What do I imagine when I picture a world with universal broadband?
I see rural towns like the one I grew up in equipped with the same internet access and speeds as the most modern city. Remote workers live alongside newly thriving local businesses, supporting more workers to keep them running. People are healthier and more informed with easier and more regular access to digital health care. With the help of immersive tools and high speeds, education in a town of a few thousand is just as competitive as anywhere else in the world.
With universal broadband, I see innovation carrying us into a future we have yet to imagine. And it has never been closer to becoming a reality.
Several federal initiatives are infusing short- and long-term funding into expanding broadband, including a $65 billion injection from infrastructure funds for the states to address access and affordability. To get across the finish line and achieve this ambitious goal, we need everyone—from business leaders to lawmakers and even individuals—to encourage and form the necessary partnerships that will facilitate the successful rollout of universal broadband.
We need to cover more places, fast
Once states start to distribute federal funds, our aim should be to cover everyone, everywhere, and as close to all at once as possible. As telecom giants like Google, Verizon, and Comcast fortify their networks with more fiber to serve the bulk of the market, state leaders can make it easier to form partnerships with smaller organizations capable of filling in the pockets those giants miss. Otherwise, those unserved and underserved areas fall and stay behind for much longer as technology advances, making it increasingly harder for them to ever catch up.
This is why most of the federal funds so far have gone into updating state broadband maps to ensure each receives its appropriate share of the $42 billion in needs-based funding available through the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. The deadline to challenge the national mapping data has passed, and the second data collection filing window [1] closed. Yet, days later, representatives from Maryland [2] were urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to update erroneous data and consider extending its deadline to allow more time for review.
Mapping delays are only the beginning. Permitting, rights of way, and access to utility poles owned by a diverse group of private companies, municipalities, and co-ops, in multiple jurisdictions across the country can drag out the process and drive up costs [3]. Red tape can kill projects [4]. Affordability funding could run out [5] before deployment in certain areas. State authorities could focus too much attention and money on easier goals, like boosting low speeds in areas that already have access, and miss their opportunity to address the hardest-to-reach communities. We have spent billions [6] on broadband before—unless this attempt is a successful one, we may not get another.
Partnerships big and small make a complicated job easier
According to previous grant awardees [7] from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband Infrastructure Program, funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, relationships are the key to success. They recommend hiring third-party consultants, the sooner, the better, to help assure plans meet requirements and foster a greater team effort between the state and partnering public and private providers.
While the FCC decides how to handle alterations to mapping data, state officials can start taking action. They can reach out to agencies set to receive funds and facilitate approval, assist in completing the required permits, or proactively inform eligible community leaders and entrepreneurs about available grant opportunities. In Illinois, Heartland Forward has partnered with the state [8] to launch “Accelerate Illinois,” a program to help communities committed to securing public broadband funds develop concrete plans, complete grant applications, or find the ideal private partners.
In Ohio, BroadbandOhio accessed $5 million in funds [9] from the U.S. Department of Commerce for regular meetings on state plans for federal broadband funds, encouraging local residents, businesses, ISPs, government entities, non-profits, and community-based organizations, especially those from unserved and underrepresented populations, to attend. To encourage participation at all levels, state leaders should seek to eliminate legal barriers that might limit local access and authority over public broadband funds and open up spaces for local voices to express their needs.
Take up the call to train and get trained
Recent data by the NTIA estimates BEAD funding could create up to 100,000 jobs [10] —from construction and network maintenance and upgrades to tower building, production of manufacturing components, and more. But already, the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) sees rising competition to provide symmetrical and 10 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) speeds, which can only be achieved with fiber. According to FBA estimates, the U.S. will need over 200,000 fiber optic technicians [11] alone to meet the next five years of demand.
Keeping up with labor needs and maintaining workforce development will require a sustainable training and certifying pipeline, and it will take everyone working together to happen. Government officials can reach out to ISPs to understand their labor needs and how they can help. Private training enterprises can access funds to partner with educational institutions [12] like Heartland Forward has done to develop worker training programs at community colleges in Arkansas. They can engage in youth outreach, like the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership, which attends high-school guidance counselor conferences to highlight the benefits of encouraging the pursuit of a career in broadband.
Business owners in telecom, education, or any adjacent industry can seek out public funding opportunities to initiate their own worker development projects. Our Clearfield College offers a self-paced course through three stages—self-taught, instructor-led, and practical work—that attracts more potential workers to our teams. Employers with broadband labor needs could consider offering services like childcare, professional development, or transportation to attract more talent and reduce barriers to entry for workers who would otherwise be unable to apply. Even individuals can play a role in ensuring a successful rollout by taking advantage of available funds to initiate programs, join the growing broadband workforce, or engage their political representatives to ensure their communities are spoken for.
The exponential benefits of widespread high-speed internet access will flow from individuals to their children and families, local businesses, and entrepreneurs. More people connected will bring more and greater contributions to the world. Add in the untapped speeds of fiber, and universal broadband will reshape our entire vision of the future. Universal broadband transcends politics and serves the greater good—everyone should get on board and make it happen.
Sources:
- [1] www.dwt.com/blogs/broadband-advisor/2023/fcc-broadband-data-collection-filing-deadline
- [2] www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases/maryland-congressional-delegation-members-push-fcc-for-improved-broadband-mapping-to-ensure-high-speed-internet-access-for-more-marylanders
- [3] sfntoday.com/groups-speaking-up-on-barriers-to-rural-broadband-expansion/
- [4] optics.fiberbroadband.org/Full-Article/prioritizing-permitting-reform-in-the-next-congress-1
- [5] www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2023/03/13/washington-may-be-about-to-take-a-giant-step-backward-in-closing-the-digital-divide/
- [6] www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/consulting/articles/bridging-the-digital-divide-with-broadband-for-all.html
- [7] broadbandbreakfast.com/2023/03/third-party-consultants-can-coordinate-broadband-deployment-say-panelists/
- [8] broadbandbreakfast.com/2022/05/broadband-champions-necessary-to-combat-obstacles-and-drive-public-financing-panelists-say/
- [9] www.newsandsentinel.com/news/business/2023/03/broadbandohio-schedules-listening-sessions/
- [10] gcn.com/cloud-infrastructure/2023/02/whole-nation-effort-needed-build-broadband-workforce/382886/
- [11] www.bbcmag.com/broadband-applications/2023-trends-in-the-broadband-industry
- [12] gcn.com/cloud-infrastructure/2023/02/whole-nation-effort-needed-build-broadband-workforce/382886/
