IW’s IT person says 99 percent of county is fully covered

By Diana McFarland

News editor

Isle of Wight’s information technology director said Thursday that 99 percent of Isle of Wight County has access to high speed Internet, but state-level officials said the maps used to support the county’s claim may be inaccurate. 

“We have 99 percent coverage of 4G coverage,” said Jason Gray, Isle of Wight County director of information technology during a presentation on the issue at the Board of Supervisors meeting.

Gray said 4G is considered broadband and showed the Board several maps to back up his claim.

“We’re very rich with fiber passing through this county,” Gray said.

Caroline Stolle Luxhoj, broadband program administrator with the Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), disagrees.

According to the maps, “Isle of Wight in not rich in fiber optics,” she said.{mprestriction ids=”1,2,3,4,5,6″}

Luxhoj said the reporting requirements for the maps Gray cited say that if broadband providers can supply at least two addresses in a census block, that block is covered.

 “The latest reporting requirement makes the maps even more overstated by allowing large census blocks to fall under the same rule. We find these requirements incredibly frustrating as we think it is critical to show the true problem. The solution would be to collect data at the address level, rather than the census block level,” said Luxhoj in a Dec. 18 email.

Gray said on Tuesday that if the state is now saying the maps are incorrect, it “hurts us in many ways.”

“Because of this type of information it has been very difficult to show Isle of Wight County as unserved or underserved.  Isle of Wight County has applied for various grants, state and federal funding opportunities, applied for Google Fiber and other options which we do not qualify for because of existing data at the state and federal level that shows we are well served,” Gray said.

Luxhoj said the Virginia Association of Counties agrees with CIT and added several policies affecting broadband reporting to its list of legislative requests for the upcoming General Assembly session.

VACo specifically calls for a reporting requirement for all Internet service providers in Virginia to provide address level broadband access to correct the accuracy of the statewide broadband map, which is currently deficient due to Federal Communications Commission standards.

“I have no idea if Virginia legislators will carry that into policy, but at least it is publicly acknowledged that the FCC rules do not support accurate mapping of coverage today,” Luxhoj said.

Luxhoj said there may be opposition to such legislation as some providers are OK with giving address level data but most are not.

Gray hopes the state will continue to improve their broadband reporting as stated in VACo’s legislative priorities.

Jim Henderson, who along with his wife Connie, have spearheaded the effort to broaden Internet access in Isle of Wight, said Charter has a map stating that he has cable access to his home in Carrollton.

“This illustrates the misleading picture, since there is no way — even in the next decade — that Charter will bring service to us,” Henderson said in an email. 

According to the contract with Charter, the company must provide cable services to areas with at least 30 houses per mile.

If you live on a private dirt road or in the most rural parts of the county, service providers are not required to deliver physical wired broadband service to your home, according to Gray’s presentation.

Gray said Charter will work with residents to get connected.

Gray worked for Charter for a few years, serving as a broadband services manager, before being hired by Isle of Wight.

“Charter will build it if you offer to pay for it,” he said.

“Isle of Wight County has applied for various grants, state and federal funding opportunities, applied for Google Fiber and other options which we do not qualify for because of existing data at the state and federal level that shows we are well served,” said Gray.

 “I am not saying everyone in the county has the best, fastest or most affordable broadband available but that we are well served in our most densely populated areas and that there are only small amounts of residents that cannot get wired broadband service,” he said.

 

What is the Center for Innovative Technology?

CIT, The Center for Innovative Technology, is a Herndon-based non-profit organization formed in 1985 to create technology-based economic development strategies. The CIT Board of Directors includes Virginia Secretary of Technology Karen Jackson, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Maurice Jones, Virginia Tech President Timothy Sands, as well as private sector members.  {/mprestriction}