Broadband Stimulus Puts Spotlight on Rural Connectivity
A century ago, no one expected to flip a switch and power the lights, computer, coffee maker and air conditioner in their home or office. Electricity hadn’t yet been wired nationwide.
A century – or more likely, a decade – from now, everyone should expect to be able to access the internet via broadband, no matter their location in the country.
Broadband is one of the nation’s great infrastructure challenges of the 21st century. Like electricity in its early days, broadband can be a foundation for economic growth, job creation and global competitiveness.
Vision for U.S. Broadband
The federal government has affirmed a longstanding goal that the United States should lead the world in mobile innovation, with the fastest and most extensive wireless networks of any nation.To that end, the government is spending $7.2 billion over two years to bring broadband to underserved areas of the country as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed last year. The funding is administered by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS).
The two agencies are emphasizing expanding access and bringing faster broadband to American homes and businesses.
Goal of the ARRA
In addition to making broadband more accessible, the stimulus funds are intended to create new jobs, generate investments in technology and infrastructure and provide long-term economic development benefits. Industry consulting firm inCode Telecom projected the legislation could create 10,000 jobs over the next four to five years.“Building infrastructure will help in the short term, but the potential impact is rather huge here,” broadband industry consultant Craig Settles said in RCRWireless, an online publication, after the passage of the stimulus legislation last year. “If you give small towns and rural areas speedy connections, these areas become attractive to businesses.”
Implementing the broadband stimulus funds has proven challenging and somewhat controversial for the government. Some experts in the telecom industry and in economic recovery opine that funding is moving too slowly.
Global consultant Daniel Hays, a former IBM and Intel executive, commented in the Jan. 6 issue of Forbes magazine that the pace of funding may be too slow and the government’s award process too cumbersome to enable successful and sustainable broadband projects.
Yet many wireless companies and rural telcos are succeeding in gaining funding, and the government says much of the money so far is going toward network infrastructure, including last mile fiber. The grants and loans, which require an investment of at least 20 percent by the companies themselves, are spurring competition while giving rural business customers access to much-needed facilities.
As broadband providers compete for the stimulus funds and develop plans to expand access to rural communities, Nitel offers them ways to leverage existing network assets to complete their network builds. Nitel’s rural network expertise makes us a strong partner for these firms. (See related story below.)
Another outcome of the broadband stimulus package is that the FCC this year began implementing a National Broadband Plan. This broad plan recommends ways federal, state and local governments can help ensure every American has access to broadband capability. It includes strategies for achieving affordability and reliability of broadband networks as systems are built out.
The National Broadband Plan’s goals include that every community should have affordable access to at least 1 Gbps broadband service to anchor institutions such as schools, hospitals and government buildings.
The plan offers long-term economic benefits to rural communities as well as potential growth opportunities throughout the telecommunications industry. Wireless providers are evaluating the plan’s provisions for ways it may fit their business models, and telecom trade associations continue to work with policymakers toward the shared goal of expanding access to broadband.