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Area officials will be visiting Charleston this week with a hope of bringing attention to the Ohio Valley's need for broadband service.
Representatives of the Brooke County Commission, Hancock County Commission, Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission and the Business Development Corp. of the Northern Panhandle will be in our capital city to pitch a proposal to use federal COVID relief funds to shore up broadband service for the region.
They will be armed with a study conducted by the BHJ, which surveyed local residents and businesses on their needs and current levels of service.
Broadband internet, today, is just as important as any other utility. We use it and need it just as we use and need electricity, water, sewer services and roads as part of our daily lives. Unfortunately, it is not always as readily available as we would like, and that creates a barrier when it comes to operating businesses, working from either our homes or offices and attracting new businesses and industries to our region.
West Virginia has approximately $160 million in federal pandemic relief funds which have been designated for broadband expansion. We don't know if a plan is in place for those funds, and we know there are other areas of the state in as much, if not more, need as we are.
Our hope, though, is the officials in Charleston don't forget the Northern Panhandle when passing out these funds.