At tomorrow’s Committee of the Whole, the Escambia County Commission will hear from Magellan Advisors on how the county can build a high-speed internet network to serve all its residents.
Today on WCOA, Commissioner Steven Barry discussed his thoughts on creating a public-private partnership to provide the service.
Above it reads, “…to serve all its residents.” Is this effort going to provide service to the entire county or only part? If “only part,” will there be an opportunity to upscale the effort to cover the entire county? Since the distinction between Escambia County and Santa Rosa County is increasingly moot, and I suspect that an overwhelming majority of Escambia County residents would be happy to see Escambia County abolished if the Florida Legislature made us the western part of Santa Rosa County (low taxes, low crime, great schools, etc.), what are they doing over in Santa Rosa County? Will there be an opportunity to make this a two-county MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) plan? Even if that’s not in the works now, it should be part of a long-range plan. It would be pretty darn dumb if Escambia County built something and then Santa Rosa County build something different. Imagine, as example, someone who lives in Milton but works in downtown and provides support to a business in Beulah. That is realistic given where things already are and headed even more so in the future. Yes, doing something really BIG may be 20 years down the pike but now is the time to plan for 20 years out. At a bare minimum, Escambia County should be talking with Santa Rosa County about the potential for a two-county broadband network. Just saying that the time to plan for the future is now not later.