Area residents call for broadband access
Friday, June 5th, 2009
By: Elizabeth Fiedler
efiedler@whyy.org
Pennsylvania officials are preparing to apply for federal stimulus dollars to expand broadband access. The stimulus money could help bridge the gap between people with access to high speed data and the internet and those in unserved and under-served communities. The state held a series of public meetings for people to express their broadband needs, including one at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center.
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Coatesville resident Felicia Seamon hopes some of the broadband stimulus dollars will be used to enhance access around Cheyney University where she works, and near her home.
Seamon: Coatestville's very rural and we are just getting some of the Wi-Fi from companies like Verizon and some of our outlays still do not have access to broadband.
Seamon says access, like education, is powerful. That sentiment's echoed by Charles Brennan. He works for the Governor's Office of Administration.
Brennan: Every study that's ever been done on broadband says that people who have broadband are better off. And they're better off economically.
Brennan says access can help people find and apply for jobs. He says the state expects to apply for broadband stimulus money in the fall.