Many other areas of the state fare pretty well, with the majority of the counties seeing access in the 75% to 85% range. census map, Polk County is part of a conglomerate of counties with lower Internet access, including DeSoto, Hardee and Highlands counties. And according to a survey from 2013, Polk County ranks in the bottom 24 in the nation for high-speed Internet use.Īccording to the same U.S. Census Bureau, between 20, 65% to 75% of Polk County households have a broadband Internet subscription. There are also areas of the county without access to broadband service at all.Īccording to the U.S. By comparison, Spectrum service starts at 200 Mbps. According to that map, large swaths of Polk County are "unserved," meaning people in those areas can only get between one and nine megabytes per second. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity's Office of Broadband produced a map of minimum Internet download speeds by census block. "Certain citizens who are still on copper wire with Verizon, the worst of worst technology, they would not be able to have a Zoom call going and a child playing a game." If they can get on Internet and can get on a Zoom call, they think they have plenty of coverage," Madden said. "A lot of people don't know what they don't know. Stephanie Madden, a Lakeland city commissioner and chairwoman of the city's broadband task force, said some people may not be aware of mounting pressure to fix issues with broadband coverage. it is now being measured against what is expected to be a public utility, things like water and sewer, things that we sometimes take for granted," Beasley said. "Because of what happened with everything shutting down, the issue with broadband has been compounded in that. That's because the "quiet drum beat" of residents demanding solutions for accessible and affordable broadband has steadily risen as a result of "the reliance and the expectation having gone through this COVID journey." The Polk County Board of County Commissioners, for example, is just now broaching the issue, County Manager Bill Beasley said. It's an issue local government entities have not fully managed to address. Plus, even when broadband, satellite or cell tower services are available, their costs can keep them out of reach. And those who do have sufficient broadband connectivity can face constant outages. Polk County first started addressing the issue in 2013 with the formation of the Broadband Polk Advisory Committee and the release of the Polk County Broadband Plan designed to solve identified issues.īut several years later, Polk families, particularly in rural and underpopulated areas, can still find themselves without steady network access. When it comes to broadband accessibility, Polk County lags much of the state.
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