Island County Commissioner Janet St. Clair (D-Camano Island) sent the following newsletter on Mon., Oct. 2, 2022.
Broadband Data Collection | Federal Communications Commission (fcc.gov)
Access to the internet has been proven to be of importance in economic, educational and health equity and opportunities. I will be hosting a Town Hall this Thursday, October 6 at 5:30 pm to discuss FCC broadband (internet) mapping in Island County and the importance of public participation in this process. This meeting will be a hybrid virtual/in-person meeting. Virtual link is below. If you wish to join in-person, the meeting will be held at the Camano Administration Building –121 N. East Camano Drive south of Camano Plaza. Masks are highly recommended, but speakers will be unmasked during the presentation for clarity of content.
FCC mapping has been used to determine availability of internet providers and broadband infrastructure. It has historically set priority to determine funding to under and unserved areas in our nation. Unfortunately, their data has been highly inaccurate. For example, it showed Island County and Camano Island as 97% covered. We have been working for four years to address this policy and bring investments to our county. We need your help to correct the data so we can expand coverage in our local communities.
The FCC is now in process on upgrading their mapping. That process will be open to public input. Our Broadband Action Team is leading that effort for our county. I will be joined by BAT members, Kevin McCalmon and Stuart Wyatt, to lead a webinar on how you can be involved. Our first step will be to gather bulk data, complete with specific addresses, to upload to the FCC to better clarify unserved areas in our county. This will be significant in our grant efforts. Step two in November/December will be to train individual internet users to upload their own data for accuracy of “fiber to the premises”. Information can be uploaded on any device, whether your internet is provided through fiber, satellite, or wireless 4G/5G. I hope you will attend. Q&A on issues of general interest at end of presentation.
-Janet St. Clair, Island County Commissioner
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On The Ballot in November 2022
| County Commissioner, District 3 Tim Hazelo (R-Oak Harbor) Janet St. Clair (D-Camano Island), the incumbent |
