evaluated based on criteria including the size and scope of the unserved or underserved Pennsylvania community where the project will be deployed, the experience and ability of the applicant to successfully deploy high-speed broadband service, affordability standards that include a low-cost option, criteria to support Pennsylvania’s workforce, a plan to ensure high adoption rates in proposed areas upon the project’s completion, and more, according to the press release.
“The PBDA has worked hard to ensure Pennsylvania receives the funding we need to address access and connectivity issues impacting communities across the Commonwealth – and today’s allocation of $204 million in awards is a significant step forward in getting more Pennsylvanians connected to high-speed, affordable internet,” said Carson. “As Pennsylvanians increasingly rely on broadband to live healthy and productive lives, expanding access to the internet is essential to creating opportunity for folks all across our Commonwealth. These projects will leverage historic federal funding and private investment to connect communities to the internet – and the PBDA will continue working to make this a reality for even more Pennsylvanians.”
Funded through the federal Capital Projects Fund, the BIP awards grants for line extension and development projects, as well as large-scale regional infrastructure projects. Upon completion, projects must deliver service that meets or exceeds symmetrical download and upload speeds of 100 megabits per second, with prioritization given to fiber-optic deployment.
“Across the commonwealth, more than 276,000 households, businesses, schools, and libraries don’t have access to broadband,” said Pennsylvania Budget Secretary Uri Monson, PBDA board chairman. “To create more opportunity for all Pennsylvanians, we must expand access to reliable and affordable high-speed internet. The broadband infrastructure awards made today are yet another step toward making that a reality while responsibly managing this funding to ultimately save Pennsylvanians money on the critical internet services they need for the best quality of life.”
Projects are also required to include a viable sustainability strategy to maintain, repair, and upgrade existing networks to ensure their continued operation. Currently, 95% of the unserved and underserved households and businesses in Pennsylvania are in rural areas.
"This is a huge step forward in our effort to connect students, residents and businesses with high-speed service and we look forward to partnering with Verizon to get the job done," Tokar-Ickes said. "These projects will install fiber, which is the gold standard, and bring broadband to communities where service gaps were identified in our recent county-wide broadband study. High-speed broadband is not a luxury, it’s a necessity, and we are thankful to all of our state and federal officials who made this expansion possible.”
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Verizon's $13.5 million award will help bring internet service