Barnwell meeting will focus on opportunities, projects for faster speeds

Multiple federal agencies charged with improving broadband services in rural areas will present information at an all-day Wednesday conference in Barnwell. It will federal resources, funding, technical assistance, best practices and more.

One of the top four, transformational goals of the S.C. Lowcountry Promise Zone, a six-county area of focus for strategies to reduce persistent poverty, is to develop “high speed broadband Internet networks to provide access to citizens and to help make the region more attractive to business growth.” Read more about the plan, which was unveiled earlier this month.

A wide variety of broadband projects will be covered including infrastructure, telemedicine and distance learning.

This workshop will include representatives and presentations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development, the Federal Communication Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Federal Trade Commission and others.

In addition to the group sessions, one-on-one sessions with the Federal Technical Assistance staff will be available for stakeholders to discuss specific projects.