Brittany Bishop, a native of Epsom, works from home but sometimes has trouble connecting to the internet. Some days everything loads slowly, and other days it doesn’t load at all. Bishop, a human resources coordinator, loses pay if she doesn’t show up to work on time.
“Having a good internet connection is absolutely essential, but it can be really frustrating to wake up one morning and not have internet for some reason,” Bishop says.
Although her job gives her flexibility, she still has to complete tasks as assigned.
Bishop’s internet frustrations echo those of other Epsom residents: As part of an effort to expand access to broadband, or high-speed internet, across the state, the town has spent the past month surveying areas with limited or no broadband.
According to data collected by the NH Broadband Mapping Initiative through the University of New Hampshire, 11.9 percent of Epsom is considered underserved, meaning 239 addresses don’t have internet access fast enough to be considered served. Less than 1 percent, or 19 addresses, don’t have broadband available at all.
Regionally, Epsom isn’t the worst, but it’s far from the best. By contrast, in nearby Pembroke, 0.1 percent of businesses and homes don’t have broadband coverage, and in Pittsfield, 15.9 percent of places are inadequately served. Broadband service is spotty in the north of the state, with some areas lacking broadband service in 20 to 50 percent of towns.
Epsom has given residents a month to examine the maps and confirm or dispute the level of service at their address.
These efforts will be made through the state’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program, which aims to provide broadband to New Hampshire residents through a $196.5 million grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The town-by-town data will be used in the process by which broadband providers apply for contracts to provide service to underserved areas.
Breezeline is the only provider of high-speed internet in most of Epsom, and residents have complained about slow internet speeds and slow response times from the company.
“We spoke to Breezeline but they weren’t very helpful,” Bishop said. “There was a week in February 2022 when we had no internet at our house because the line was disconnected. We were the only ones in the area without internet. It took quite a while for them to come on site, reconnect the line and resolve the issue.”
Bishop also recalls many interrupted video calls and missed virtual appointments during the pandemic.
Matthew Conserva, project manager for the State Broadband Initiative Office, said it’s important for residents to have adequate broadband access because it provides necessary access to the modern outside world. As workplaces and schools transition to a digital environment to adapt to the needs of the pandemic, issues around broadband speeds and access have become more pronounced.
“E-commerce, entertainment, business, education, telehealth — all of these are part of our society,” Conserva said, “and it’s much like the expansion of electricity to rural America in the early 1900s. It’s becoming clear that broadband access is essential to being part of a community.”
Epsom City Council deputy leader Virginia Drew said she was experiencing problems with her internet connection at her home on a dead-end road.
“Anything that uses mobile or internet – your phone, your laptop, your TV – just suddenly drops out,” Drew said. “TV stops streaming, your phone stops. I’ve bought signal enhancers, and sometimes even though I paid for the highest speeds, it still doesn’t work.”
Drew added that while walking along some streets in Epsom, mobile phone signals and internet connections can be spotty, even close to home.
Councilman Meadow Wysocki, who serves on the town’s economic development committee, has worked with the state through the broadband assessment process and said it’s been difficult to get providers to add service to the area.
“We regularly hear from residents that they are not satisfied with the options available to them or the services they are receiving,” Wysocki said.
With many people voicing dissatisfaction with Breezeline, she would like to see more providers come into the Epsom area to create competition.
Breezeline spokesman Andrew Walton encouraged customers to contact him with any concerns about their service, and said Internet performance depends on factors related to each home, including whether the equipment is Breezeline, the home’s wiring and layout, and interference from other electronic devices.
“The formal process of determining the final list of unserved and underserved areas in the state that will be eligible for BEAD funds is still ongoing, so it is premature to identify Breezeline’s plans for participation,” Walton added.
Conserva said the state’s broadband projects have received little attention because they fall outside the interests of people with reliable broadband access.
“Obviously, people who have internet assume that everyone has internet,” Conserva added. “That’s not necessarily the case. South Concord is densely populated. It takes a significant return on investment for broadband operators to provide service. People in the north and northwest of the state don’t have internet, and they know they don’t have it.”
For more information on broadband equity, access and deployment, visit https://www.nheconomy.com/ . A New Hampshire broadband map can be found at https://broadbandnh.sr.unh.edu/portal/apps/sites/#/new-hampshire-broadband-mapping/ .
Rachel Wachman can be contacted at rwachman@cmonitor.com.
