Broadband Program
Residents and visitors, municipalities and businesses, educational institutions and
cultural organizations, and the health care industry in the Rockingham Planning
Commission (RPC) region all consider broadband to be critical infrastructure.
Reliable, high speed internet service is an essential tool for accomplishing tasks that
make positive contributions to our regional economic health and social welfare. In
a short period of time, access to broadband has changed the ways in which we
manage both home and work.
In the RPC region, most sectors of the economy perceive broadband service to be
adequate. However, lack of competition is seen as preventing consumer choice and
creating high costs for service. Lack of information on the location and type of
broadband service available is an obstacle to planning for service improvements.
The RPC’s Regional Broadband Plan was developed by RPC staff with guidance from
a Broadband Stakeholders Group comprised of representatives from the utility
industry, municipal boards, community organizations, and an economic
development agency. Their insight and knowledge about the current state of
broadband, as well as invaluable knowledge about the history of internet
development in the region, enabled the RPC to develop this Plan, establish a
regional broadband vision, and create regional recommendations designed to
increase the availability, adoption, affordability and performance of broadband.
