Internet connectivity topic at meeting held Monday in county

A regional meeting was held Monday at the Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation conference room on U.S. 21 in Sparta to discuss ways to increase Internet access and usage in North Carolina.

The meeting was one of seven being held statewide to discuss connectivity by e-NC, a state-mandated authority that was given the mission of expanding Internet connectivity. The authority has seeded seven telecenters statewide, including the A. Anderson Huber Cyber Campus at Alleghany High School in Sparta.

According to information shared at the meeting, the authority includes some 40 employees, all of whom work at the North Carolina Rural Center.

The meeting began at 10 a.m. with a discussion of the current state of connectivity statewide, along with information on terms and definitions.

After lunch, the meeting concluded with the audience being asked questions about connectivity issues. The results of the session will be reported to the House Select Committee on High Speed Internet in Rural Areas. E-NC Director Jane Smith Patterson explained that the N.C. Senate does not have such a committee at this time.

"No one in the state should be left out of having broadband (Internet service)," she said.

Later broadband access was identified as being capable of carrying bandwidth greater than 45 megabytes per second. Currently most rural high speed Internet in Alleghany currently tops out at 6 mbps and is only available in limited areas.

However, connection speeds of 1.5 mbps and 3 mbps are more widely available. High-speed access is available to 92 percent of country residents, information from e-NC showed.

 

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