A National Solution To The Digital Divide Starts With States
from the think-local dept
Although the digital divide didn’t start with COVID-19, the pandemic has put into stark relief the need to bridge this divide once and for all. The solution—providing tens of millions of Americans with high-speed, reliable broadband—might seem like a daunting task. But our research has found that Colorado and other states are leading the way in connecting communities to high-speed, reliable internet.
The digital divide is a costly challenge to solve: A 2017 report from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) found that 14% of residential and small and medium-sized businesses lacked access to broadband and that it would cost $40 billion to get fiber optic cable—which carries broadband signals—to 98% of those premises. It would cost another $40 billion to serve the last 2 percent.
When it comes to closing gaps in broadband connectivity, “the easy stuff … has been done,” and the hard work remains. In addition to cost, the challenge of solving the digital divide is compounded by geography, demographics, and the types of entities that provide service, which can leave one rural community unserved while a local telephone company or electric cooperative is available to provide a neighboring community “fiber to the home and to the farm and to the cabin.”
States will be key to completing the job of expanding access to broadband; they play a critical and often overlooked role in shaping the way broadband reaches our doorsteps and enables stakeholders from the public and private sectors to participate in connectivity efforts.
State governments recognize that a single policy or a one-time funding initiative is not enough to get their citizens online. So, they are creating policies and programs that reinforce each other and will help reach the goals that are necessary to fully deploy broadband. For example, state legislatures have passed complementary policies that set service speed targets, set up funding and financing mechanisms, designate who can provide service, and regulate access to the infrastructure that providers need to build and operate networks. These policies create and support the work of state broadband programs.
States also have the tools and expertise already in place—including dedicated staff—to help local stakeholders overcome the barriers to internet access. These staff members on state broadband programs serve as a point of contact for addressing broadband challenges, providing information on state programs, and responding to questions from grantees and others. They also work to build strong relationships with local groups, and often play a central role in facilitating coordination among communities and providers to advance broadband projects and policy.
Colorado illustrates this multifaceted approach to closing gaps in broadband access by funding both middle and last mile projects, providing support for planning, evaluating and improving existing deployments, and collaborating closely among agencies engaged in broadband efforts.
The state’s broadband programs are led by the Colorado Broadband Office (CBO), which is housed in the Governor’s Office of Information Technology. The CBO focuses on federal funding, public-private partnerships, and broadband data. It also coordinates with the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) and the Department of Regulatory Affairs (DORA), which house the state’s broadband grant programs, as well as with other state agencies engaged in broadband deployment, including the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). Pew’s report on How States Are Expanding Broadband Access provides a more detailed explanation of Colorado’s program.
Several key elements have contributed to the progress being made by Colorado’s broadband initiatives. First, the state’s broadband grant programs provide funding for both middle and last mile infrastructure. According to the CBO’s executive director, the middle mile projects bring fiber as close as possible to communities, which are then able to form public-private partnerships to leverage this middle mile infrastructure for last mile projects—some of which are funded through a last mile grant program. Together, this work helps extend broadband service to rural and unserved communities.
Like several other states highlighted in our report, Colorado has invested in planning to build the local capacity needed to then be able to apply for support for broadband infrastructure projects. These grants, funded through DOLA, provide support for the development of regional broadband strategies. The planning process has helped educate community leaders about the importance of broadband and develop local broadband champions capable of moving projects forward; combined with the infrastructure funding, the investment in planning has led to the development of multiple networks that meet local and regional needs, including the Region 10 middle mile network and Project THOR.
Further, the state has continued to evaluate the impact of its broadband efforts and make recommendations for next steps. The CBO manages data and mapping, which helps the state assess its progress and—because DOLA and DORA grant recipients are required to provide geographic information system data on network operations for five years—helps ensure the accountability of public funds.
Colorado also focuses on how future broadband needs should inform its policies and programs. In October 2020, an interagency working group published a report that found that “policies must be updated to support the actual bandwidth needs of Coloradans” and made recommendations to concentrate on technology solutions and policies to meet those needs.
And, finally, although Colorado’s broadband initiatives are run through different agencies, the departments collaborate closely. The CBO leads a biweekly interagency meeting that helps ensure that DOLA, DORA, the Department of Transportation and other state agencies are aware of each other’s activities—creating opportunities for efficiencies and for troubleshooting any issues that arise.
A suite of policies creates the framework that supports Colorado’s broadband program and goals, including the executive order that created the CBO and enabling legislation for the DORA grant program—as well as policies focused on expanding broadband access and ensuring the quality of those services, such as addressing barriers to broadband deployment by electric cooperatives and requiring DORA grantees to adhere to the principles of net neutrality.
Other states are taking a similarly comprehensive approach, including steps to ensure that grants and loans support projects that meet connectivity needs over the long term. For example, states have set speed goals that exceed the FCC’s 25 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 3 Mbps upload standard for deployment, such as Minnesota’s goal of border-to-border residential access of 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload by 2026, Washington’s goal of 150 Mbps symmetrical service by 2028, and Vermont’s goal of 100 Mbps symmetrical service by 2024.
Like Colorado, Maine and North Carolina provide planning and technical assistance to aid communities in identifying local solutions. California and Virginia have provided grants for middle mile infrastructure to help decrease the cost of deploying last mile service to homes and businesses, in addition to grants targeted toward building last mile infrastructure. And Tennessee and Minnesota have technology neutral grant programs that can provide funding to any technology that delivers internet service at broadband speeds, and either encourage or require that grant-funded networks are built in such a way that they can be upgraded to significantly higher speeds.
As all levels of government work to address gaps in broadband access, policymakers can learn from states about effective strategies to expand high-speed internet. These efforts are built on multiple, mutually reinforcing activities that address components of what makes broadband deployment so difficult—from setting goals that look to future needs, to building expertise at the local level, to funding support to reduce the cost of infrastructure deployment. Through these efforts, states are making meaningful progress in ensuring that their citizens have access to reliable, high-speed internet access.
Anna Read is an officer with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ broadband research initiative.
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Filed Under: broadband, competition, covid-19, digital divide, municipal broadband, states
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And to pay for it, TAX THE HELL OUT OF THE RICH.
That has been proven the way to keep society prosperous and civil, and worked well up to about 1980 when neo-cons and neo-liberals convinced everyone that letting The Rich go wild would result in Utopia -- a "Copia" as some put it.
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Re: And to pay for it, TAX THE HELL OUT OF THE RICH.
Otherwise -- easily seen at present -- The Rich are going to make themselves literal Royalty, again.
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Re: And to pay for it, TAX THE HELL OUT OF THE RICH.
Actually, all the technical progress was on track since the 50s and 60s when nearly everything was in sight, but not the HOW of making integrated circuits. Oh, and squandering vast amounts of petroleum, THE key factor to industrial progress.
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Re: And to pay for it, TAX THE HELL OUT OF THE RICH.
I'm pretty sure that Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez would approve this message. The opposition is from born rich masnicks and the worse old money.
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One problem with the "Digital Divide" is those who own sites...
believe they're Royalty and don't want peasants commenting with opposing views.
Maz, for instance, believes corporations are almost literally Royalty instead of mere legal fictions; STATES that he or any site can arbitrarily withhold the SERVICE to The Public that promised when signed the business papers:
"And, I think it's fairly important to state that these platforms have their own First Amendment rights, which allow them to deny service to anyone."
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170825/01300738081/nazis-internet-policing-content -free-speech.shtml
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Re: One problem with the "Digital Divide" is those who
Masnick is not hedging "lawyers say and I don't entirely agree", or "that isn't what I call serving The Public", but as VERY RARE for him STATES FLATLY. By deeming it a fundamental "Right", Masnick STATES that he wants a few corporations to have absolute and arbitrary control of ALL MAJOR outlets for The Public! He claims that YOUR Constitutional First Amendment Right in Public Forums are over-arched by what MERE STATUTE lays out!
This is the vital point for Masnick. He doesn't even mention The Public's right to publish in new way, ONLY states flatly the alleged right of corporations to control speech there.
Masnick flips the First Amendment from protection for "natural" persons into a POWER for use by corporations!
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Re: Re: One problem with the "Digital Divide" is those
Better take your meds, you are screaming incoherently at clouds again.
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For what reason should Walmart have the right to decide what is and isn’t acceptable behavior/speech on their private property and act accordingly, but Twitter shouldn’t?
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Re: Re: One problem with the "Digital Divide" is those
Dear Kate,
Stick to the subject please.
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In all of this.
What will the price be?
If this is built up in a good way there are allot of services that 1 line can do, and creates.
But also the thought that EVERY line has its location, built into it.
Remember what the NSA/CIA wanted? Routers that had a Bug in them. Just a way to track What ever is sent by that 1 and every connection. And Maintaining Every connection to every Home.
Then comes another backdoor. Who will maintain the Whole system? and how much are they willing to be paid. Adding new installations as things change and adapt? upscaling the system?
And as the corps will complain, There STILL is no competition. And Who will have access to give services.
Lets see. Internet, National and international TV, and Phone. Should be the basics. And Whose feet are we stamping on? WHO will pay to access the Main system to supply these? Then charge us MORE. Even tho the State owns the main system.
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Re: What will the price be?
Prices and economic tradeoffs are considered rude questions in this type of political advocacy discussion.
You need only know that some SJW's decided a critical "Digital Divide" exists that must be a high priority for government to fix.
"The digital divide is a costly challenge to solve" -- but you don't need the details.
These SJW's assure us that state governments have ample surplus funds available for this purpose and tremendous expertise to successfully apply them.
And there are no higher priority problems whatsoever for state funding and manpower.
No legitimate skepticism is possible with this wonderful SJW proposal.
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Please define “SJW” in clear, concise terms that apply to everyone who might qualify as an “SJW” instead of people whose ideologies you hate because you were taught to despise them.
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Re: Re: What will the price be?
The standard truism remains accurate - anyone who use "SJW" seriously in a conversation cannot coherently state an objection to the points being raised so they resort to vague namecalling, and thus can be safely ignored.
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Re: Re: What will the price be?
Funny how almost every other developed (and developing) country in the world realizes that closing the digital divide is an investment that benefits everyone involved since it creates more jobs, a better educated populace and a strengthened economy. Yeah, those nasty SJW's really want to fuck people over by making their lives better...
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Only part of the Colorado story...
Those of us who live in non-metropolitan communities or in the urban-rural interface are being served by fixed wireless providers. Some of these have customer service that rivals (???) Comcast, but many of the newer ones have capable management and are investing in infrastructure, e.g., towers fed by fiber, to provide reasonably-priced broadband Internet, e.g., 50mbps or better. To the best of my knowledge, these companies are not partaking of the various grants. They are actual businesses, run by competent business people, and expect to make a reasonable profit. Hopefully, they will not be acquired by some corporate behemoth intent on gouging the customers for every last dollar, which is what happened to the local cable providers.
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