A recent study stating that broadband Internet service in many counties in Pennsylvania, including rural counties like Butler, is below the standard set by the Federal Communications Commission is not supported locally.

The study, commissioned by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania and conducted by Penn State's telecommunications department, was published in June.

It states the median upload and download speeds across most of the state do not meet FCC standards.

FCC standard for download speed is 25 megabits per second (Mbps).

The study suggests that an FCC report stating that 800,000 people in Pennsylvania do not have access to broadband connectivity underestimates the severity of what it calls the “digital divide.”

The research team collected more than 11 million broadband speed tests from across the state last year and found median speeds are under the FCC standard.

Research concluded that there were no counties in the state where 50 percent of the population had connectivity equal to the FCC standard.

The discrepancy between the FCC report and the research is at least partially attributable to the self reporting from Internet service providers (ISPs) that the FCC relies on, said Barry Denk, director of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.

“ISPs are required to submit data to the FCC on Form 477 declaring the availability of broadband in their service areas,” Denk said. “The service providers say their service is available. They report by census block. If the ISP has service available to 10 residents (in a census block), they can say it has service available to them. There's a lot of latitude in the declaration.”

He said the lack of high-speed Internet service can make it difficult for high school students to complete assignments and conduct research, and hinder businesses.

Rural school district officials in Butler County say their schools receive good Internet service through fiber optic lines, but a few students don't have computers at home, and some areas don't have Internet access.

“We have high-speed broadband Internet access at all three schools,” said Eric Ritzert, superintendent of the Karns City Area School District. “We bought fiber optic lines. We have adequate Internet connectivity. Students can tap into that for any and all instructional purposes.”

However, he said he is glad to hear that someone is looking into rural Internet access.

“Some don't have it at home. It's not available in some areas of our school district, Ritzert said.

He said Armstrong provides Internet service to most of the district, but there are some areas that Armstrong doesn't serve.

The Allegheny-Clarion Valley School District had fiber optic cable installed at its schools in March and receives Internet service from Zito Media

“We have a very robust network that we use,” said A-C Valley Superintendent David McDeavitt.

He said the district does not know how many students have Internet access at home, and he would like to conduct a survey to find out, but undocumented information paints a pretty good picture.

“More kids have Internet access than I thought,” McDeavitt said. “We always have alternative assignments for work that need Internet access. I would like to survey the community to see what kind of Internet service they have.”

Slippery Rock Area School District Superintendent Alfonso Angelucci said school buildings are connected to a 1 gigabyte fiber optic line, and the district hasn't received complaints from students about a lack of Internet service at their homes.

“We do not get complaints about 'my Internet's too slow and I can't finish my assignments,' ” Angelucci said.

A computer lab in the high school open after school four days a week for students who have technology or Internet challenges at home is not nearly as busy as it used to be.

“Twenty years ago, it was full. Now, only a few students use it,” Angelucci said.

The broadband speed tests conducted in Butler County show a median download speed of 12.847 Mbps, according to the study. Median means that 50 percent of the respondents experienced faster speeds and 50 percent experiences slower speeds.

Armstrong's standard and most popular Zoom Internet service provides a much higher speed, but customers can chose from five including the slowest and least expensive that provides 12 Mbps, said David Wittmann, Armstrong's vice president of cable marketing.

“Our standard Zoom speed is 100. That's what the majority of our customers take,” Wittmann said. “We've been above that government standard forever.”

Armstrong's fastest service provides 1 gigabyte of download speed. The slowest, Zoom Express, provides 12 Mbps and is the least expensive, he said.

“We try to provide for smaller users with limited budgets,” Wittmann said.

Armstrong serves all of Butler County and parts of surrounding counties, including Mercer, Lawrence, Crawford and Allegheny as well as other Western Pennsylvania counties. The company has a service footprint in six states.

Wittmann said the FCC is trying to identify areas with and without Internet service. He said the government could fund expansion of service in those areas.

“We're continually investing in the product. People's use of the Internet is growing exponentially because there are so many devices to can hook up to it,” he said.