The Avery County Chamber of Commerce is requesting members and others in the community to fill out a N.C. Department of Commerce survey in hopes of increasing broadband access in the county, according to a brief email from the chamber.
Recently, Avery County’s government advertised a notice about the “Report of Lack of Service” survey on its website and through local media. See excerpts of prior story below:
The notice explains that Avery County is partnering with N.C. Office of Digital Infrastructure to increase broadband access in the county.
“The term broadband refers to high-speed Internet access that is not limited by data caps and able to meet the current needs of the consumer. Avery County is asking the residents and businesses owners to help show the need, lack of and desire for broadband Internet access or high-speed Internet access by completing a short questionnaire. Please complete this survey even if you have Internet service but would like to have broadband,”
According to minutes from a July meeting of the Avery County Board of Commissioners, Commissioner Maxine Laws approached Green to discuss ways the county could improve its Internet access throughout the county – especially for students that currently don’t have online access at their homes.
This survey was mentioned and the state uses the data to help Internet-service providers gauge demand. Keith Conover from the Office of Digital Infrastructure recommended that the county form an ad hoc committee on this issue.
At the July meeting, Greene noted that this will not be an overnight process.
“It will be a long process,” Greene said. “We don’t want to get everyone thinking that we will have broadband next week.”
The deadline to complete the survey is Oct. 31, 2015.
For those unable to access the survey online, hard copies are available at the Avery County Morrison Library in Newland, the Avery County manager’s office in Newland and various school libraries within the Avery County Schools system.
For more information, contact the Avery County manager’s office and ask to speak with Tim Greene at 828-733-8201.
About the N.C. Broadband Effort
The N.C. Broadband effort is moving under the Office of Information Technology Services to provide for better coordination and resource sharing across State agencies around broadband and digital infrastructure. The new Office of Digital Infrastructure aligns the foundational pieces of the N.C. Broadband effort and the FirstNet initiative under the Office of the State CIO (SCIO) to provide for better coordination and resource sharing across state agencies around broadband and digital infrastructure.
This initiative serves as a priority for the state as broadband technology provides a critical foundation for public safety, economic development, education and efficiency for our state, with rapidly growing demand by businesses, citizens and government.
The centralized and streamlined Office of Digital Infrastructure provides the opportunity to work across agencies, break down silos, and identify the needs of broadband infrastructure development as part of the missions of each state agency.