Jun 17, 2022 3 min read

Washington County commissioners approved separate contracts totaling nearly $5.4 million to bring high-speed internet to West Finley Township and Bentleyville, making it the largest project officials have undertaken since beginning their push for broadband services in underserved areas.

The commissioners during their Thursday voting meeting unanimously approved the two contracts with Windstream to bring its Kinetic internet services to nearly 1,000 new customers in those areas within the next two years.

“The focus of our initiative is to offer equitable access to broadband in underserved regions of Washington County,” commission Chairwoman Diana Irey Vaughan said. “The pandemic demonstrated the need for more reliable broadband in areas with existing access and, more importantly, bringing broadband to unserved communities, schools and businesses.”

The West Finley portion of the project – which is considered one of the most unserved and underserved areas in the county – will bring broadband to 529 homes and 13 businesses. That project will cost $4.6 million, although the county will only have to contribute about $3 million with Windstream paying the remainder of the installation costs. The telecommunications company will run about 67 miles of broadband lines to expand internet service to the rural township in the southwestern part of the county.

“Once you review the data on broadband access across the county, identifying target communities become apparent,” said John Timney, director of the Washington County Authority that has been tasked with the broadband expansion initiative. “West Finley Township, for example, is the county’s most ‘unserved community’ by all measures and we needed to direct our investment attention to that area.”

McGuffey School District Superintendent Andrew Oberg said the decision will make a real impact on students in that area as internet access and remote learning becomes a more vital component to education.

“It will dramatically relieve the very real frustration our students and their families experience when remote instruction is required,” Oberg said. “This funding is the start of closing the wide educational gap that exists between districts with technology access and those struggling to connect.”

The other contract the commissioners approved at their meeting was $756,791 for Windstream to run 12 miles of broadband wiring in Bentleyville to connect 300 homes and 102 businesses. The county will contribute $167,767 to that project with Windstream paying for the rest.

This is the third project that has been announced for broadband expansion in Washington County using federal American Rescue Plan Act stimulus funds. A pilot program over the winter offered broadband services to 50 homes near Avella while another project was recently unveiled to bring high-speed internet to people living in the villages of Scenery Hill, Beallsville and Glyde.

Maggi said officials used surveys performed by the county and Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission to determine which areas were most in need of broadband expansion.

“Washington County is only going to grow if all our communities have access and ability to broadband,” Maggi said. “Community growth, economic development and broadband expansion are all positively linked.”

Commissioner Nick Sherman added that broadband expansion will assist underserved areas with economic development and even medical care for residents who live there.

“There is no such thing as ‘telemedicine’ for our seniors without this critical project in these areas,” he said.