In an effort to combat the lack of broadband in rural areas the Blair County Commissioners say they’re working to build cell towers.
They say this will only slightly alleviate the issue.
The ultimate goal is to develop a fiber optic broadband infrastructure. But the hold-up is it’s cost.
Commissioners say they’ll try to work around the expensive price tag by applying for grants through a program with the state broadband authority.
The program was signed into law by Governor Tom Wolf in December in response to a renewed call for internet access during the pandemic.
“It’s indispensable for people in business. We’ve learned, we’ve learned with the pandemic that they are people who couldn’t come into work, and so they would work from home, as well as businesses and farming communities that just had no opportunity to be in touch with anyone else if they didn’t have that.”
Commissioners say the next objective is to wait for further guidance from the authority to see what they need to do to apply for the grant.
