Jan 3, 2023 5 min read

When Sam Lapcevic went to look for his home and business near Scenery Hill on the Federal Communications Commission’s newly released National Broadband Map website that shows internet speeds at localities, his address was nowhere to be found.

Lapcevic is already dealing with snail-speed internet at his North Bethlehem Township property that also serves as the site for his Branded Threads business, making life more difficult when trying to stream videos or conduct e-commerce.

So he hoped the federal survey that is underway until Jan. 13 would help paint a clearer picture for regulators to see what areas are unserved or underserved by high-speed broadband internet. But instead he had to punch in his geographical coordinates into the website, which raised concerns in his mind about whether regulators knew the status of his community’s internet service.

Lapcevic has only 15 megabits of download speed, making the internet mostly unreliable for him and many of his neighbors in rural Washington County.

“You need high-speed internet in this day and age, absolutely,” Lapcevic said. “If you even try to stream something or do something as simple as surf the web, it’ll be so congested you won’t be able to do them at the same time. That’s just one person. I can’t imagine if you have four or five people on the network.”

Washington County officials, who launched a major broadband expansion effort last year using federal stimulus funds, are hoping local residents will take the FCC survey to give regulators a better idea of the problems rural communities are facing when it comes to internet service. John Timney, director of the Washington County Authority that is in charge of the broadband expansion program, said the FCC survey complements a countywide questionnaire they conducted last spring to see what communities need to be upgraded.

“If we have an error and we don’t fix it, we will get disenfranchised from a funding perspective,” Timney said. “(The FCC) will use that as a barometer for how much money we get and who gets that money.”

The current FCC survey is designed to alleviate confusion about what neighborhoods are adequately served with high-speed internet, which means at least 25 megabits of download speed. In the past, if one person had that internet speed in a Census block, all of the other homes in that area would also be considered by the FCC as being served.

“We talked nuances about who was served and unserved, and usually it was a gross discrepancy and unfair to others in that Census block,” Timney said.

Timney said the mapping became much more localized in November, but there are still errors that need to be corrected or updated.

People can now “challenge” their internet speed that a telecommunications company claims that it is providing. The survey offers a speed test that then can be matched to what the FCC believes is being offered to a residence or business. The property owner can then punch in the information to the county’s survey and officials here will submit challenge claims to the FCC for adjustments.

As of Friday, Timney said they’ve had 225 people in Washington County conduct the FCC survey. He’s hoping even more participate by the Jan. 13 deadline, although there is a grace period for more challenges to come after that date. Timney wants enough Washington County residents to participate in the process to give the FCC a more accurate picture of the situation as county officials prepare to award numerous contracts this year for broadband expansion in many rural communities.

Lapcevic hasn’t yet received upgraded internet service despite being a mile away from Scenery Hill, where the county recently partnered with DQE to install high-speed broadband lines for homes and businesses along Route 40 in the village. But he believes the process will eventually benefit his community if more people participate in the survey.

“I think it will (help),” Lapcevic said. “We’ve been trying to spread the word as much as we can. That’s what it’s going to come down to. The response they receive.”

The survey can be found on the county commissioners landing page on the county’s website at www.co.washington.pa.us. People who would like more information on the FCC process can view a webinar conducted by Michael Baker International at noon Thursday, which will be posted on the company’s LinkedIn page.

Anyone with questions or concerns about the county’s broadband expansion program can email the Washington County Authority at broadbandhelp@co.washington.pa.us or call the office directly at 724-250-6418.