Santa Rosa Local Technology Planning Team Holds Meeting

Tuesday-The Santa Rosa Local Technology Planning Team held a meeting at the Santa Rosa County Extension office in Milton. Kyle Holley, Santa Rosa County liason, who is tasked with heading up the rural broadband roll out across Santa Rosa County welcomed Sean Lewis, Chief of State Broadband Initiatives at the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The purpose of the meeting was to explain to the team where the county is in regards to getting broadband to rural parts in the county.

In addition to team members in attendance, several different service providers were in attendance as well. The plan to get the broadband out into rural areas is a detailed one as different areas present different challenges. In the areas around Blackwater State Forrest, wetland areas around Garcon Point area and areas bordering our local military bases, special considerations have to be taken into account. Certain areas in the county, as Mr. Holley explained, are more attractive to service providers due to expected growth. In other, more sparsely populated areas, service providers are not as quick to fill out the application to provide the service. The goal is to make sure no one is left behind.

The Board of County Commissioners did allow $1.5 Million to help incentivize service providers in the less populated areas. This is in addition to the $2.3 million plus the newly announced $3.3 million released to rural areas from the state of Florida. Mr. Lewis did say to the group that there would possibly be more money coming from the state. He lauded the job of Mr. Holley and stated that Santa Rosa County was leaps and bounds above other counties in the state.