HUDSON – Columbia Economic Development Corporation officials are encouraging residents to participate in the state’s broadband assessment survey to help produce the most accurate maps possible to highlight gaps in broadband internet service throughput for rural and low-income communities.
The New York State Public Service Commission is expected to release a Broadband Assessment Program survey this spring providing more detailed residential data on the state’s access gaps for the first time. High-speed Internet.
“In addition to helping identify unserved areas across the state, this survey also includes attitude questions about broadband in general and future improvements providers might consider based on people’s response.” , said CEDC President and CEO F. Michael Tucker. “Essentially, it’s virtually impossible to achieve the level of field detail that our study included from a survey.”
New Yorkers should report their accessibility to high-speed broadband internet, including the cost of available utility services and upload and download speeds, to help state officials identify connectivity deserts, especially in rural communities upstate.
The results will help officials at national and local levels make decisions about broadband expansion plans.
Last year, the Columbia Economic Development Corporation commissioned a countywide broadband survey to identify unserved and undeserved street addresses in the county, in anticipation of the availability of new federal funding sources. . The study identified 1,250 unserved 911 addresses in the county.
The government survey questions cover different service levels, prices and type of connection usage.
“This is a one-time survey so they can be ready for federal funding,” Tucker said. “We just want to make sure our response is consistent with the response percentage in other counties so it doesn’t look like, A) We weren’t interested, or B) We think all of our issues are resolved. .”
The survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete, according to the website. The site can also test a person’s upload and download speeds.
State officials want to better understand broadband access, uses and consumer adoption of broadband service in order to identify service issues and gaps, according to empirestatebroadband.com
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the growing need for broadband access, according to the survey’s website. More and more students are learning virtually and more and more people are working remotely from home during the pandemic.
“Columbia Economic Development continues to emphasize the importance of broadband access to the county’s economic vitality. Although we have made good progress, the issue has only grown in importance as education, healthcare and economic activity have become increasingly digitalised,” Tucker said.
A broadband-connected community is also more attractive to businesses, improving opportunities to attract new businesses and bolstering efforts to retain existing ones, according to the survey site.
Governor Kathy Hochul announced the state inquiry in September.
