Centre County takes next step on project to expand broadband access in Penns Valley

As part of the yearslong effort to expand internet access in Centre County, the commissioners on Tuesday backed a Centre WISP project that will be submitted for the first round of Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program funds.

The commissioners voted unanimously at Tuesday’s meeting to send Centre WISP a letter of financial support for its proposal to expand broadband in the Penns Valley area. It was one of two responses from the county’s request for proposals, which was sent out in September to find possible broadband access projects for the first round of Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program funds.

The BEAD program is funded by federal dollars and aims to expand high-speed internet access across the United States. About $1.2 billion has been made available for projects by the BEAD program in Pennsylvania.

The two entities that submitted project proposals were Comcast and Centre WISP, with Centre WISP’s project looking to utilize fiber optic cables to bring internet access to areas in the Penns Valley region — a region that was identified as a priority for broadband services in the county’s broadband study.

According to Elizabeth Lose, the county’s assistant director for planning and community development, the two projects were evaluated based on “internet technology, affordable service, overall project cost and a project geography which aligns in the priority zones identified in the county’s broadband strategic plan.”

“I was glad to see a proposal come in for this funding round, especially one that’s looking to serve some really underserved areas of the county ...” commissioner Amber Concepcion said. “It’s been a real challenge over the past couple of years. The timetable has dragged longer than we expected, and some of the regulations around the funding have been different than we might’ve expected, but it sounds like Centre County — compared to the rest of Pennsylvania — has been well-prepared to respond to this.”

Concepcion said a couple things leave Centre County more prepared — the county’s broadband study that increased the staff’s understanding of what areas have the highest need, and that the county has worked hand-in-hand with broadband providers to create supportable project proposals.

Centre WISP’s broadband project could help bring wireless internet access to a total of 457 locations across the Penns Valley region, which includes 361 homes, 81 business and 15 rural and agriculture-related locations.

The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA), which receives and reviews all broadband projects, will close its first round BEAD application process Feb. 7.

The PBDA will then review all received projects applications, and will likely announce the projects that receive funding in the fall, Lose said.

If Centre WISP’s project is chosen by the PBDA to receive BEAD funding, Centre County will be required to provide a 25% match, although the exact amount has not yet been determined. Commissioner Steve Dershem said the county should be able to comfortably provide the 25% match through its $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act reserve funds.

If Centre WISP’s project doesn’t get chosen by the PBDA, Lose reassured the commissioners that there could be a second round of BEAD funding coming in the future for other possible projects that involve more advanced technology than fiber optic cables.

“I am kind of crossing my fingers that (a second round of BEAD funding) might open up opportunities for other technology that we’re talking about,” Lose said. “The first round has been focused so much on fiber, but maybe for those more hard-to-serve areas, (projects) could be done through fixed wireless, or maybe like the low-orbit satellite technologies.”

Before the BEAD program was implemented, Centre County used money distributed by the PBDA’s ARPA Capital Projects Fund to pay for two projects in 2023 that helped lay broadband infrastructure across the county — one Comcast project in Curtin and Liberty townships, and another Centre WISP project in Boggs Township and parts of the Penns Valley region.

Moving forward, Dershem expects the broadband expansion process to be a slow but crucial one, with the commissioner likening the experience to electricity-providing services in the 1930s that aimed to bring electricity to rural and under-serviced areas, with the same sense of urgency.

“Children can’t learn — education is based on (internet service) now. Commerce is based on it,” Dershem said. “There’s so many elements. Whether it’s banking or something else, it’s part of our everyday lives now, and I think that those of us who have service take it for granted, and we need to make sure that we get it throughout out county, as we did with 911 service and cell service.”

More updates on the county’s increased broadband access efforts will be provided at future commissioners meetings, with the meetings being held at 10 a.m. every Tuesday.