Good news! BEAM (Broadband Expansion and Accessibility Mississippi) will soon be accepting funding applications for projects to expand broadband access in Mississippi.
To ensure that service providers are able to apply for funding for projects which will impact Scott County, we need your help!
We need residents throughout the county to complete a few simple steps to ensure that unserved and underserved areas of our county are appropriately represented on the FCC map, which is utilized to determine which areas are eligible to receive funding for broadband expansion projects.
This process can be completed by visiting the BEAM Resident Challenge website at https://broadbandms.com/map-resident-challenge
The challenge process includes a few simple steps:
Step 1: Check Your Address
If your address is represented by a dot that is pink, blue, or green - You do not need to do anything else! Your address is already classified as either unserved or underserved, OR it is already projected to be funded by current or future broadband expansion grants.
If your address is represented by a grey dot, however, the current map indicates that your address would not be eligible for inclusion in future grant funded expansion. If you feel that this is incorrect because broadband access is NOT currently available, continue to Step 2.
Step 2: Challenge Your Address
There are 2 types of challenges that can be completed:
Service Challenge: This challenge is to be completed by residents who have internet service, but who feel it is not an acceptable speed to meet the federal classification of "broadband" access, in either speed, latency, or data caps. In this challenge process, you will be requested to perform speed tests on 3 different days, and to provide screenshots or other documentation to BEAM of the results.
Availability Challenge: This challenge is to be completed by residents who have been denied access to broadband service. In this challenge process you will be requested to provide documentation regarding such denial (Examples: email, text, or letter from a provider, a screenshot from the provider's website showing your address not being available for service, or a written description of a call or interaction with the service provider including as much detail as possible).
Be sure to visit the BEAM resident challenge page and complete your resident challenge.
Thank you for taking the time to participate in this process and for helping to ensure that Scott County is accurately represented at the time when projects are considered for broadband expansion funds.