(TNS) \u2014 Last week, Pennsylvania marked a milestone moment for its digital infrastructure as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) approved the commonwealth\u2019s plan to deliver $711 million in federal funding to bring high-speed Internet to unserved and underserved areas. About $90.7 million of that funding will go toward a project to install high-speed fiber broadband across northwestern Pennsylvania specifically.<\/p>\n
CoreConnect, a nonprofit coalition based in Franklin, was awarded with Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding to install high-speed fiber broadband in 10,327 locations across 10 counties.<\/p>\n
Although CoreConnect did not respond to The Meadville Tribune\u2019s requests about how much of that money is going to Crawford County, County Commissioner Chris Seeley said, \u201cWhat we do know is that Crawford was a lion\u2019s share of the service area in the initial application phase. With regards to unserved and underserved locations, because of our large geographic area and the rural nature of most of it, we were among the highest in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
CoreConnect likens its model to an airport: CoreConnect owns the \u201crunway\u201d or the fiber, and a professional operator manages the network. Multiple service providers or \u201cairlines\u201d compete to serve residents.<\/p>\n
That means that while CoreConnect will provide the infrastructure, families and businesses will choose the plan and provider that fit them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe great thing about this process with CoreConnect is this will be an open broadband network and will be competitive,\u201d County Chairman Eric Henry said, explaining that underserved areas will now have the option to add onto their current services. \u201cI can\u2019t tell you how transformative this money will be in Crawford County.\u201d<\/p>\n
This newest allocation is actually part of a larger $275 million project that leverages public funding with private partnership to bring this to fruition.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Franz, the county\u2019s chief financial officer, talked with CoreConnect about revenue bonds, which will be coupled with philanthropic funds and additional grant programs to achieve this project. The $90.7 million BEAD funding required matching capital, which it was able to secure without having to rely on taxpayer dollars or county funding.<\/p>\n
Henry said this project took several years of work and collaboration with other counties and colleagues to achieve that.<\/p>\n
CoreConnect has stated that the build plan will be based on need, cost and community demand. It hopes to bridge the digital divide in rural areas to help the region in a few ways. It grew out of the Northwest Commission\u2019s Broadband Action Team.<\/p>\n
By bringing reliable, high-speed fiber to the region, CoreConnect believes that it will strengthen the economic opportunity by creating a 21st-century workforce and will boost education and health care by ensuring remote learning and Telehealth accessibility regardless of ZIP code.<\/p>\n
The timeline of this project was not apparently clear as CoreConnect did not respond to the Tribune.<\/p>\n