Bland urges residents to take part in Internet broadband speed test

The Bland County administration is working with eCorridor Virginia Tech to develop a broadband map of the county and help develop a greater understanding of the present broadband access in the county, while also providing county and regional officials with the data they need to bring more and better high-speed Internet access into the region. “This is not just for Bland County,” Eric Workman, Bland County administrator said. “It’s for every county in Virginia. Bland County and the Bland County Wireless Authority are working with other counties in Virginia to determine the present level of broadband access in the area and work for improvements. “Internet availability is important for every aspect of life from commerce, to paying bills, for entertainment and to communicate with family and friends,” Workman said. “Once we know where the needs are, we can lobby for improvements in service.” Bland County is partnering with the eCorridor Virginia Tech program to distribute information about the “Accelerate Virginia speed test,” an online test that takes roughly two minutes to perform, but provides Tech with vital information about broadband availability. The online speed test measures overall quality and performance of Internet connections and provides data that can be compared to other speed tests in the area. Workman said that Bland County residents who would like to participate in the speed test can visit http://acceleratevirginia.org/speedtest and take the speed test from their home computer. Accelerate Virginia also encourages business owners to take the speed test from their business locations. “We’re asking everyone to spread the work and to encourage their families, neighbors and friends to take the speed test,” Workman said. “Accelerate Virginia’s goal is to collect 300 to 350 speed tests per county. If we get a good response in the county, we’ll get a better assessment of our broadband access. “If you don’t have service at all, Accelerate Virginia wants to hear from you too,” Workman said. He said that if someone wants to register a broadband dead zone, they can go to a place with Internet access including the public library in Bland, the Learning Center in Mechanicsburg or any other of the county’s “hot spots,” and visit this site http://www.broadband.gov/qualitytest/deadzone/. “It’s very important for people to do that, so Accelerate Virginia knows where the dead zones are,” Workman said. Because there are several factors that can influence the quality of the test, Workman said that speed test participants should consider taking the test several times on different days and at different times. “It only takes about two minutes to take the test,” he said. Workman said that anyone who needs more information or wants to report a dead zone can contact Jean Plymale at vplymale@vt.edu or call her at 540-231-2270.