September 17, 2006
By The Associated Press
Rural West Virginians would love to take advantage of the Internet, but with access for many limited to dial-up service, residents aren't able to use business, educational and entertainment opportunities dependent on high-speed connections, according to a recent study.
"They just want to be able to have the same thing the urban areas have," Alliance West Virginia Executive Director Marcel Fortin said.
The group polled residents in Barbour, Clay, Lincoln, McDowell, Webster and Wyoming counties this spring on computer ownership and Internet usage. Of the 700 who responded, 71 percent said they own computers. When asked how they connected to the Internet, 67 percent said they depended on dial-up service.
More than half said they would be willing to pay extra for better "always on" Internet access.
Education was listed as the No. 1 use for the Internet, followed by news and reference/libraries.
Fortin says the survey shows that rural residents are "tired of being portrayed as being backward" and there is a market for expansion.
About 75 percent of West Virginia households have access to high speed or broadband Internet connections. But those households are in urban or suburban neighborhoods. The remaining 25 percent are in areas where providers have yet to upgrade or have determined that it's too costly to extend broadband service, said Billy Jack Gregg, consumer advocate with the West Virginia Public Service Commission.
"The question is economics," Gregg said. "How do you get service to those folks?"
The potential answer will be discussed Monday during a summit near Beckley on providing broadband service for West Virginia's southern counties.
U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., will address the need to bring broadband service to the most rural areas. Other speakers include Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps.
"Part of it, frankly, is to get it on peoples' brains that it's important for West Virginia's future," Rockefeller said of the summit. "This is not a luxury. It's basic to economic development. It's basic to long-distance learning. It's basic to interactive health care."
The West Virginia Democrat said the expansion of broadband to all corners of the country should be a national priority for the 21st century, just as the development of the railroads and interstate highway systems were the priorities of the 19th and 20th centuries.
West Virginia has benefited during the past two years from $944,000 in Appalachian Regional Commission funding directed toward technology training and telecommunication projects. That includes funding to underwrite the cost of expanding broadband service.
The ARC has provided about $8 million to help counties located in the 13-state Appalachia region.
"The main challenge to bringing broadband to rural areas is the lack of economic incentives," said ARC spokesman Louis Segesvary. "The costs of deploying services are coming down with technological advancements, but it is still difficult to make a business case for rural broadband ... without an adequate subsidy mechanism."
For the past six years, Rockefeller has proposed legislation that would give companies tax breaks for expanding high-speed service.
"We always get 75 co-sponsors," he said. "Every year, I put it up ... and every year, it goes nowhere."
Mike Swatts, regional regulatory manager for Frontier Communications, agrees that some type of subsidy might be needed, but the money might go to assist people who want to sign up for service and can't afford it.
The percentage of West Virginians who own computers lags behind the nation, 58 percent to 68 percent. Swatts said the penetration rate for broadband is only about 20 percent in the state.
Frontier Communications provides service to 37 of the state's 55 counties and has high-speed service available in all of its 76 exchanges. The company has worked with Alliance West Virginia on broadband projects and was one of three partners to fund the Internet usage survey.
"There is a lot of hype in West Virginia for the need for broadband," Swatts said. "I think the technology is in place. What we need is the demand for service."
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