Broadband Meeting Draws Crowd To NGTC

A group of Georgia legislators hears from northeast Georgia on the state of broadband Internet.

The Joint High-Speed Broadband Communications Access for all Georgians Study Committee met Thursday afternoon for more than two hours at the North Georgia Technical College Currahee Campus in Stephens County.

This committee of five state Senators and five members of the state House is tasked with examining the conditions, needs, issues and problems of high-speed broadband internet access in Georgia and trying to come up with answers.

Speakers at Thursday’s meeting said that major problems in this area include accessibility, affordability, and reliability.

Officials note that broadband is very important for new jobs, comparing it to water and sewer infrastructure.

Stephens County Development Authority Executive Director Tim Martin said that while previous efforts to run broadband fiber have doing a good job of connecting schools, hospitals, and many industries, there are still many areas of Stephens County that are underserved or not served at all for high-speed Internet.

He pointed to one company as an example.

“Because of the terrain and because of the distance from our fiber backbone, we are about two miles away from a solution for their Internet connectivity,” said Martin. “Because they are in a little bit of a hollow, their solution would be a 120-foot tower. Neither one is really acceptable, so we have some strides to make.”

Meanwhile, Franklin County School Superintendent Wayne Randall said it is also vital to education.

He said while high-speed broadband is in the schools, technology is such a part of education now that homes need it as well.

“What I do not want to see happen is like back in the days of old where you had the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots,’ I do not want to see that gap widen because we do not have connectivity to places in our community where there is poverty, where homes are more spread out,” said Randall. “It is kind of sad that because of what your address is, you do not have the same access to educational opportunities that other people do.”

One point brought up is that it is not always a matter of not having access, but it is a matter of obtaining consistent, high-speed service.

State Senator Steve Gooch, who sits on the committee, said that is a problem he hears of often.

“When people are paying $80, $100, whatever the price is, and you are told this is for 10 megabites per second of service and your speed tests routinely come back 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 megabites per second day after day after day, the consumer is paying for something they are not getting,” said Sen. Gooch.

As for how to fix the problem, numerous ideas were suggested.

Local business owner Duane Hartness of Demorest suggested a public-private partnership as one way to expand service.

“The private sector is not going to invest their funds into these markets,” said Hartness. “They are going to need some assistance, some aid, some public money to get it done. There is going to have to be some oversight of that public money. Otherwise, they are going to use it in areas where they have competition.”

Overall, 50th District State Senator John Wilkinson, who also sits on the committee, said he felt it was a good meeting.

“I learned a lot and I think one of the important things that we need to do in our positions is listen,” said Sen. Wilkinson. “We had a great opportunity to listen today.”

The committee is tasked with coming up with a set of recommendations to consider at the state level by December 1.