Drew Clark

As communities across the country consider ways to build Gigabit Networks, a range of public- and private-financing models are now being considered in geographies as diverse as the Wasatch Front in Utah, rural Mississippi; and College Station, Texas.

Three separate financial models were explored in early April at the Broadband Communities Summit in Austin, during a panel on “Public-Private Partnerships for Economic Development.”

The first model, in Utah, involves a private company -- Macquarie Capital -- entering into partnership with the public sector to complete a fiber build worth more than $300 million.

In Mississippi, network builder C Spire Fiber put out a “reverse Request for Proposals” in an effort to incent Mississippi communities to invest in fiber.

In the third example, in College Station, Texas, a technology entrepreneur and city council member discussed his efforts to bring Gigabit Networks to the hometown of Texas A&M University.

Members of the Rural Telecommunications Congress released a comprehensive report on the state of the 50 State Broadband Initiative entities.

The report assembles data about the programs of the governmental and non-profit entities that have been engaged in broadband mapping and planning over the past five years. Among the questions that the report seeks to address, for each of the 50 states, are the following:

1. [Is there an] ongoing State BB Leadership Org or Council to Coordinate with Rural BB Champions and Providers ?
2. Is the State BB Map Identifying deficit areas per identified standard available for use by the public and Policy makers?
3. Are State and Regional BB Plans created and being widely used?
4. Is there a Separate State BB PPO for Financing, Bonding & Grants in Deficit areas?
5. Are there State Funding Programs for Matching [dollars] and for Financing grants/loans to Political subs & Providers?
6. Is Formal Coordination taking place with State PUC to reduce Regulatory barriers for providers?
7. Is there adequate Collaboration W/ Rural political sub-divisions on ROW issues and for Aggregation of Demand for Providers?
8. Is there Formal State Collaboration with Health & Education Institutions (USF LEA’s) to optimize Federal Communications Commission subsidies?
9. Are there Sustainable Infrastructure Programs directed at Unserved and Underserved through a State USF fee?
10. Is there frequent Legislative Collaboration for BB Policy Initiatives and Program Leadership Funding?

It makes sense for communities and local government to build fiber networks to manage their communications need, said Joanne Hovis, President of CTC Communications.

Using a simple analysis of the costs to deploy T-1 communications networks versus fiber networks, Hovis showed how Montgomery County schools paid $3,600 per megabit per second (Mbps) annually to receive service at 1.54 Mbps.

These costs were lowered to $1,800 per Mbps through eRate funds. But, when calculating the costs of building a fiber network in the county, schools were able to receive 100 Mbps service at a cost of $70 per Mbps, she said.

“Think about these kinds of strategies as you think about your fiber strategy,” Hovis said, at a session on “building the economic case for fiber broadband.”

[Editor's note: Joanne Hovis is also a member of the benton Foundation Board of Directors]

[Commentary] The Rural Telecommunications Congress will take center stage with a series of sessions on “The Bandwidth of the States,” “Financing Future Bandwidth,” “Digital Learning in the Classroom,” “Rural Innovation,” and -- as a kicker -- “Cool Things Rural Communities Are Doing With Broadband.”

At the upcoming marque event, I’ve been asked to lead the Rural Telecommunications Congress morning session on “The Bandwidth of the States” together with Galen Updike, immediate past president of the RTC. As members of the RTC Board, Galen and I have planned a series of morning events that will highlight progress in broadband since 2009. We are coming up on the fifth year anniversary of the State Broadband Initiative program. SBI, part of the US Department of Commerce’s State Broadband Initiative program, has played a substantial role in enhancing broadband’s contribution to economic development. Several of the questions that will be address in this presentation include:

• What is the state of broadband now versus 2009 in the regions?
• What notable infrastructure projects have occurred since 2009 in the regions?
• What notable projects to spur broadband adoption have taken place in the regions?
• What are the future opportunity to public-private broadband efforts in the states within the regions? Are there any impediments to such progress in the states?
• What role will SBI entities have following December 31, 2014? Have any of the SBI entities made public their plans to continue, or to discontinue, operations?
• What role will the public safety network FirstNet play within the regions?
• Are there any notable private-sector Gigabit Networks under development in the regions?