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NEWS FROM NACO Broadband Cody Grosskopf, director of Information Technology at the
Sonoma County Office of Education, said schools are trying to provide hotspots for those without internet access at home, but the COVID-19 situation has put hotspots in high de- mand, and many are on backorder. “I’m not sure long-term what’s going to happen basically in terms of access,” he said. Beyond meeting the needs of students, counties are using county-owned facilities as well as public spaces to provide free internet access for all residents. In New Castle County, Del., county residents can use free,
drive-thru Wi-Fi hotspots, which were available prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. County Executive Matt Meyer recently announced that an additional 12 hotspots would be made available, making a total of 22 located throughout the county. Te hotspots are made available in partnership with Dela-
ware Division of Libraries, University of Delaware, Verizon, Assurance Media, Cisco-Meraki and the New Castle County Information Systems and Public Works departments. To use the hotspots, county residents must remain in their cars and practice social distancing. Te hotspots are available during the library’s operational hours. A GIS map allows resi- dents to view locations where they can access the hotspots. Similarly, in Baltimore County, Md., County Executive
John Olszewski announced exterior Wi-Fi resources at Balti- more County Public Library branches. A GIS map is also available and shows the Wi-Fi locations for county residents to find the closest available access point. “Tis crisis has upended life in countless ways, and it re-
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quires us to find creative solutions to the challenges we face,” Olszewski said. “We hope these new Wi-Fi resources will help narrow the access gap as we continue to work around the clock to identify additional resources to support Baltimore County families during these trying times.” Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Goochland County, Va. installed hotspots at county-operated facilities. Administrative Services Manager Paul Drumwright said the hotspots are now being used during the COVID-19 pandemic and serve as in- ternet access points for those who live in rural areas. Additionally, he said the school buildings in the county are all offering Wi-Fi in their parking lots as well as the county’s library and local YMCA. “We did that just to make sure we could give more options to our citizens so that hopefully people won’t be crowding to the existing locations and make sure to keep social distance even if they’re in their vehicles,” he said. Drumwright said the state has reached out to localities and put together a statewide GIS map highlighting hotspot loca- tions available to residents. “Going through this has made it even more clear for us
how this is something that some of our citizens are at a disad- vantage because of the lack of broadband at their location,” Drumwright said. “Tat’s given us just more reason to keep pushing on our broadband initiatives to extend service.” Te Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is held
a Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction and directed up to $20.4 billion over 10 years for broadband networks in unserved areas.
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COUNTY LINES, SPRING 2020
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