The Allen County Board of Commissioners invited community leaders together Friday to begin efforts to bring broadband internet access to underserved areas in rural Allen County.
Community and government representatives from around Allen County met in Citizens Square for the first time to strategize on how to make broadband internet more accessible to all county residents. Large parts of northeast Indiana lack both wired and wireless broadband.
The committee agreed that solutions to the problem will take time to plan and implement, but that they’re all dedicated to bringing better broadband access to rural areas.
The Broadband Access Team was organized by Allen County Commissioner Nelson Peters and Northwest Allen County School Superintendent Chris Himsel. The issue of broadband access has become essential to businesses, education, healthcare and farming.
Following the lead of a survey developed by Purdue’s Center for Regional Development, the committee agreed to create an additional survey for residents to better understand where the need areas are.
They also discussed whether an online survey would reach residents of Allen County without broadband access, but other research has shown that residents are still accessing internet services on their phones.
Last year, Governor Eric Holcomb unveiled 100 million dollars in grants to invest in local broadband.