County Broadband Efforts Continue

SNOW HILL –   Roughly 300 residents have participated in the internet speed study currently underway in Worcester County.

In an update provided to the Worcester County Commissioners this week, Director of Information Technology Brian Jones said the study, which is being done by CTC Technology & Energy, was producing the expected results.

“A lot of constituents in the county are very unhappy with what they have and what’s available to them,” Jones said.

Jones said the county started enlisting the help of residents on April 2 through the survey that collects information about broadband access and internet speed.

“We had 50 (responses) before the end of the day the first day,” Jones said. “We’re well over 300 people now. We’re getting some pretty good responses back from them.”

The survey also asks about the level of satisfaction residents have with their current providers. Jones said that as expected, many people weren’t happy with what they had. He said CTC was sharing survey results with the county every few weeks.

“They’ve still got a lot of work to do obviously,” he said.

The next step involves having CTC employees visit individual homes throughout the county to test speed and access. That, however, can’t take place until COVID-19 travel restrictions are lifted.

“We do have a lot of people within the county that’s geared up to be part of the test,” Jones said.

He told the commissioners that Choptank Electric Cooperative’s efforts to provide rural broadband were expected to move ahead following the approval of the necessary legislation in March.

“Even if we have 80% that was covered by Choptank, I still believe that as we move forward there will be pockets we’ll have to look at other avenues,” Jones said. “We’re not going to be able to do fiber across the board for everybody.”

When asked how Bloosurf, the company that received federal grants to provide high speed internet to Worcester, played into the situation, Jones said he’d had a “cordial conversation” with the company.

“They’re not going to fight anything we come up with,” he said. “If we want to move forward with another opportunity such as Choptank they’re not willing to stand in our way.”

Commissioner Joe Mitrecic questioned that.

“I’m surprised Bloosurf is willing to do that because I don’t know if anybody else has noticed but they’ve had a lot of advertisements on the TV all of the sudden explaining how happy everybody is with them,” he said. “That kind of surprises me that they’re willing to step aside but I hope that is in fact what happens.”

About The Author: Charlene Sharpe

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Charlene Sharpe has been with The Dispatch since 2014. A graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and the University of Richmond, she spent seven years with the Delmarva Media Group before joining the team at The Dispatch.