Nonprofit Directs Efforts to Improve Internet Access in Southern Pennsylvania

Nonprofit Alleghenies Broadband is leading a cohesive effort across a six-county region in south-central Pennsylvania to bring high-speed Internet access to areas that are unserved or underserved by reliable networks. Part of its work is a recently completed Request for Proposals (RFP) in search of forming a series of public-private partnerships to help identify target areas and offer robust solutions to bring new infrastructure to the businesses and residents who need it most. As that process continues to unfold, however, the nonprofit is already working with city and county leaders to pursue a range of wireline and fixed wireless options that will result in better service and publicly owned infrastructure. Alleghenies Broadband is part of the Southern Alleghenies Planning & Development Commission, and proposes in its RFP to “act as a conduit for the various funds that are and will be available to ensure that investments in broadband today are leveraged to the maximum for future initiatives and projects." The nonprofit is taking particular aim at areas covered by DSL coverage, eliciting project proposals that target areas unserved by “a wireline connection that reliably delivers at least 25 Mbps down speed and 3 Mbps upload speed.” Alleghenies Broadband sets the bar for future projects at 100/100 Mbps, though it says it will accept speeds of 100/20 Mbps in areas if particular challenges can be documented.