§31-15C-1 Legislative findings and purpose.
§31-15C-1. Legislative findings and purpose.
The Legislature finds as follows:
(1) That it is a primary goal of the Governor, the Legislature and the citizens of this state, by the year two thousand ten, to make every municipality, community, and rural area in this state, border to border, accessible to internet communications through the expansion, extension and general availability of broadband services and technology.
(2) That although market-driven deployment has extended broadband access to most of West Virginia's cities, towns, and other concentrated population areas, some areas of the state, mostly rural, remain unserved.
(3) That based upon the same network principles that providers of telephony services have faced since the inception of the telecommunications industry, rising fixed costs and technological limitations prohibit broadband networks from being extended into rural areas where the level of demand in sparsely populated areas may not justify the required costs of construction.
(4) That the unique topography and demography of this state that hinders the provision of broadband access to rural areas of the state specifically disadvantages the elderly and low-income households that are the least likely to own computers or subscribe to internet service. In light of these topographical and demographic challenges, any attempt to fill the gaps in West Virginia's broadband availability must be organized according to the levels of demand in the various unserved areas to which service is sought to be extended.
(5) That, in particular, fair and equitable access to twenty-first century technology that will maximize the functionality of educational resources and educational facilities that are conducive to enabling our children to be exposed to and to receive the best of future teaching and learning is absolutely essential to this state. A quality educational system of the twenty-first century should have access to the best technology tools and processes. Administrators should have, among other things, the electronic resources to monitor student performance, to manage data, and to communicate effectively. In the classroom, every teacher in every school should be provided with online access to educational technology resources and the ability to deliver content standard and objectives to the students of West Virginia. Schools of the twenty-first century require facilities that accommodate changing technologies and twenty-first century instructional processes.
(6) Accordingly, it is the purpose of the Legislature to provide for the development of plans, processes and procedures to be employed and dedicated to extending broadband access to West Virginians, and to their families, by stimulating demand for those services and for encouraging and facilitating the construction of the necessary infrastructure to meet their needs and demands.
(7) In implementing this initiative, progress by market forces and industry is to be respected, and the Legislature intends that governmental assistance and funding is to be used only in those areas without broadband service and not to duplicate or displace broadband service in areas already served or where industry feasibly can be expected to offer services in the reasonably foreseeable future.