The Latah County Broadband Coalition is hoping people will participate in this effort so the county can qualify for more funding to bring broadband internet to rural households.
Idaho will receive hundreds of millions of dollars from the state and federal government in the coming years to expand broadband infrastructure throughout the state.
Christina Mangiapani, of the Latah County Broadband Coalition, said counties are funded based on FCC maps that show which areas are unserved or underserved in relation to broadband access.
Unserved means the household is without access to broadband speeds of at least 25 megabits for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads. Underserved means they are without access to speeds of at least 100 Mbps for downloads and 20 Mbps for uploads.
While there is already data available that indicates rural Latah County lacks high-speed internet access, the coalition needs to confirm how many households are unserved or underserved.
With this information, the coalition can submit a response to Idaho's request for proposals for broadband projects.
The Latah County Broadband Coalition is focused on upgrading broadband outside of Moscow. According to its website, roughly 20% of households in rural Latah County have no internet access, and the rest have poor speeds. Approximately 12,660 residents live outside Moscow.
The speed test campaign will launch Nov. 14 and Mangiapani said the coalition hopes people perform the test by the end of the calendar year.
Mangiapani said people should avoid doing the speed test using public Wi-Fi and are encouraged use the internet connection at their home.
The speed test can be accessed at grants.latahcountyid.gov/speed-test.
The Latah County Broadband Coalition is made up of representatives from local cities, school districts, library districts, Gritman Medical Center and the University of Idaho. Sen. David Nelson also serves in the coalition.
© 2022 the Moscow-Pullman Daily News (Moscow, Idaho). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
