We can’t say we disagree with Gregory Burkett when it comes to the use of federal money given to broadband projects in Warren County.

In 2024, Verizon was awarded a $4.7 million Broadband Infrastructure Program grant toward a $9.9 million project that will bring high-speed broadband services over Verizon’s fiber-optic network to an estimated 1,220 homes in Warren County. The awarded project would include municipalities such as Warren, Russell, Clarendon, Ludlow, Spring Creek, Irvine, Pittsfield, and Youngsville.

The Pleasant Township resident addressed the Warren County Commissioners during a recent meeting asking about federal money awarded to Verizon that Burkett said appears to be targeted for areas that already have broadband access through existing providers. It’s a valid concern when there are such large areas of Warren County that don’t yet have any broadband access.

It’s one reason why Warren County was right, in our opinion, to join a 10-county consortium that is working to get federal broadband funding that can then be used to extend broadband into areas that aren’t as economically viable for broadband as the areas that Verizon appears to be targeting with its federal money. We can’t blame Verizon for going after federal money. Any for-profit company is going to do what it can to better its service for its customers, and we’re sure Verizon customers will see a benefit from the work the company is undertaking.

Yet, it’s frustrating to see some areas of the county getting broadband upgrades while other areas remain without any broadband access. In our opinion there should be additional federal money that is specifically earmarked for buildout of broadband in rural areas that private companies are unwilling to tackle because of the costs associated with running lines in rural areas. The same thing happened with the expansion of cable television. Some of us remember living in areas as recently as the late 1980s that didn’t have cable television available because cable companies faced the same struggle as communications companies face now creating broadband internet infrastructure.

It’s hard to believe we didn’t learn our lesson then. Apparently hindsight isn’t always 20-20.