The state of Indiana is investing heavily in broadband expansion and Porter County is doing its best to claim its share. Postcards began going out to county residents last week from the Porter County Board of Commissioners asking residents to take a survey regarding their home internet service.
Over 74,000 postcards went out on Aug. 15 and Monday residents in Chesterton and Portage received theirs. So far, officials have received 1,000 replies. They have until Sept. 15th to submit their results to the state.
“By participating in the Porter County Rural Broadband Survey you can play a vital role in ensuring that all our residents have access to high-speed internet service,” the postcard reads.. They should just be sure that if they use their cellphone to fill out the survey they are on their home wireless network, since that’s the connection officials are measuring.Residents who don’t have the internet can stop in to, or call, any branch of the Porter County Public Library System and ask for the reference desk. Someone there will then fill out the survey on behalf of the resident. Porter County created a Broadband Task Force in 2021, according to PCPLS Director Jesse Butz, who is spearheading the survey efforts. He said the state told counties then to prepare for possible funding opportunities and it was recommended counties eliminate barriers for internet service providers. The state is calling its efforts the Next Level Connections Broadband Program and the county just received notification in July that final funding is ready in the effort to provide infrastructure to unserved end users such as households, businesses, and community anchor institutions such as schools and health clinics. Porter County Redevelopment Commission project manager Stu Summers brought his postcard to the Porter County Council meeting Tuesday night to let the council members know the initiative is on. He said the county has been making great strides in its broadband-ready community designation. There has been a sharp 651% increase in the issuance of telecommunications permits since Porter County eliminated fees to encourage expansion. The county issued 819 telecommunications permits last year compared to 109 in 2021. Councilman Andy Bozak, R-At-Large, wanted to know if the survey asked people what they are paying for internet service in their homes. “I have internet at my home,” he said, “but it’s very expensive.” The survey is focused solely on connectivity, Butz said, acknowledging broadband service can be steep, even for those who don’t qualify for assistance. He said it’s possible Indiana’s $890 million share of the $45 billion in federal dollars out of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure spending may tackle the cost issue. “They haven’t written all the rules and passed everything down,” Butz said of this funding project which is separate from the Next Level project and has been named BEAD for Broadband Equity Access Deployment. The BEAD funding is a fairly recent development, but the county plans to use the information from the current survey to tap into any resources it might qualify for with that program.“We don’t want to be scrambling like we are now,” Butz said. “We’re trying to collect as much data as we can to kind of paint a picture of our internet health in Porter County.” In the meantime, the Affordable Connectivity Program through the Federal Communications Commission aims to ensure households can afford broadband that has become a must for work, school, health care and more. A discount of up to $30 per month toward internet services is available for eligible households. These households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 toward the purchase of a tablet, laptop, or desktop computer from participating providers. More information can be found atButz encourages even those who have no interest in having broadband service to their home to fill out the survey. Someone without a child in the home, for example, may not be aware that all schoolchildren now have learning days during which they need to be able to connect to the internet from home to do their required lessons. “By filling out this form you’re going to be able to help your neighbor or the person who’s going to live there after you,” he said.
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