Across the nation, federal subsidies are granted to facilitate the deployment of rural broadband internet, approximately $1.8 billion per year. But sometimes these funds are turned down by wireless carriers and ISPs due to high deployment costs and low potential return on investments as is the case in rural Pennsylvania, reports The Item.
For example, Verizon and large ISPs have turned down $138 million over a six-year period to improve rural broadband connectivity in western Pennsylvania. But in order to keep that money in the state, Pennsylvania has offered to match that subsidy in the form of credits to fund rural broadband service.
The state of New York recently struck a similar deal, when it petitioned the FCC to keep $170 million in the Empire State to fund upstate broadband connectivity. The state offered $500 million to complement the FCC’s subsidy, which was initially turned down by Verizon Wireless, according to The Item.
Currently, only 20 percent of Pennsylvania’s rural residents have access to broadband connectivity, which is defined by the FCC as download speeds of 25 mbps and upload speeds of three mbps. In some rural counties in the state, as many as 69 percent of residents have slow internet service or no access at all. A Verizon spokesman told The Item it supports Pennsylvania’s offer to match the FCC subsidy, in order to keep those funds in the state.
June 1, 2017
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