The push for stronger broadband availability across West Virginia and nationally continues.

In late June, officials unveiled a $42.45 billion high-speed internet grant program known as "Internet for All” which is a big component of President Joe Biden’s "Investing in America" agenda.

According to a press release from the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), funding has been allocated to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five territories "to deploy affordable, reliable high-speed internet service to everyone in America."

Broadband is the internet connection provided by various internet service providers (ISPs).

The states and other entities will use funding from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) to administer grant programs within their borders, the NTIA noted. BEAD funding is provided through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

According to https://broadband.wv.gov/, the BEAD allocation is based upon the number of unserved broadband serviceable locations (BSLs) in West Virginia. According to the FCC's latest update of broadband availability data on June 15, the national broadband map shows 900,408 BSLs in West Virginia, of which 271,623 are unserved locations. West Virginia ranks second in the nation for the percentage of unserved locations behind Alaska.

West Virginia is poised to receive $1.21 billion from the initiative.

Jeff Proctor, a Fayette County resident and retired business owner as well as chairman of the Fayette County Urban Renewal Authority, urges his fellow county residents to devote a few minutes to taking a broadband survey that is online until July 30. Doing so would be a plus for Fayette and surrounding counties in the future, he said.

Proctor, who is a member of the West Virginia Broadband Enhancement Council, sent a recent letter to residents in Fayette County and elsewhere. "As a member of the (broadband council) I am inviting you and other West Virginians in your network to participate in a statewide broadband survey that is now live and open through July 30, 2023," Proctor wrote. "Please consider setting aside 10 minutes to take the survey from your home and from your preferred device and internet connection.

"If you do not have internet access at home or prefer to take it offline, you may visit your local library branch to take a paper version of the survey. The survey is available in both English and Spanish. You may also take the survey with your mobile device."

The link to the online survey can be found at https://broadband.wv.gov/survey/.

The survey as a component of the push to improve broadband mapping in local communities is "vital" and is especially important for unserved or underserved individuals, Proctor stressed.

He asked people to complete the survey and to share the link and information with their neighbors, as well.

"We're trying to get as many people as possible to go to the website for the survey," Proctor said. "We don't get funding until we can prove there are unserved and underserved (areas of the county)."

For those who feel they don't have to participate in the current survey because they have already taken an internet speed test in the past, Proctor said various factors could be different today. He noted that the providers could have changed, the amount of coverage offered could have changed, or other areas could be different than when the last speed test was taken. "People's internet access and speeds continue to change on a day-to-day basis," said Proctor, who said that it is estimated that about 30 percent of West Virginians don't have broadband.

Proctor says the broadband council introduced an online portal to facilitate better mapping in 2018, and that has helped the situation improve. As well, he said the work of of GSI staffers in the state's Office of Broadband has been crucial, and the efforts of legislators such as U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin have helped "beat the drum" for more accurate mapping in recent years.

In an early June press release, Gov. Jim Justice announced that the Federal Communications Commission’s latest update to the national broadband map will result in the opportunity for broadband funding for more than 80,000 additional unserved and underserved locations in the Mountain State.

“West Virginia should be proud of how it pulled the rope together to update this data,” Justice said in the release. “This update means access to more federal dollars for West Virginia to build and deploy broadband to those that need it.”

“This is an outstanding result for West Virginia,” Kelly Workman, director of the Office of Broadband, said in the Justice release last month. “When given the opportunity to provide broadband data, West Virginia residents stepped up and assisted our office in this effort. Our primary goals are to ensure that all West Virginians are accurately represented on the national broadband map and to obtain all available funding for broadband expansion to unserved areas of West Virginia.”

Individuals can also call 304-588-2234 and tell the WVBEC if broadband is not available where they live, Proctor noted.