Broadband for Culpeper

Culpeper Star Exponent

Business Monday

June 30, 2014

Jim Charapich

The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) presented a workshop on the status of broadband in the region in Culpeper last Tuesday. The program was initiated by the Culpeper Chamber of Commerce in addressing the challenges and opportunities in relation to broadband access throughout the region.

Culpeper was described as under-served regarding broadband access. This makes sense considering the topography and rural settings characteristic of our community. Nonetheless, there are good reasons to enhance our broadband infrastructure. Through the workshop, CIT shared resources that the state has developed to assist communities to expand broadband access, increase adoption, and ultimately utilization for improved quality of community life.

It is important that our students have access to broadband at home in order to be competitive with other areas of Virginia. We need to give our students every opportunity to succeed and internet access for homework and research are critical. In addition, internet access to grow business opportunities is vital to our economic prosperity. Many of today’s large businesses began in a garage. In order to encourage and facilitate entrepreneurship and business growth, access to the internet via broadband is important. This includes the traditional business base in our rural areas - agribusiness. Today’s agribusiness is reliant on internet access to conduct business.

The Cisco website describes the internet ecosystem well “Cisco defines the Internet of Everything (IoE) as bringing together people, process, data, and things to make networked connections more relevant and valuable than ever before-turning information into actions that create new capabilities, richer experiences, and unprecedented economic opportunity for businesses, individuals, and countries.”

Internet access is also described as a “Utility”, much like power and water. When we describe our infrastructure, we include internet access with roads, power lines, water, and sewer. Thus, the workshop was an update in a continuing discussion about how to advance access to broadband internet in Culpeper and the surrounding region. Broadband touches everything including economic development, education, healthcare, public safety, innovation, and citizen engagement.

To join the conversation and find out more about advancing this important issue in our community, go to http://www.wired.virginia.gov/toolkit . Virginia’s Broadband Map (http://gismaps.vita.virginia.gov/broadband/) includes all provider reported coverage areas and supports search by address to view what providers report serving your specific address.  You can check your broadband speed by going to the Virginia Tech website http://acceleratevirginia.org/speedtest . In addition, Virginia Tech offers an Advanced Planning and Analysis Toolbox that includes various tools to assist with planning broadband deployments at http://www.cgit.vt.edu/broadband .

Thank you to the Center for Innovative Technology  and Virginia Tech for investing time and resources to advance our community. Also, thank you to Steve Walker, Chairman of the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors, and Jeff Walker, Director, Rappahannock Rapidan Regional Commission for their support in bringing the workshop to the region. Thank you to the Town of Culpeper for the use of the community room at the Culpeper Police Station.