The Island County Broadband Action Team will host a virtual town hall to share updates on the effort to bring robust, affordable broadband internet to all of Island County.

The virtual town hall will be at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 9. Links to the event and instruction are on the county’s website at islandcountywa.gov.

“More than $20 million in federal, state and county investments has been awarded in Island County to expand broadband infrastructure for enhanced internet access,” states Island County Commissioner Janet St. Clair, who is hosting the virtual town hall. “The Island County BAT has been working hard since 2019 to identify critical gaps in our community and build a plan to reach underserved and unserved areas of our islands.”

The Island County Broadband Action Team is a collaborative of local governments, port districts, anchor institutions, schools, emergency response agencies, libraries and a group of internet service providers, including Whidbey Telecom, Ziply, Comcast and Astound.

“The pandemic showed many of us the critical importance of internet access for our communities,” St. Clair said. “The educational and economic wellbeing of our communities, as well as access to remote health care, has become intrinsically intertwined with access to robust, affordable internet.”

The internet service providers will each give information on their government-funded and private efforts to build a stronger broadband network in Island County. Guest speakers during the virtual town hall will also include leadership from Washington State Broadband Office and the National Telecommunications and Information Association. They will be discussing the future of broadband expansion in Washington state.

For more information about the county’s broadband efforts, or about the virtual meeting, email Commissioner St. Clair at j.stclair@islandcountywa.gov.