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THE COUNTY’S INFRASTRUCTURE BACKBONE
PLANNING ISSUE
Antenna placement continues
to be a contentious issue in
many communities, despite
the need for providers to fill
gaps in their service areas.
Sewage Facilities
Water Facilities
Solid Waste
Stormwater Management
Energy
Communications
Emergency Services
Other Governmental Facilities
Communications
Communications technologies—radio, television, wireless
phone, satellite, cable, and internet services—change
constantly, and have radically changed the way county
residents communicate and seek out information.
Wired Phone Service
Verizon provides a wired phone and Internet network
throughout the county with the exception of an area around
Gilbertsville which is serviced by Windstream
Communications (which purchased carrier D & E
Communications in 2009). To meet the significant demand
for more rapid and clear transmission of data, Verizon has
installed fiber optic cable in several areas within the county
with large office
facilities. More recently, Verizon has
begun to offer residential fiber optic service—commonly
known as FiOS—across much of Montgomery County. It is
a bundled internet access, telephone, and television service.
Comcast provides a similar bundle of services under the
brand XFINITY to Montgomery County customers; this
includes cable, high-speed internet, and phone services.
Broadband
Broadband—that is, a permanent high-speed connection for
both transmitting data and telecommunications—has become
a vital part of the county’s infrastructure and economy. It
has connection speeds considerably higher than the standard
56 kbit/s dial-up modem speed. Cable, ADSL, VDSL, and
wireless are all types of broadband access. Broadband
access is more expensive than dial-up access, yet Americans
are increasingly gaining access to the internet through
increases in broadband use at home as well as through
smartphones. This may change the emphasis on
connectivity away from
household
broadband subscribership
to investments in high-speed internet access more broadly.
The county’s future economic growth as an employment hub
is intricately tied to easy and affordable broadband access.
Subscriber rates, as shown on the next page, vary across the
county and seem to be lower in the county’s boroughs or
similar downtown areas, and may sometimes be lower in
areas with lower household median incomes.
What’s New
•
The digital divide—that is, the divide between those
with high speed internet connectivity and the
resulting computer skills and those without—is a
growing concern in Montgomery County, the
region, and across the country. The cost of owning
a computer and having reliable internet connectivity
is a cost that not everyone can afford. Those
without permanent housing may lack a place to
access the internet as well. These barriers to digital
literacy may become a barrier to economic growth
and the provision of social services as more
resources and information are exclusively shared on
the internet.
•
Many households are getting rid of “landline”
telephones and turning exclusively to cellphones.
Preliminary results from the January–June 2011
National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) indicate
that the number of American homes with only cell
phones continues to grow. More than 3 of every 10
American homes (31.6%) had only cell phones
during the first half of 2011—an increase of 1.9
percentage points since the second half of 2010.
Many people receive all or almost all calls on their
cell phones despite also having a landline telephone.
This trend, combined with increasing wireless
internet access, will put pressure on the wireless
cellular network.
