Pennsylvania County With Long History Preps for Digital World

Washington County (PA) has begun a three-year, $30 million project to expand internet access in the rural county, which is located about 35 miles south of Pittsburgh (PA). The first baby steps in the project will bring service to about 50 homes in Avella, home to fewer than 1,000 people, and also to the nearby Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village (PA). The Washington County Commissioners are using American Rescue Plan Act funds to expand broadband access with fiber-optic cable in collaboration with private internet service providers, including Hickory Telephone, an outfit with its own modest beginnings. Hickory will be installing fiber-optic cable in Avella in the first step to getting the whole county wired. Hickory has about 2,000 broadband subscribers in the northwest part of the county, CEO Brian Jeffers said. Money that Washington County Commissioners earmarked for broadband expansion is separate from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which contains $65 billion for erecting towers and installing the fiber-optic cable needed to upgrade internet service. Pennsylvania and other states will receive broadband funding payments of $100 million — and potentially much more, depending on need — over several years under the new law.