Connecting Berks to Broadband

County takes first steps toward closing the digital divide

By Stephanie Weaver

Throughout the last decade, the ability to access the Internet has become as essential to daily life as electricity and running water. The importance of broadband access only became more heightened during the COVID pandemic, when schools, businesses and organizations had to find creative solutions to conduct routine business on a virtual platform.

While many residents don’t have to think twice about jumping online to schedule an appointment or check out the latest viral dance, there are unfortunately many areas within Berks County’s borders that do not have affordable and reliable access to the Internet.

That realization is what prompted the Wyomissing Foundation to bring together public and private organizations in 2020 to begin examining how to bring better broadband access to Berks. Now that effort has grown into a full-fledged task force, armed with a countywide feasibility report and $6.3 million in base funding to support making real improvements to the county’s broadband infrastructure.

Identifying gaps

The Berks County Broadband Task Force began to take shape in the spring of 2022. Building from the work of several community partners, the County Commissioners initiated a focused effort to fully review the availability, affordability and overall accessibility of broadband throughout the county.

But expanding broadband access isn’t as easy as flipping a switch. It requires a multi-stage process that kicked off with a communitywide survey to accurately identify what parts of the county had unreliable, inadequate, or, in some cases, completely nonexistent access to the Internet.

The County hired Lit Communities Broadband to perform a feasibility study and other necessary evaluations that, in combination with the survey results, would help identify the current needs and outline opportunities for improvement.

Lit Communities completed the Berks County Broadband Assessment in October 2022 and identified the following key findings:

• Clear gaps exist within the broadband infrastructure and have a direct impact on residents, businesses and service organizations. The largest gap areas were found in the northern region of the county.

• There is a critical need to improve digital literacy among residents, particularly as it relates to workforce requirements and access to telehealth. Digital literacy relates to an individual’s ability to navigate, evaluate and communicate information online.

• Through partnerships with community organizations, there are opportunities to improve outreach to those who are unserved or underserved.

• The survey found there is a general satisfaction with speed and reliability of current Internet services, but dissatisfaction with price and a heightened concern about the lack of competition and choice of Internet providers.

• There is heightened opportunity for economic advancement where fiber infrastructure is currently lacking in Berks.

• Nearly all survey respondents (98%) stressed the importance of conducting the Berks County Broadband Study.

Investing in Next Steps

Led by the report’s findings, the Berks County Broadband Task Force brought several recommendations to the County Commissioners in November as steps to begin addressing the identified needs. In January, the Commissioners approved allocating $6.3 million from County General Funds, made possible through American Rescue Plan funds, to support the task force’s recommendations.

Justin Loose, the County’s Chief Information Officer and Chair of the task force, said these steps certainly won’t fix every broadband issue that exists, but they will help create the groundwork for future steps and will empower the County to effectively compete for funding as it becomes available.

“We have an unprecedented amount of money coming from federal and state government,” Loose said. “We know this money is going to be competitive so part of what is coloring our recommendations is ensuring the County is in the position to quickly and rapidly move on the funding opportunities that are coming.”

The task force’s recommendations included:

• Allocating $5.7 million toward infrastructure projects with the intent of leveraging this investment toward grants, partnerships and other funding.

• Actively pursuing grant or private funding to address broadband connectivity gaps. The report specifically recommended that Berks County target funding from Pennsylvania’s $278.7 million allocation from the U.S. Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund, the USDA’s ReConnect Program and the NTIA’s BEAD program.

• Allocating $600,000 to fund two pilot digital literacy programs. The programs will be run in partnership with the Berks County Intermediate Unit and the Berks Community Health Center to help residents obtain the access they need for education and health services.

• Authorizing the committee to initiate dialogue with neighboring counties to identify opportunities for collaboration and further increase the likelihood of obtaining funding.

• Authorizing the committee to continue discussions with new and incumbent carriers to identify opportunities for collaboration to address the unserved and underserved areas of Berks.

• Collaborating with municipalities, authorities and other stakeholders to look at opportunities for infrastructure buildout, including right of way and “dig once” opportunities.

Berks County Broadband Task Force Partners:

• Berks Alliance

• Berks County Community Foundation

• Berks County Intermediate Unit

• City of Reading

• Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center

• Reading Public Library

• Reading School District

• United Way of Berks County

• UPMC For You Health Plan

• Wyomissing Foundation

Pat Giles, president of the Wyomissing Foundation, and several community partners from the task force spoke before the Commissioners during the November 2022 meeting to support the recommendations. Giles said the driving force behind this effort has always been the critical impact broadband access has not only on residents’ quality of life, but also their employment, education and health opportunities.

“This is just the beginning of this effort,” she said. “This report provides us with what we know needs to be done and, in some cases, a focus on where it needs to happen. But getting it done is really the biggest challenge ahead of us. We recognize that this needs to continue to be collective work of public and private partners in this effort.”

Dr. Anna Weitz, who served as the chair of the Wyomissing Foundation’s original broadband-based community group, told the Commissioners she’s amazed by the work that has been accomplished thus far.

“One of the great things about Berks County is our ability to collaborate and to cooperate,” the former RACC president said. “I cannot think of a project that I have been involved in from the community aspect from the last 15 years that demonstrates this kind of collaboration better than what you’re hearing about today.”

Check out the full Broadband Assessment Plan and learn more about how you can help improve accessibility and bring better broadband access to Berks at www.countyofberks. com/broadband.