LEBANON COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) – Lebanon County is looking to get an upgrade on internet. Last week at a County Commissioners’ meeting, a vote approved of an application with Upward Broadband in Paradise.

“So much of what we do with our day-to-day lives require good internet,” Claire Long of Lebanon said.

The county understands that it needs to address the pressing issue of quality broadband internet not being available for everyone as of now.

“Lebanon County has a few deficit areas,” county commissioner Robert Phillips said. “We have about 20% unserved in our county so one out of every five households. We have about 40% underserved.”

Those are important numbers that pop out to companies like Upward Broadband.

“We really see the need in rural areas of Pennsylvania, including Lebanon County and the surrounding areas to have good broadband,” CEO and co-founder of Upward Broadband Tim Beiler said.

Like every other state, Pennsylvania is in the process of rolling out plans to expand broadband access to people who don’t have it.

“We try to take advantage of every opportunity to enhance the quality and the speed of that broadband service,” Phillips said.

Federal grants provided such an opportunity, leading to the commissioners unanimously pushing the application through to help bring as many families as possible up to speed.

“I feel like we are so advanced with technology that it’s hard to believe that we still have places that don’t have the best internet,” Long said.

“We’ve even heard from people already that said ‘Hey, I got to get better internet or I have to move. I’m really out of options,'” Beiler said.