Roanoke County's Broadband Availability Study is the next step to "Improving Communication and Data Technology in Both the Business Sector and in Residential Settings," the first goal of Connecting Roanoke County to the World Strategic Initiative presented in the County’s 2016 Community Strategic Plan. The goal of the Broadband Availability study is to identify areas of Roanoke County that are currently served, under-served, or not served by high-speed Internet as defined by the minimum standards published by the Federal Communications Commission (2015) of 25Mbps download and 3Mbps upload (25/3).
Identifying areas that express a need or unmet demand for high-speed Internet will enable Roanoke County to explore strategies to expand access to high-speed Internet services across our community. Strategies may include state or federal grant opportunities, public-private partnerships, or other as yet unidentified means to expand the availability of high-speed Internet services to unserved or under-served parts of Roanoke County.
Staff will compile data about existing high-speed Internet availability through cable, fiber, wireless, satellite or fixed point providers and validate this data set through citizen surveys about high-speed Internet availability. Survey data will be collected online, through hard copy printed surveys distributed through Roanoke County Public Schools and Roanoke County Public Libraries, and also through targeted mailings to outlying geographic areas of the County as identified by the County’s GIS and Communications and Information Technology staff.
The initial High-Speed Internet Survey is now open for citizens to complete.
Printed surveys will be mailed to selected households in January 2020, and also sent home with students through Roanoke County Public Schools. Printed surveys will also available at all Roanoke County Public Library locations in January 2020.
The deadline to have survey results included in the study is February 28, 2020.
For more information about Roanoke County's High-Speed Internet Study, visit our website at https://www.roanokecountyva.gov/bbstudy.