The Kenai Peninsula Regional Broadband Taskforce is encouraging residents of the Peninsula to help take part in the region’s broadband service and infrastructure. The FCC is in the process of updating its current broadband maps with more detailed and precise information on the availability of fixed and mobile broadband services.
Tim Dillon, Executive Director with the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District tells KSRM:
“Well, the taskforce is trying to get a handle on what we have and what we don’t have here on the Kenai Peninsula. We put it together back in March and they’ve been meeting once or twice a month. This is a very high-level group of thirteen individuals that really represent all the different facets of the Kenai Peninsula and what we’re trying to do is figure out what’s out there, what’s going to be the technology three years from now, five years from now, ten years from now, and how do we make broadband and connectivity available to everybody that wants it and at a reasonable cost.”
The Regional Broadband Taskforce aims to promote increased and equitable broadband access to residents and businesses in the Kenai Peninsula through accurate data mapping for growth and development of the region.
Dillon says that broadband connectivity across the Peninsula is slow:
“When you start looking at our terrain, that’s what makes things even more difficult. Cooper Landing, that area, Hope, especially, on the other side of the water, Nanwalek, Port Graham, Seldovia, it’s just something that we have to do a better job with. That’s what we’re trying to work on and there’s going to be $2.1 billion coming to the state of Alaska for connectivity and that’s why we want to make sure here on the Kenai Peninsula that we know what it is that we need and how we’re going to get it done.”
He adds:
“It’s not just a one fix is going to fix everything. It’s going to have to be a combination of wire, fiber, there’s going to be some satellites involved, I’m sure, there’s got to be site-to-site. There’s just a variety of different kinds of technology that can make this thing work.”
The Broadband Data Collection program will give the FCC, industry, state, local and Tribal government entities, and consumers the tools they need to improve the accuracy of existing maps. Service providers and governments will then use broadband maps to make decisions about where service is needed and how to fund the expansion of broadband services.
You can take the test by downloading the app through the following link: https://www.fcc.gov/BroadbandData/consumers#speed-test
