The Adams County Board of Commissioners announced this week that the county has received the state’s 3rd-largest grant award to provide more families with high-speed broadband service. The funds are part of the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) PA Broadband Infrastructure Program (BIP).
Internet service provider Comcast will receive $9.4 million of the proposed $16.9 million project that will provide reliable and affordable high-speed internet to about 2,300 homes.
“This was a huge step forward for the county to provide access,” said Commissioner Marty Qually. “The challenge remains to assure the access is affordable,” he said.
“We provided our support of this application knowing that the project would provide the infrastructure necessary to support broadband expansion in the most unserved and underserved areas of the county,” said Commission Chairman Randy Phiel.
“High speed broadband service is essential for the long-term viability and livability of the county,” said Commissioner Jim Martin. “Reliable access to the internet is a quality-of-life issue, necessary for remote learning and medical access as well as economic development and stability.”
Qually said Comcast was chosen to provide the service based on a letter of recommendation from the commissioners. “Comcast’s application served the most people. They put up a bunch of money. They weren’t the only applicant,” he said. “They are moving into areas where they don’t already have infrastructure.”
Qually said the grant would provide connections to about half of the currently underserved homes in the county, but that other money in future grants might close the gap for the remaining 2,700 homes. “We’re hoping there will be more competition going forward. Competition brings down prices,” he said.
We hit a nice little sweet spot,” said Qually. “The project is scalable so speeds could increase in the future.”
The Adams County Board of Commissioners appointed a Broadband Community Advisory Task Force in 2022 to help formulate and advance a broadband strategy.
“We had a survey. The task force vetted the applications,” said Qually. “We’ve been working diligently with the task force to reach out to all stakeholders to identify gaps in service as well as residential and industry specific needs. This project moves us one step closer to our ultimate goal of making broadband available for all residents and businesses in Adams County.”
The project must be completed by December 2026.
Find more information at the county’s Broadband Connectivity Initiative website. For additional information contact Adams County Manager Steve Nevada at 717-337-9820; snevada@adamscountypa.gov
Thank thank thank so very much. Words do not express my appreciation for all who have made this possible