The Board of Supervisors is moving forward with planning for developing some sort of broadband internet and improved cell phone reception initiative in Botetourt— a concept that is apparently supported wholeheartedly by county residents and businesses.

The board unanimously approved a resolution establishing the Botetourt County Broadband Advisory Commission and its bylaws, and appointed eight members to the commission at its March meeting.

The commission will hold its first meeting April 27 in Fincastle. Members of the commission are Walter Grigg, Michelle Crook, Darrell Hix, Brandon Evans, Ken McFadyen, Frank Smith, Gary Larrowe and Supervisor Dr. Mac Scothorn, who will serve as chairman.

The supervisors established the commission after hearing a presentation from consultant Jennifer Eddy of Eddy Communications who presented the results of a broadband telecommunications residents and business survey that the supervisors commissioned in 2017.

The Botetourt County Broadband Commission’s purpose is to “research, advocate, promote and facilitate the provisions of broadband internet services to all residents and businesses in the county at fair and economical rates.”

The commission is charged with drafting and recommending an annual plan of goals, strategies and action steps, and to work with potential broadband providers to assist in meeting the county’s objectives.

The Broadband Commission will report to the Board of Supervisors and the Economic Development Authority.

In her report to the supervisors, Eddy said an “overwhelming” percentage of county residents and business people believe county officials should make improving broadband and cell service a priority over the next two years.

Her assessment came from an on-line survey her firm conducted last fall for the county.

She said residents and business people considered reliable internet service a “necessity” and the “want action.”

The online surveys— one for businesses and one for residents— had a 14 percent market response, Eddy told the supervisors and a 95 percent confidence level.

“In the end, both surveys reflect an overwhelming concern that more needed to be done to address telecommunications needs in the county,” an executive summary in the survey report says. “The majority of both business and residential respondents reported that faster, high-quality Internet connections and more reliable cell phone service coverage were needed, desirable and important to keep the region competitive.”

Eddy said many expressed frustration with the quality and/or price of available internet and mobile service options regardless of their location in the county, or which service provider they currently use.

The surveys allowed respondents to check their download and upload internet speeds, she explained. What her firm found unusual was that on average, those internet speeds are on par with other rural areas. What wasn’t is either the speeds were really low and bad or really high, which led to an average that doesn’t reflect the extremes based on the speed tests.

Eddy’s firm provided six recommendations for the supervisors. They include:

• The Office of Economic Development should consider coverage trends from the interactive maps and resident satisfaction scores provided with the survey results on future zoning and development plans.
• Appoint a telecommunications working group to investigate appropriate ways for local government to improve broadband and cellular service.
• Enable and encourage the working group get to the point it can recommend three to four potential approaches that could be considered for addressing the concerns from the surveys.
• Consider leveraging the existing Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority to either oversee or support the next steps for the community.
• Keep communicating with residents and businesses as the county moves through the process.
• Call on local and national resources for both policy and technical advice on the options that are presented to the county.

Eddy Communications provided two interactive GIS maps that allow residents to the survey data from the various geographic areas in the county.

The interactive residential broadband survey map is at https://www.webgis.net/va/botetourt/res.php and the interactive business broadband survey map is at https://www.webgis.net/va/botetourt/bus.php.