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Broadband access pushed in Isle of Wight, Surry counties

ISLE OF WIGHT —
Jim Henderson and his wife, Connie, have griped for years about their slow Internet connection.

The Hendersons and their neighbors, a dozen or so houses on a mile-long private lane in Carrollton, are bound to a dial-up connection because no Internet company will run a broadband line out to their homes.

Henderson, who telecommutes for his job as a business development consultant, had to buy a wireless USB antenna from Verizon in order to get Internet service capable of handling anything more than email.

Then, at a Carrollton Civic League meeting last fall, Connie Henderson mentioned that people were spending hours outside the county's libraries late into the night, using the wireless signal from the building.

"That's when we kind of realized maybe we're not the only ones who have this problem," Henderson said. The Civic League put together a task force to explore the issue and they consulted with the state technology secretary's office. Henderson suddenly found himself spearheading a movement backed by state agencies and the county to expand broadband access throughout Isle of Wight.

Sandie Terry runs a program at the Center for Innovative Technology, the state's non-profit arm for technology-based economic development, tasked with expanding broadband access in rural areas.

Terry said Internet access problems are common in rural areas throughout Virginia and often lead to what she calls the "digital divide" between Internet haves and have-nots

"So many people look at high-speed Internet and say, 'Oh we can stream Netflix or get on Facebook or play games,'" she said. "The digital divide is real and those people who are not connected will get left behind."

Terry argues that those without reliable, high-speed internet access are at a disadvantage as more and more services like education, employment and health care move online. Areas that don't have high-speed Internet access are also home to populations that need it most: people with less education, those with lower incomes and the elderly.

"Basically, all rural areas suffer under monopolies by having one provider of cable or DSL and in rural areas, it's how much infrastructure they have to implement versus how many people are going to subscribe," Terry said.

This decision, one of dollars and cents for the providers who often have little or no competition, leaves many without the access they need.

Isle of Wight County spokesman Don Robertson said the lack of connectivity is a long-standing problem. The county has been trying to entice Charter Communications, the county's only broadband provider, to expand coverage.

Charter has told county officials the math involved in expanding the infrastructure doesn't make sense for the company, Robertson said.

"In locations where service has never been active, Charter technicians will analyze area data, review capacity and make a site visit to evaluate feasibility in bringing Charter service to that location," Patti Michel, Charter's regional director of communications, in an email response to questions.

"Currently, there are no plans to extend our services in the Isle of Wight."

Janae Sanford, who lives in the Eagle Harbor neighborhood in Carrollton, said she cancelled her Internet service from Charter and turned instead to local libraries, where free, high-speed internet is available.

"I wasn't satisfied with the service," she said. "The connection speeds were slow and my bill increased without much explanation."

Blackwater Regional Library's Carrollton Branch manager Shannon Conroy said seats at the library's computers are a hot commodity, especially on Saturdays, when the branch is open for just three hours.

Conroy said librarians are sensitive to the Internet needs of many in the community, especially students who may not have access at home.

"We're only open until 5 p.m., which is barely enough time to get students in and get their homework done," she said. "Even when we're closed, we have people sitting outside in their cars, which is exactly why we leave the wireless on at night."

The throngs of people using library Internet resources has convinced Henderson that the demand exists to warrant broadband expansion in Isle of Wight. Henderson hopes to gather enough data by the end of March through a program at Virginia Tech to prove to companies that there is money to be made.

Accelerate Virginia, part of another broadband expansion group called eCorridors based out of Virginia Tech, hosts an online survey that tests the speed of the user's Internet. The survey plots users' connection speeds on a map to determine where the fast and slow connections are and asks folks whether they would be willing to subscribe to improved service if it was available.

Anyone without Internet access can call a number connected to the Accelerate Virginia office and register "dead zones," areas where there is no access whatsoever.

Henderson plans to develop a marketing plan with that data and present it to Internet service providers to show them that there is demand in underserved areas. A few hundred respondents would give Henderson enough data to make a convincing case, he said.

Nearby Surry County undertook a similar survey with the help of a state grant in 2008, said Rhonda Russell, the county's director of planning and community development.

After mailing out more than 2,800 surveys, 20.5 percent of residents and 14 percent of businesses that got the surveys wrote back, Russell said. Respondents overwhelmingly said existing Internet speeds were inadequate and they would likely subscribe to affordable high-speed Internet if it was made available.

The county is now looking for a suitable site for a 350-foot tower to broadcast high-speed wireless Internet throughout Surry County.

He and Terry think a similar approach could help alleviate Isle of Wight's connectivity problems, possibly using existing cell, radio and water towers to reduce infrastructure costs.

Isle of Wight's Board of Supervisors gave the data-gathering initiative its blessing in December, with the caveat that any help from county staff shouldn't incur major expenses — so a mass mailing is out of the question for Henderson's effort.

He hopes tapping groups like local Ruritan Clubs will be enough to get a critical mass of responses from the speed test, demonstrate demand and entice a provider to give Isle of Wight's disconnected residents a boost.

Murphy can be reached by phone at 757-247-4760.

Broadband Survey
Anyone interested in taking the survey can access the speed test at http://www.acceleratevirginia.org/speedtest. 

Those without an internet connection can register their dead zone by phone by contacting Jean Plymale with Accelerate Virginia at 540-231-2270.

Taken from Daily Press
9:20 p.m. EST, February 18, 2014
By Ryan Murphy