Spotty broadband key issue for rural lawmakers

Published 5:53 pm Saturday, January 7, 2017

ATLANTA – Rural lawmakers say addressing dead zones in broadband coverage is their priority this session.

“Broadband, broadband and broadband,” Sen. Ellis Black, R-Valdosta, said this week of top issues facing rural Georgia as the Legislature convenes.

The issue of spotty coverage in rural Georgia led to the creation of a legislative study group that met over the break. Its report pushes a range of ideas, such as tweaking the law so that electric cooperatives can provide broadband service.

It’s a proposal that has already won the endorsement of House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, who said uneven access to broadband is a critical issue.

“People are very, very proud of our job creation record here in Georgia, but when you get out in rural Georgia, they’re wanting to know where their jobs are,” he told reporters this week.

“So there’s a feeling that the economic development has sort of left rural Georgia behind in too many cases,” he said.

The group’s other recommendations include tax credits and incentives to induce service expansion, as well as a program meant to help communities become “Gigabit Ready.”

“You probably can’t fix it all in one year, but you can start piece by piece getting some things done,” said Rep. Jason Shaw, R-Lakeland, who chairs the rural caucus and is also a farmer.

The south Georgia lawmaker described gaps in connectivity as a “major issue for our rural parts of the state.”

“It’s not an economic development issue. It’s much more than that now. It’s a quality of life issue,” he said.