Dear Editor:

As The Morgan Messenger reported last week, the Region 9 Planning & Development Council is conducting a survey on internet service and broadband access in the area.

We urge all residents and businesses who want better high speed internet to take the survey this week. It is easy, only takes a few minutes, and can be done online. Readers can find the survey by googling the Region 9 Planning website. Businesses can take the business survey as well.

Our own Morgan County internet survey a few years ago helped persuade service providers to extend high speed internet to more areas of our county. The Region 9 survey is a good follow-up and may also help get us better service.

One of the most important issues today regards the speed of internet service. The survey provides an easy way for participants to determine their speeds by including a speed test and a way to note the results. This is important data needed to see if people are getting the speeds advertised by carriers or enough to support various applications.

If readers would like to help, they can ask friends to take the survey as well. Residents who do not have high speed internet service are urged to take the survey online at the library or fill in a paper copy provided there.

If people have questions, they can contact me at jberman@cdt.org.

Jerry Berman
Telecommunications Task Force
Morgan County Economic Development Authority