Summary: Those living in one of Butler County’s “doughnutholes” without broadband access know the struggle to keep up without the high speed internet that others count on daily. Here’s how the county is addressing those who have been left behind in the past.

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If all goes according to plan, reliable internet service could be a reality for just about everyone in Butler County before 2030.

County officials have cultivated a working partnership with local telecommunications company Armstrong in a push to expand access to high-speed internet for thousands of homes and businesses.

“We build down roadways, in neighborhoods and our goal is to cover everything,” Armstrong president Jeffrey Ross said in an April interview.

That work is already underway in unserved areas Slippery Rock and Moniteau School districts and then will branch out to the other parts of the county.

The work will weave wires underground across residents’ front lawns and string them along poles outside their homes, and in the process, provide up to 99% of Butler County with reliable internet service, which for some has long been a desire.

“That was a priority,” Leslie Osche, county commissioners chairwoman, said of the decision to base a large part of the initial expansion around the schools. “I think we felt like the most important thing was that students and their families had access for education purposes or for employment purposes.”

According to the Federal Communications Commission National Broadband Map, more than 97% of homes and businesses across Butler County possess access to high-speed internet. That amounts to 80,000 broadband serviceable locations — businesses, homes and other structures — of which Armstrong provides service to 95%.

The 3% of locations that do not have internet access available include 1,467 sites in the county, Nathan Werner, assistant county planning director, said in August. These locations, according to the Federal Communications Commission’s map, are speckled throughout most townships and boroughs, primarily in the northern regions of the county.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration defines an “unserved location” as one that doesn’t have broadband access at all or lacks access to broadband speeds of at least 25 megabits per second for downloads and 3 megabits per second for uploads.

County officials say the county is on pace to achieve near-universal broadband access by the end of the decade, thanks to two major infrastructure projects totaling more than $30 million.

The first project — through the Accessible Broadband for Children program — targets unserved and underserved areas within the Moniteau and Slippery Rock school districts. Funding for that program for school districts and the latest expansion can be linked back to the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, and that work is already happening.

“By the end of 2029, the expectation is that 98 to 99% of people in our county who want access to the internet will have it,” said Mark Gordon, Butler County’s chief of economic planning and development.

The second, a broader countywide effort funded through a $20 million federal grant, will aim to fill in the remaining gaps through 2029.

All of that work largely hinges on large corporations like Armstrong to perform the infrastructure work. However, it has to be financially feasible for that work to ensue, according to Ross.

“We have always wanted to serve the entire county,” Ross said.

That may become a reality.

In August, the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority announced $793.4 million in federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment grants have been provisionally awarded statewide, including $19.9 million awarded to Armstrong.

The company said at that time that it is planning to use $5.3 million from $19.9 million to expand internet service to areas in Butler County not served by a previous expansion for the Slippery Rock Area and Moniteau school districts.

Jeremy Jurick, Armstrong’s regulatory policy director, said in August that the money earmarked for Butler County will combine with a $6.3 million match from Armstrong and a match of about $900,000 from the county for a $12.5 million expansion, he said. The county agreed to provide a match of up to $1 million.

Ross stressed the importance of maintaining a robust presence in the community well into the future.

“We plan to be here forever,” he said. “That is our view of the world. We’re not trying to build up the company and sell it. We could have done that many times in the past. We really believe in being a part of the community for the long term.”

When the work is done, Butler County’s access to broadband will add value to residents and businesses in Butler County, Gordon said.

He said it serves as a piece of a broader strategy to make Butler County a top destination for families and businesses alike.

“Butler County prides itself on being a premier place to live, work and visit — where you can enjoy large metropolitan amenities and still have that hometown feel,” he said.

A lot of the focus in Butler County has been on shoring up some of the holes where the population expansion is most prevalent in southwestern Butler County.

“There are still a couple little pockets that are a struggle because they might be down in a valley,” Osche said, “but for the most part the southern part of the county is pretty well covered.

“But when you head north, obviously, the farther apart houses and buildings are, the more challenging and expensive it becomes. You have to identify your priorities, and you have to understand that it will be challenging to get to a number that is 100%.”

But even without the expansion, Butler County’s broadband access coverage is far higher than many of its neighbors.

“There are urban counties that don’t have that level of connectivity,” Ross said.

Neighboring Armstrong County is only 87% covered, while Venango County is at 81%, per the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Challenge Map.

“Do I think we have the secret sauce?” Gordon said. “I think we have something really good here — good people, safe communities and a commitment to building for the future.”