Joanne Hovis

In a strongly-worded letter submitted on April 12, 2018, CLIC has communicated to the Federal Communications Commission its deep concerns regarding the selection process and associated restrictive outcomes of its Broadband Deployment Advisory Council (BDAC).

[Commentary] Partnerships, aggregation, and coordination in securing broadband services are valuable tools for community anchor institutions (CAIs). Aggregating buying power on a regional or statewide basis is a tested best practice that can enable anchor institutions to achieve lower per unit pricing, higher bandwidth, and improved service quality. Policymakers should encourage anchors to consider joint procurement and coordination with entities representing other anchor sectors in their state or region. Aggregated procurement also encourages broadband providers to collaborate and bid with other providers—which could flatten pricing and reduce geographical disparities.
[Joanne Hovis is president of CTC Technology & Energy]

State and local governments have been providing anchor institutions with high-speed data connections using fiber-optic networks for several decades. Indeed, tens of thousands of schools, libraries, community centers, and public health and safety providers obtain their broadband connectivity from local government and state non-profit networks, including state research and education networks. Policymakers should strongly consider developing or augmenting their municipal or statewide governmental or non-profit networks to ensure that their anchor institutions have the highest-quality broadband connectivity, to establish a foundation for economic growth, and to meet fundamental societal needs. Government and non-profit anchor networks generally do not require short-term profits and, in most cases, can focus on long-term and community-based goals. These networks enable anchors to benefit from high bandwidth and reliability at reasonable per-unit pricing. These networks also benefit the private sector; many anchor networks lease excess capacity to and from commercial providers. While some criticize municipal broadband providers that serve residential customers, there are very few objections to networks that focus on serving anchor institutions.
[Joanne Hovis is president of CTC Technology & Energy, where she heads the firm’s work in network business planning, market analysis, financial modeling, policy, and strategy. She is a former president of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) and serves on the boards of the Fiber to the Home Council, OneCommunity, and the Benton Foundation.]

Recently, the Coalition for Local Internet Choice noted our support for local decision making with respect to the “one touch” make ready processes as a way to mitigate the following common problem:

“One of the most costly, risky, and time-consuming parts of fiber optic construction is preparing utility poles for new attachments. Specifically, in order to meet safety and other codes, existing attachments (the gear that connects fiber, copper, or other plant to the pole itself, so as to hold it in place) may need to be moved up or down to make sufficient space for attachment of the new fiber. This process, known as “make-ready,” can sometimes take many months, as each attaching entity sends out a crew independently and at different times from the others to move its own attachment. Existing attachers often exacerbate these costly delays by dragging their heels in moving their facilities, as they have no desire to help new competitors enter the market rapidly.”

Now, as other cities are considering “One Touch” ordinances, CLIC reaffirms its support for local decision making and choice with regard to streamlining the make ready process, including One Touch Make Ready procedures. We hope that all affected entities will cooperate to work out the details in ways that will serve the interests of all concerned. We at CLIC support the principle of One Touch Make Ready as an exercise of local Internet choice and the core principle that local communities and their stakeholders should control their own broadband futures.

We are proud to announce the Coalition for Local Internet Choice. We are a diverse coalition of public and private entities who seek to protect the rights of local communities to determine their economic futures by having the right and opportunity to choose for themselves the best broadband internet infrastructure for their businesses, institutions and residents.

Why Local Internet Choice? Modern Internet infrastructure is foundational to the economic futures of our communities -- as well as the democratic discourse that thrives on the Internet. And meeting the challenge of enabling that infrastructure will require the engagement of all parties, both private and public.

More and more local governments across the US are building broadband infrastructure to provide high speed Internet access to better enable their schools, businesses and citizens to compete in today's digital economy.

This report, from New America’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) and CTC Technology & Energy, is intended to serve as a primer for local government and community leaders on different approaches to public broadband networks.

The report addresses broadband technologies, network business models, and the considerable benefits beyond the balance sheet that public networks can provide to communities.

“For nearly two decades, hundreds of innovative local governments have built and operated fiber optic networks to meet internal government needs and the needs of the public,” said Joanne Hovis, President of CTC Technology & Energy [and member Benton Foundation Board of Directors]. “This report offers a survey of some of the strategies they have developed, with background about technology, business planning, risks, and benefits. This report's goal is to provide sufficient guidance that communities can begin to develop their own approaches to meeting local needs.”