Got broadband? It's time to take the Monroe County Broadband Challenge! Speed-testing initiative will help to ensure Internet connectivity funding reaches communities in need.

​From now through Sunday, April 14th, all Bloomington and Monroe County residents who currently have broadband Internet are encouraged to take the Monroe County Broadband Challenge. “Essentially, we need people to take a series of internet speed tests for us, because this will help us to make sure that available federal funding for high-quality broadband will be distributed appropriately throughout Indiana,” explains Monroe County GIS Coordinator John Baeten.
 
Part of a much larger, federal initiative, the Monroe County Broadband Challenge is just one of many such broadband Internet surveys being conducted statewide, and there's a lot of money at stake. “Counties throughout Indiana are taking part in what's known as the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program Challenge process,” says Julie Thomas, president of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners. “This is a $42 billion federal program, and a portion of that is being administered in Indiana through the Indiana Broadband Office's National Telecommunications and Information Administration.”

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Of the federal BEAD program funding, $868 million has been allocated for use in Indiana. The goal? Enable Internet service providers to deliver high-quality broadband Internet access to every address in the state. But determining which areas need new or additional infrastructure in order to accomplish that goal will take some heavy lifting. “The way that BEAD allocates their funds is by identifying locations not included on the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Broadband Access Map,” Baeten says. “Unfortunately, that map isn't necessarily accurate, and that's where Monroe County residents can help.”
 
To start, area residents with broadband Internet can access www.co.monroe.in.us/broadband online. “From there, you enter your address in the search bar or find your home on our map,” Baeten says. “If your address shows up on the map, the FCC believes you have access to high-quality broadband connectivity. We have a Web-based app that takes you through the next steps, so that we can make sure that you really do have reliable broadband service. And, if we find that you don't have reliable broadband, we can challenge that on the FCC map.”
 
Challenging the map is crucial to ensure fair and accurate distribution of funding for broadband internet infrastructure throughout Monroe County. Due to the pandemic, broadband internet access has become increasingly important for remote work, distance learning, online healthcare appointments, and more.
 
Taking the Monroe County Broadband Challenge could benefit individual participants, too. “You might be paying for certain Internet speeds only to find that you're actually getting much slower service,” says Penny Githens, vice president of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners. “Armed with that knowledge, you can make sure you're getting what you pay for.”
 
In particular, the Monroe County Broadband Challenge seeks to identify FCC-mapped addresses which have Internet download and upload speeds of less than 100 and 20 megabits per second (Mbps), respectively. “Currently, if there is no broadband service reaching an address or if there is unreliable broadband service there, those are the areas where that BEAD funding is supposed to be allocated to,” Baeten notes. “Our concern is that some communities are going to be left behind, because of inaccuracies on that FCC map. It's up to all of us to make sure that that doesn't happen.”
 
Once data gathering from the public is complete, Baeten will submit Monroe County's official challenge to the Indiana Broadband Office's National Telecommunications and Information Administration for review. For more information, email [email protected]. For special assistance, participants can reach the Monroe County Broadband Challenge's monitored voicemail box at (812) 330-6479.