When the subject of broadband comes up, the discussion in rural locales like Warren County centers on access.

And access typically means infrastructure — who is running the line and who is paying for it?

But that’s only half of the puzzle that the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Association is looking to solve.

A hearing was recently held to gain feedback on the state’s Digital Equity Plan, which will focus on ensuring “all Pennsylvanians have the skills, technology and capacity to fully benefit from our digital economy,” according to a release from the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Association.

The plan is open for public comment until Jan. 8.

Kirsten Compitello, national broadband digital equity director at Michael Baker International, said during the hearing that the process started two years ago with federal infrastructure legislation.

She said that the funding from that legislation is “designated into two different buckets.” One is focused on providing funds to provide access — that’s the broadband development piece we most often talk about.

The second bucket focuses on “ensuring affordable, fair and equal access” to everything — devices, technical assistance, training — needed to utilize high-speed internet once that access is available.

“We know internet access is not enough,” she said, highlighting a host of economic, educational and health care impacts that the ability to utilize the internet can provide.

Rural residents are one of the target groups as part of this digital equity plan planning process.

“There were a lot of overlapping themes,” she said of feedback from rural stakeholders. “We heard a lot that rural connectivity is slow. A lot of people talked about staying safe online and not knowing how to stay safe.”

Of the state’s 67 counties, 48 are considered rural, and Compitello said that rural stakeholders are “often paying very, very high prices for service that is still not meeting their needs.”

The plan has five goals: getting people on line, providing the right tools (devices), growing skills, staying safe and secure and strengthening the foundation.

“It’s not just about expanding infrastructure,” she said. “It’s also ensuring that that service is affordable.”

While state officials know how much funding is coming in the first bucket, how much money the state will receive to help with these digital equity goals is not yet clear.

“We expect to know that in early 2024,” Compitello said.

“To create an equitable economy, everyone needs access to reliable and affordable high-speed internet and the skills, technology, and ability to participate fully online,” Executive Director Brandon Carson said in a statement.

“It’s time to close the internet access and digital skills divide experienced by far too many of Pennsylvania’s communities and its residents, and the Commonwealth’s Digital Equity Plan outlines how we can achieve statewide digital equity.”

The plan and comment process can be found at dced.pa.gov/programs-funding/broadband-in-pennsylvania/