New Service Areas

New service areas, also referred to as Connectivity Opportunity Areas (COAs), are identified as unserved with poor mobile or fixed broadband speeds.

These locations will be prioritized for access to new services.

Map of Unserved Areas

Map of

Unserved Areas

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and PA Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) define unserved areas as follows:

Unserved: Does not have access to Internet service with at least 25 megabits per second (Mbps) download or 3 Mbps upload speed

Areas that are identified as unserved with poor mobile or fixed broadband speeds are labeled Connectivity Opportunity Areas (COAs) or new service areas. These locations will be prioritized for access to new services.

Do you want to know if your address is part of a New Service Area?

Click the map and enter your address to see if the information is accurate for your location. If there is a discrepancy, please use the comment box below to let us know.

Early Action Projects

Early Action

Projects

With so many unserved locations to cover, bringing fiber to all will require time to fund and construct. A process was developed to determine which areas had the greatest need for Internet access. The resulting scoring matrix analyzed variables such as income statistics, the number of homes, businesses, and Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs).

Based on the data from the fieldwork and surveys, four Early Action projects were identified by the Taskforce for Derry, Fairfield, and Ligonier Townships. For details on the criteria used to determine the Early Action projects, please view the Final Report pdf.

Broadband Program Timeline

A lot has been happening with the Westmoreland Broadband Program in a short amount of time. Below is a timeline highlighting milestones and the next steps.

  • January 19, 2023

    Final Report findings released to the public.

  • January 13, 2023

    FCC broadband map challenges submitted.

  • December 9, 2022

    Federal Communications Commission (FCC) releases the broadband access map that shows all broadband serviceable locations across the United States

  • November 10, 2022

    The survey results are made public

  • October 27, 2022

    Education and Business & Industry focus group workshop

  • October 12, 2022

    Municipal leaders workshop

  • September 28, 2022

    Taskforce meeting

  • August 18, 2022

    Public Safety focus group workshop

  • Jul 18, 2022

    Website launch, Internet Survey and Speed Test opens, and fieldwork begins.

  • July 13, 2022

    First Taskforce meeting