Centre County public-private partnership to bring broadband access to Snow Shoe
It’s been more than a year since broadband was secured in the Penns Valley area, and soon, residents in Snow Shoe will have access to high-speed internet.
For the last year, the Centre County Board of Commissioners has worked to bring reliable broadband access to rural areas of the county. On Friday, the county announced a $210,000 grant that will help improve internet service in Snow Shoe and the Mountain Top area through a public-private partnership.
“The Centre County commissioners are pleased with the SEDA-COG partnership which expands rural broadband services in Centre County,” Commissioner Mark Higgins said. “Our rural broadband public-private partnership in Penns Valley now serves hundreds of families in businesses. We hope this new rural broadband project in the Snow Shoe and Mountain Top area builds on prior successes.”
The funds were awarded by the SEDA-Council of Governments, which provided $108,125 in funding, and the U.S. Appalachian Regional Commission POWER grant will match the amount to incentivize internet service providers to bring high-speed broadband to the area.
The grant is part of a statewide $1.2 million ARC broadband grant awarded to the seven local development districts that serve 52 of Pennsylvania’s counties. LDDs are organizations through which member counties share information about common concerns and develop a response to issues. SEDA-COG serves 11 central Pennsylvania counties.
The infrastructure will be owned and operated by a provider after a competitive request for proposals process. The company will be named in early 2021.
“This public-private partnership model that we’re using in more and more of our member counties is a tremendous breakthrough to reach those who need high-speed internet service the most,” Mike Fisher, SEDA-COG assistant executive director, said in a statement. “It incentivizes internet service providers to reach where they couldn’t afford to.”
