Emerging tourist/tech region 90 miles from New York City seeks affordable broadband options, improved cell service, 5G investments and Gigabit City status to help existing Employers grow; and new companies relocate to beautiful Wayne County, Pennsylvania
(Wayne County, PA) – January 17, 2022 – Employers, companies, schools, local governments, non-profits, and households are rallying together in Wayne County to ask Employers and Households to complete quick surveys on existing broadband, cell service, and future 5G service to help expedite and improve the results of a broadband initiative project aimed to improve service and reduce costs for Wayne County residents. Help us get 100 Employers and 2,000 households to complete the surveys.
The Wayne County Broadband Project surveys for Employers and Households are posted here:
EMPLOYERS CLICK HERE: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/J7YNG2S
HOUSEHOLDS CLICK HERE: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/J7CQZBB
The Employer survey deadline is February 7, 2022.
The Household survey deadline is February 14, 2022.
With more than 93% of e911 emergency calls coming from cell phones, securing excellent cell service is a public safety priority. Likewise, more than ever affordable and high-speed broadband is critical for employers, households, students, schools, tourism, and real estate markets!
Your swift response will help us spur broadband options, broadband availability, and broadband investment across the County as well as eliminate dead cell zones and speed the deployment on next generation 5G wireless. Therefore we ask that employer surveys are submitted by February 7, 2022.
A long-range project objective is gigabit city status for Wayne County’s more densely populated areas, where businesses and households can purchase synchronous gigabit internet connections (gigabit upload/download) for $1,000/year or less. While many PA, NJ, and NY zip codes have achieved gigabit city status, this Project seeks to spur gigabit investment and drop gigabit pricing. A second objective is to improve broadband and cellular service to the county’s less-densely populated areas wherever possible.
According to BroadbandNow, Wayne County ranks in the lowest quartile for county broadband coverage. Wayne County is excited to work with our consultant Lewis Strategic to improve these rankings. After years of broadband projects, his home county, nearby rural Monroe County, with equally challenging broadband geography, is ranked 4th best in the same survey. https://broadbandnow.com/Pennsylvania
Companies seeking to relocate to Wayne County should contact: Mary Beth Wood, Executive Director, WEDCO, mbw@wedcorp.org, 32 Commercial Street, Suite 1, Honesdale, PA 18431, 570-253-2537
Accelerate Wayne – The Gigabit & Dead Cell Zone Project – Goals and Objectives:
(1) Immediately conduct countywide survey of broadband, cell service, and costs; (2) Develop/implement solutions to increase broadband availability to underserved locations; (3) Develop/implement solutions to reduce Employer and Household broadband Mbps costs by 50%; (4) Develop/implement solutions to increase availability of gigabit connectivity to Honesdale, Hawley, and across Wayne County; (5) Identify dead cell zones with no cell service, and develop/implement solutions ways to eliminate them; (6) Help more organizations offer WiFi hotspots where cell coverage is weak or obstructed; (7) Develop/implement solutions to position the County for 5G wireless investment; and, (8) Develop/implement solution strategies to position more densely populated areas for Gigabit City status.
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HOW CAN YOU HELP:
- Complete the Employer and Household surveys!
- Share the Employer and Household survey links with as many employers and households as possible:
EMPLOYERS CLICK HERE: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/J7YNG2S
HOUSEHOLDS CLICK HERE: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/J7CQZBB
- Post the survey links on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and social media groups!
- Invite us to speak on conference calls, meetings, virtual coffee groups, and other community activities!
- Post our Project videos when they are released and shared.
For more information contact:
Kelly Lewis: Kelly@LewisStrategic.com
