Lake Santeetlah – Kevin Brown spent more than 30 minutes convincing those on-hand that he was going to fight the good fight for local residents.
Working on behalf of GREAT – Graham Revitalization Economic Action Team – local satellite technician Kevin Brown addressed the Town of Lake Santeetlah at its July 9 meeting. Brown’s presentation discussed his concept of gathering data that he plans to use as ammunition in a complaint to be filed with the FCC regarding advertised internet speeds by provider Zito Media.
Brown’s discussion summed up a problem that is widespread: rural Graham County should pay for what is allegedly being delivered.
The Graham Star reported earlier this year on a local resident who was also challenging Zito’s advertised speeds. Sam Borrelli went public on Facebook with his claims, providing snapshots of internet speeds measured at random times in his home.
Following the story’s release and his complaint, Borrelli’s speeds were tweaked to better reflect the monthly package he pays for. Sadly, Borrelli’s complaint has not been enough to get the rest of the county addressed.
That’s where Brown comes in. His task may seem tedious to some, but Brown wants plenty of evidence when he presents his complaint. The ask of Lake Santeetlah residents was simple: 10 households needed to provide Brown with the internet password to their home router, which Brown would use to visit on three random occasions and document the speeds for his case. Given the numerous complaints about lengthy outages and speeds within the small lakefront municipality, volunteers could not raise their hands fast enough – especially after Brown displayed a map with purported speeds from Zito.
“Zito has told the government that they have this entire area locked in with 100 down, 20 up (100mbps download, 20 upload),” Brown said.
“That’s bull,” an attendee immediately replied, which drew a laugh from the room.
Brown said all the groundwork laid by his project is something he hopes will open the eyes of those with the Broadband Equity, Access & Deployment Program, which is set to distribute $42.45 billion to all 50 states as a way to fund planning, infrastructure and adoption of high-speed internet programs.
Of that, North Carolina stands to receive $9 billion. Brown said Graham County has the potential to win $8 million from the pot for broadband expansion.
“If the map doesn’t change, we can’t receive any funding,” Brown said, adding that Zito’s interpretation of coverage would diminish Graham County’s chances of receiving the $8 million. “We have to challenge this.”
Brown’s vision will initially focus the expansion in the business district in Robbinsville proper. He cited instances where crucial retailers such as Walgreens have had to work through internet outages – something completely out of the pharmacy’s hands.
“It’s frustrating for customers; it’s extremely frustrating for business owners; it’s frustrating for everybody,” Brown said.
The meeting – including Brown’s presentation – can be viewed in its entirety on The Graham Star’s YouTube page.
News & notes
* The council voted to appoint Mayor Diana Simon as the chair of the town’s Tourism Development Authority.
* Plans to pave three roads inside the town’s limits were established, with the projects set to begin in September. Local paving company Aldridge Brothers will roll out its machinery on Cherokee Lane, Island Drive and Sequoyah Trail.