News

July 20, 2009

Pa. broadband stimulus aid touted

State official: Federal cash could help expand the use of Internet in rural northern Pa.

The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — Money from the federal stimulus package could help Pennsylvania extend broadband Internet access to rural northern areas of the commonwealth.

The $787 billion stimulus package Congress approved in February includes $7.2 billion to extend broadband access, primarily to isolated areas not served by private providers.

The state plans to apply for $25 million to $35 million during the first round of stimulus grants later this year to extend broadband access, mainly for a dozen or so counties above the I-80 corridor, an official said Thursday.

Naomi Wyatt, Gov. Ed Rendell’s secretary of administration, said the state was looking for partners in expanding broadband. The state has built about 800 radio towers across Pennsylvania, mostly for use by emergency services and state agencies, but Wyatt said the sites could share projects aimed at providing wireless high-speed Internet to rural areas.

Pennsylvania will also seek stimulus money to increase Internet usage in poor urban areas, which could include more services at libraries, she said while reporting on the broadband plan at a meeting of the state’s Stimulus Oversight Commission.

“The stimulus bill is one of the best things that has happened to a rural area like ours,” said Jim Swanson, information services director for the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission based in Elk County.

Some large companies have indicated that they might not participate in such projects, since any information pipelines built with federal money would be required to be shared with other users. But Swanson said small cable TV or phone companies who serve rural areas might be eager for stimulus funds to help them expand.

The panel also heard a separate report that Pennsylvania has spent $1.2 billion of the $9.5 billion it expects to receive from the stimulus. Of that, 79 percent has gone toward for Medicaid health benefits for the poor, 19 percent to pay unemployment benefits, and a little less than 0.5 percent ($5.9 million) for highway and bridge work.

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