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A broadband task force made up of Wyoming legislators met Monday in Sheridan. State Sen. R.J. Kost, R-Powell, is a task force member and made a Tuesday update.
The first focus of the task force …
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A broadband task force made up of Wyoming legislators met Monday in Sheridan. State Sen. R.J. Kost, R-Powell, is a task force member and made a Tuesday update.
The first focus of the task force is to analyze lapses in connectivity throughout the state. That connection availability is for computers rather than cellphone coverage, Kost said.
Once the areas with little or no internet coverage are identified, the next step is to fill the gap.
“What kind of money can we provide through the ARP [American Recovery Plan] to meet those needs?” Kost asked.
“We want to help businesses that are doing more and more from home with more people working from home, not just one or two,” he said.
The task force, Kost said, hopes it can get money the state still has from the CARES Act to start some projects that can be completed this year; the money has to be used by Dec. 31 or returned to the federal government. Any project has to be approved by Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon.
As the group moves ahead, it will continue checking the number of points and places with no or poor service and continue to get more data. The University of Wyoming and the state are working together to help locate the dead spots.
The federal ideal broadband speed is 100 megabits per second for both uploads and downloads.
“We may not be able to meet that in some places,” Kost said, but noted the goal was 25 Mbps at minimum.
To access funding from the ARP — which is a separate program from the CARES Act — Kost said the task force is also working on some bills to bring to the Legislature. One is to support ConnectWyoming, a program to improve connectivity statewide. Early cost estimates are $150 million.
The other bill is to provide funding for more telemedicine opportunities.
The task force itself cannot present a bill, but the hope is these two pieces of legislation will be ready by its September meeting to show to various committees and ask them to take the bills for presentation.
“If there is no interest, then a couple of us will take them on our own,” Kost said.
The bills will be brought to the Legislature during the next session. It will begin Jan. 10, 2022.
