Counties: The Missing Pieces in the Broadband Puzzle

At least in the state of Virginia, counties are rural, yet they have been left out of the design of broadband deployment and the conversation around rural broadband. Nevertheless, they are a crucial part of the local broadband story, and their support can go a long way in bridging the digital divide. In this article, we offer preliminary analysis of a question about broadband deployment. We launched the Virginia County Broadband Survey to better understand what counties across the Commonwealth of Virginia are doing to close the digital divide in their communities, and how broadband factors into their policy plans for the year. The inspiration for this research is found in the ongoing recognition by policymakers and researchers about the role of states and communities in broadband planning, funding, and deployment. As the interface between states and municipalities, we hypothesize that counties play, and will continue to play, an increasingly crucial role in broadband deployment. We asked counties to self-report broadband coverage levels at 25/3 Mbps, 50/10 Mbps, and 100/20 Mbps (respectively). The results were troubling, if unsurprising: massive inconsistencies between self-reported broadband deployment and the data provided by the Federal Communications Commissions.

There are three major takeaways from this early analysis of data from the Virginia County Broadband Survey:

1. While states and municipalities have been highlighting as key stakeholders in broadband planning and deployment, the role of counties has, until now, been underappreciated by policymakers and broadband researchers.
2. The FCC’s data continue to fail in terms of delivering a trustworthy and accurate representation of broadband deployment in the United States.
3. County officials know their communities – we need to trust them and bring them to the table when discussing broadband deployment plans at both the state and local levels.