Gov John Carney in Seaford Announces Program to Eliminate Internet Dead Spots in Rural Delaware

Delaware Governor John Carney is urging internet service providers to work with the state to eliminate what he calls “broadband deserts” in rural sections of the state. Visiting Seaford Tuesday afternoon Gov. Carney detailed a program that he hopes will virtually wipe out those dead spots by 2020.   While high-speed broadband service is widely available in the state’s major population centers, it’s not so available below the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal where it’s been more costly for service providers to extend their services. Gov. Carney announced that the state’s rural broadband program will use about $720,000 in fees previously collected from telecommunication companies and another $1.3 million in taxpayer dollars recently allocated by the General Assembly to help the expansion of service with some of the money going to offset the rental costs on state-owned towers.

After meeting with the Delaware Electric Cooperative and state and local leaders in Seaford, the Governor’s final stop is a Seaford area farm to discuss how access to broadband is essential for the future of Delaware’s agricultural sector.

While Governor Carney spent much of today in Sussex County – he will be in Bridgeville around 11am Wednesday to  tour the MillerMetal Fabrication Facility.