The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority recently approved a multi-year plan to secure $1.16 billion in federal funding to expand broadband access statewide.
The five-year plan, Connecting the Commonwealth, relies on a multi-faceted approach to bring affordable broadband access to unserved and underserved areas, strengthening existing affordability programs, and partnering with community-based institutions to provide digital literacy training.
There are nearly 300,000 addresses statewide that currently cannot access modern high-speed broadband services.
“Broadband and high-speed internet access is a quality-of-life issue for millions of Pennsylvanians,” said state Rep. Carl Walker Metzgar (R-Somerset), House Republican designee to the authority. “Expansion is critical for business, education and health care. It is the modern-day equivalent of rural electrification, which is why approval of this plan today is a huge step forward to helping millions of Pennsylvanians.
“This plan is crucial if we expect our children to be prepared to excel in life, to attract career-sustaining investment from business leaders, or provide life-saving care in rural hospitals. I am proud to support the authority in approving this plan and look forward to the impact this will have on our community.”
The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority was established in Act 96 of 2021 with the mission to coordinate and facilitate funding for the broadband buildout.