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Melissa McCaw
But the providers of that service are also watching with concern as Connecticut’s state government ramps up efforts to seek greater control over their plans, policies and checkbooks.
“It s critically clear in the 21st century the importance of having access to reliable internet,” state Budget Chief Melissa McCaw said during a recent briefing on the proposed state budget. “This is also about economic opportunity to the extent to which more remote work is done. There are sectors of our population that don t have access to those types of jobs without closing the broadband divide.”
Central to the issue is the state’s persistent digital divide, the difficulty that a portion of the community has in getting online. Gov. Ned Lamont’s office estimates that 23% of Connecticut’s population can’t access reliable internet, either because they lack service, skills or the right devices. Lamont’s focus for 2021 is building out the broadband infrastructure.
‘For the public good’: Praise for Gov. Lamont’s effort to end Connecticut’s digital divide
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Photo: John Minchillo / Associated Press
Officials representing towns across the state as well as educators and political leaders are welcoming Gov. Ned Lamont’s move to introduce legislation that would make broadband and high speed internet services more widely available as well as cheaper in Connecticut.
Alarmed that 23 percent of Connecticut residents don’t have access to internet service of any kind, Lamont said the goal of his ambitious legislation is for the state to have universal broadband service by 2022. Bethel First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker lauded Lamont’s efforts, but said the problem of widespread access to affordable high speed internet is nothing new.
New regulations would push utility companies to expand broadband internet access across the state under a plan announced Wednesday by Gov. Ned Lamont.
Lamont said he would introduce legislation with new broadband rules during the 2021 regular session of the Connecticut General Assembly.
Among other provisions, the new regulations would allow the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to require internet service providers to provide access to all residents where they have video licenses. The companies would also be required to report metrics on availability, download and upload speeds and outages.
PURA would also gain oversight over complaints about internet access from residential and business customers and gain new powers to manage penalties for non-compliance.