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By AIYANA BAIDA

Highlands Today

Published: March 11, 2010

SEBRING - The University of South Florida Polytechnic is applying for federal stimulus funds that would bring faster high-speed broadband services to local schools, hospitals and libraries at lower rates.

The extended broadband lines would create competition with local Internet providers that would lower the costs of broadband, allowing poorer communities within the county access and affordability.

"We do need broadband service in the county ... and we need to get some of this stimulus money to get it," said Highlands County Commissioner Guy Maxcy.

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Agriculture is awarding $7 billion to promote affordable broadband services to rural America.

USF Polytechnic, located in Lakeland, is trying to tap into $2.35 billion of that stimulus money that has been earmarked for "middle mile" infrastructure, also known as anchor institutions like schools, hospitals and local governments.

These funds would offer broadband capabilities and opportunities to these institutions.

In the USF Polytechnic proposal, they plan on extending about 300 miles of fiber optic broadband through Highlands, Hardee, DeSoto and Polk counties.

During the March 2 Highlands County Board of County Commissioners meeting, the board approved a letter of support for the proposal.

If USF Polytechnic is awarded the grant, the federal stimulus money would provide them the funds to bring broadband to rural areas in the Heartland and drive down the costs.

"Some customers have not been willing to pay for these services so they pay for slower speeds ... this would allow for higher speeds or at least the same speeds but at a lower rate," said Highlands County Economic Development Commission Executive Director Dan Murphy.

Broadband to better education

USF Polytechnic presented information, prepared by DSM Technology Consultants, a consulting firm from Texas, that found in 2008 Florida's median download speed was 3.99 megabits per second, comparatively low next to Japan's 63.60 megabits per second.

"In general the U.S. doesn't have the capability it should have. It is behind ... there are a lot of counties (in Central Florida) that are still on dial-up. This will level the playing field," said Didier Rousseliere, USF Polytechnic director of business incubator and global partnerships.

Tuesday night, representatives of USF Polytechnic discussed several advantages of adding broadband lines; education was among the most emphasized.

"The classroom of the 21st century is digital. It would allow schools the capability to take field trips to anywhere from the classroom ... you could connect to another community half a world away," said Robert Goodman, USF Polytechnic university partnership liaison.

The accessibility of this publically available broadband would benefit students in the lower tier who would otherwise not have access to new technological resources.

Goodman cited Educational Needs Index- a regional study on education, economic and population pressures - which showed Highlands County scored 695 out of 3,140 points in Educational Factor, which measures the educational levels within the population.

DeSoto County scored 6, Hardee 13, Polk 1,109 out of 3140, respectively.

"These numbers only represent the present while broadband is a future investment opportunity ... for education," Goodman said in an e-mail.

The Highlands County Economic Development Commission is supporting three separate applicants for the broadband grant, which include USF Polytechnic, South Florida Community College and Florida's Heartland Rural Economic Development Initiative.

"I want to extend broadband services as much as possible," Murphy said.

Maxcy said the county needs faster broadband and they would welcome other grant applicants.

The grant deadline is March 15 and approval may take between six to eight months. If USF Polytechnic is awarded the grant they expect construction to begin in two years.

This new high capacity fiber optic, broadband would definitely be faster than broadband currently being used, Rousseliere said.

Highlands Today reporter Aiyana Baida can be reached at 863-386-5855 or nbaida@highalndstoday.com

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