Connectivity for Pennsylvanias most rural areas got a boost last week, when the state snagged 10 percent of the funds awarded for broadband expansion nationwide. The $130 million in two projects, the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program and the Broadband Initiative Program, will reach three million households and 400,000 businesses.
The lions share of funding will create the Pennsylvania Research and Education Network (PennREN), which will connect institutional users–schools, hospitals, libraries and government–across 39 counties. The $99 million project will establish a 1,700-mile fiber-optic infrastructure, with about 60 satellites providing connectivity to local areas. As the grants defray the costs of creating the larger network, private contractors are expected to take over, offering last mile service to homes and businesses.
University partners for the effort welcomed the announcement. “The (improvements) will give us greater stability and control over capacity, and cost that we spend to acquire capacity, said Jeff Kuhns, deputy CIO for the Penn State University system.
“It will help us in terms of better forecasting and better models, to work with researchers and faculty on longer-term projects. Our next step is to work with National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to determine how funding will be released. If we start later this spring, (we’ll have) full network service in three years.
The additional $28.8 million will be used to expand broadband in the counties between Interstate 80 and the New York border. The result of the effort, says Gov. Ed Rendell in announcing the grants, is that Pennsylvanias rural residential customers will be totally wired as a state by the end of next year, for sure.
Source: Jeff Kuhns, Penn State University
Writer: Chris O’Toole