Broadband Efforts

Thanks to the approval of a feasibility study by the Stokes County Commissioners, we are moving forward with a study to see how broadband service can be improved in our county.
This is a long term process aned there are many unknowns that this study will work to clear-up. Story below:

By Lisa O'Donnell

JOURNAL REPORTER

Published: October 26, 2009

Updated: 10/26/2009 12:20 am

DANBURY - Relief may be on the way for people in Stokes County who are on the wrong end of the digital divide.

The Stokes County Commissioners recently approved $21,000 for a feasibility study that will map, as closely as possible, where broadband access is already available and look at what it would take to increase accessibility.

Alan Wood, the county's director of economic development, is one of the driving forces behind bringing high-speed Internet access to more residents.

He estimated that broadband is available to about 65 percent of the county's residents, most of whom live in the populated areas of King and Walnut Cove and along major corridors. The rest of the population either doesn't have a computer or relies on dial-up Internet access.

"Broadband is at the core of everything we are trying to do economic development-wise in Stokes County," Wood said. "It's a necessary utility for economic development, like water and sewer. That's my opinion. Without it, you don't have the tools to recruit or let existing businesses grow and prosper."

Businesses aren't the only ones who can benefit from high-speed Internet. Although all of the schools in the county have high-speed Internet, many students do not have it at home. That limits their ability to do research and take online courses.

Stewart Hobbs, the superintendent of Stokes County Schools, said that schools often stay open past the final bell so that students have access to computers.

"We're in a technology world now. We're really pushing 21st century global skills, and we need students to have access to the Internet at home," Hobbs said. "From kindergarten up, a lot of our kids' learning takes place on the computer."

As it is now, Stokes residents get their Internet through their telephone or cable company or by satellite.

Some flock to the Stokes County Library in Danbury to use one of its several computers. High-traffic times are in the afternoon when students get out of school, said Nora Lankford, the branch librarian.

Marisa Renegar-Smith of Lawsonville was at the library recently to use its computer because hers was not working. She gets her Internet service by way of satellite but that is expensive, costing about $65 a month.

She said she would like to have another choice.

"Now, you get dial-up and wait forever or pay a lot," Renegar-Smith said.

The feasibility study should be ready in a few months.

After that, it will be up to the commissioners to decide whether increased accessibility is too costly or something they should pursue.

If they do decide to pursue it, the county could be eligible for stimulus money. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act made $7.2 billion available for increasing broadband in rural areas.

A new wave of money will be released in late February or March, and Wood wants Stokes County to be prepared with a shovel-ready project to submit.

The issue of increasing Internet speed is one that comes up often among county residents, Commissioner Jimmy Walker said.

"Because we've not given sufficient attention to this important issue, I feel like we've gotten behind and now, it's like we have to try harder to get up to where we need to be," Walker said.

lodonnell@wsjournal.com