A survey has been issued to find out what residents and businesses in Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Montgomery County think of their current internet service and what improvements would benefit the community. A partnership between these localities, the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce, and the New River Valley Regional Commission has developed the online survey.
The survey for each town and the county is available at the following links:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BlacksburgBroadband
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MontCoBroadband
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ChristiansburgBroadband
Local businesses and residents have been seeking access to high-speed broadband in the area with mixed success. Based on work done by Blacksburg’s broadband steering committee over the last few years, it has become clear that local governments have a role to play in facilitating improved broadband access. The local governments promoting the survey are considering how they can create efficiencies and reduce costs for providers as well as determining local broadband need. This survey will collect data to better establish how well existing service matches up to local needs. The data will inform the ways the towns and county may proceed to encourage internet service providers to offer services residents and businesses need.
While this information is being shared by the participating localities and the chamber, the Roanoke Times has also provided some coverage of the survey with context of the broader region - https://bit.ly/2eBEK4E.
For further information, please contact Christy Straight (cstraight@nrvrc.org), 540-639-9313 x209.