Every home in Schoharie County that can get electricity may be able to have broadband Internet service by the end of next year.
Currently, high-speed broadband Internet access is limited to geographic location.
Angela Kogler, a member of Schoharie County’s task force on telecommunications, said the more populated areas have access to broadband while coverage in the more rural areas is spotty.
Broadband, she said, is many times faster than dial-up service, faster than DSL and may be faster than Roadrunner service.
The time is right to bring the service to the entire county, Ms. Kogler said.
“We are at a time in history in which broadband is a necessity,” Ms. Kogler said.
Infrastructure is now much more than roads, water and sewer, she said.
People buy first and second homes and businesses relocate, she added, based on infrastructure, which now includes broadband.
The task force is conducting a survey on interest in broadband service. If there is enough interest, Ms. Kogler said, a Syracuse firm, New Visions, may install fiber optic cable and boxes on utility poles that will allow home and business owners to connect to broadband.
Carmen Branca Jr. of New Visions spoke to members of the Schoharie County Board of Supervisors on May 23.
He said his company, which has installed the technology in other areas, has a contract with National Grid and can work with other power companies, to install fiber optic cables to the utility poles and to install the boxes.
The boxes, he said, will probably be installed on every third pole. Homeowners who sign up for the service will get a modem that can be plugged into any electric outlet in their dwelling to which they can connect their computer.
The Syracuse company will pay for the cables and other infrastructure and the monthly fee to home and business owners should be between $28 and $29 a month, Mr. Branca said. The cost for other services would be higher.
High-speed Internet access is a must in the business community, economic development and students, Ms. Kogler said.
Broadband, she said, offers students, business owners and others unlimited resources to learn and grow and will give children access to tools to allow them to compete globally.
“It’s a very exciting concept,” she said.
Earl VanWormer, the chairman of the Schoharie County Board of Supervisors said existing businesses “need to keep up with the technology of today and tomorrow.”
Among other services, broadband, Ms. Kogler said, would allow: people to shop on line which will save fuel; farmers to check the weather and do crop and market research; those in the military to better communicate with their family; and those in the healthcare field to communicate with other healthcare facilities and professionals.
Business owners and residents deserve the best and latest technology, Mr. VanWormer said.
The county now has seven task forces on various topics including telecommunications, he said.
The task forces will help position the county to be united when new technology, grants or other opportunity present themselves, he said.
“We need to be united,” Mr. VanWormer said. “It will put us in a little better position than the person next door to us.”
In addition to Internet service, broadband would also give access to digital telephone, Internet television and emergency communication services, Ms. Kogler said.
“Once the broadband backbone is in place,” she said, “there’s a huge amount of other services.”
Support has to be shown through the survey, she said.
The surveys will be packaged into local newspapers and can also be filled out on line.
There is a link to the county website for the survey at: www.schohariecounty-ny.gov/broadband.html. The survey, she said, can be answered on line, printed out and mailed in or dropped off at a county facility. It is available at town and village offices and libraries.
There is also a link on the county Chamber of Commerce website for the survey.
It is important that residents and business owners fill out and return the surveys, Mr. VanWormer said.
The county task force has been working on getting broadband service for three to four months, Ms. Kogler said.
If there is enough interest shown through the surveys, Mr. Branca said the service could be available in the county by the end of 2009.