News & Updates

This page is for documenting and archiving everything going on with the Connect Beaver County Broadband Program.

Sort by News Articles, Press Releases or general Project Updates below.

Updates are automatically sorted by most recent posts.

January 22, 2024

CBC Things to Know Fact Sheet

Read More BEAVER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, Jan. 22, 2024 – Beaver County is advancing its Broadband…

October 2022

Beaver County Celebrates Digital Inclusion Week by Announcing Digital Navigator Program, Affordable Connectivity Programs

BEAVER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, For Release on Oct. 3, 2022 – In observance of Digital Inclusion Week, October 3-7, Beaver County is proud to join with hundreds of organizations nationally that are working to raise awareness of solutions that address home Internet access and create computer assistance and support programs.

Read more…

September 2022

New Maps Will Help Decide Where up to $1 billion in Federal Money Goes for PA Broadband Expansion

HARRISBURG — As Pennsylvania prepares for an anticipated flood of federal funding to improve broadband access, the state must first resolve a basic and yet surprisingly thorny challenge: pinpointing where high-speed internet is still unavailable.

Almost everyone agrees that the federal government’s current broadband maps are deeply inaccurate — a longstanding source of frustration for advocates, government officials, and internet users.

Read more…

August 2022

Four Beaver County Communities Closer to Full Broadband Access 

The Connect Beaver County Broadband Program announced preliminary design will begin to expand broadbandservices to unserved locations in Beaver County.

Hanover Township will be paired with Armstrong as the Internet Service Provider (ISP), with DarlingtonTownship, South Beaver Township and Big Beaver aligned with Windstream.

Read more…

Connect Beaver County Reports Progress to Provide Broadband Access to More Than 200 Locations in Four Beaver County Communities

Two Early Action Projects Advance with Selection of Internet Service Providers

Beaver County, Pennsylvania, For Release on August 25, 2022

The Connect Beaver County Broadband Program today announced that two Early Action Projects are advancing to preliminary design and will expand broadband services to unserved locations in Beaver County. Armstrong was selected as the Internet Service Provider (ISP) for Hanover Township and Windstream as the ISP for Darlington Township, South Beaver Township, and Big Beaver Borough.

Read More…

March 2022

Public Launch Event – Beaver County Commits Nearly $20 Million to Deliver Broadband Access

The Beaver County Office of Planning and Redevelopment launched the Connect Beaver County Broadband Program in coordination with key funding champions and local beneficiaries. This program is dedicated to delivering high-speed internet to locations that are currently unserved or underserved in the county. Check out the highlights video from the press event to learn more.

National Association Counties Provides Update on Broadband Funding – The Recovery Fund and Broadband

The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (Recovery Fund), part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which NACo helped to develop and strongly advocated to pass, allocates $65.1 billion. These funds provide direct, flexible aid for every county, parish and borough in America. Counties are on the front lines in delivering this aid to residents and are a driving force connecting communities and strengthening the economy. Read more…

October 2021

Broadband Data Collection & Feasibility Study Completed

In fall 2021, Beaver County completed the Broadband Verification initiative. This initiative included data validation, broadband field surveys and public outreach to identify areas in Beaver County that are unserved or underserved for broadband connectivity. Leveraging the Federal Communications Commission’s data, Beaver County developed GIS mapping, and conducted residential and business outreach through a series of public surveys. This resulted in Beaver County identifying 24 municipalities with gaps in service. The response was tremendous as noted below:

 

Two early action projects were identified due to their lack of any current connectivity options as well as other engineering factors. The first includes one in Hanover Township and the second in Big Beaver Borough, South Beaver Township, and Darlington Township. Beaver County Commissioners used the study findings to allocate ARPA Funding to providing new services.

November 2020

Windstream Awarded Rural Digital Opportunity Funding for Broadband – November 2020

In late 2020, the FCC awarded funding for fixed broadband internet service in unserved areas in Beaver County through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). RDOF is a federally operated program through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designed to bring high-speed fixed broadband service to rural areas of the country that are considered unserved (25 Mbps download/3 Mbps upload). RDOF is disbursing up to $20.4 billion over 10 years. Phase I of the RDOF program started in 2020 and carriers must complete deployment of service by the eighth year of the program. Windstream is providing service to 257 RDOF locations in Beaver County. This does not include satellite locations. Read more…

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