The Concept of Partnership is Expanding

For many years there have been people extolling the huge benefits of public-private partnership for broadband. For all of that talk, there is not a big number of partnerships, but there are some successful examples around the country. Communities that are looking for broadband solutions might want to consider public-public partnerships and non-profit partnerships. I’m seeing public-public partnerships develop that are similar to the more traditional public-private partnership. Existing municipal internet service providers (ISPs) are reaching out to help neighboring communities. The most common model I’m seeing discussed is where a community is building a fiber network and asking an existing municipal fiber provider to operate it. There are a handful of such arrangements but communities nearby to successful municipal ISPs are reaching out for help. I’m also seeing multiple communities banding together to find broadband solutions. I’m working with several coalitions of multiple counties working together to find a broadband solution for a region so that nobody gets left behind. I’m sure that these partnerships have always existed, but the federal digital equity funding is bringing communities and non-profits together to work towards digital literacy. This might mean programs to get more computers in homes and for students, among other things. While governments can tackle these kinds of programs, a better permanent solution is to work with non-profits to create sustainable programs that will survive this temporary burst of grant funding.

[Doug Dawson is President of CCG Consulting.]