By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienwsonline.com
Montague County Commissioners Monday received a brief overview of results from the recent broadband survey with a full report scheduled for February.
During public comments at the Jan. 23 regular meeting, Pamela Waggoner, a broadband solutions manager with Connected Nation, asked to speak. The company she works for was contacted through the Priddy Foundation to conduct the broadband survey for the county. The full report will be presented via Zoom in February.
She reported while the actual participation numbers were not as high as they would like to have seen, 93.56% of county households have 25/3 Megabits per second (Mbps) which is 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream.
The federal government considers 25/3 to be “high speed,” however, the industry is leaning more toward that number needs to be 100/20. Only 700 households are considered at a higher level in the county, but if the lower number is considered “high speed,” 90% are served.
Waggoner explained while some may have strong service there are a lot of gap areas and people are dissatisfied with the service speed they are experiencing.

The court voted to hire an engineering firm to design and provide specifications for bid purposes to build a sewer treatment plant. County Judge Kevin Benton said Commissioner Mike Mayfield did the research into what is needed to start bringing the plant online to replace the present septic system that serves the courthouse, sheriff’s office and jail, and annex.

Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.