Broadband Communities

Solutions to having good, ubiquitous broadband are very different for each community. Some communities do not have enough broadband providers; others have plenty of providers but pockets of areas that are underserved; still others have so many providers that they are concerned about running out of rights of way, particularly as fiber for 5G and small cells densities. This article discusses a process that can help address all these circumstances: broadband master planning.

Electric cooperatives have given hope to the rural broadband market, and Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corporation (BRMEMC), in the broadband industry for more than 17 years, has earned the right to call itself a pioneer in that emerging space. Several electric co-ops in the Southeast have contacted BRMEMC for advice about how to deploy a broadband network. BRMEMC, founded in 1938, is a member-owned electric cooperative headquartered in Young Harris, Georgia, serving more than 53,000 member-customers.

Access to health care is a critical problem in many rural areas of the United States. Few physicians choose to practice in rural counties, according to the National Rural Health Association, yet the rural population is, on average, older and more in need of medical care. Census Bureau data show that 18 percent of the rural population is age 65 or older, compared with 13 percent in urban areas. Rural clinics and hospitals are consolidating or closing, leaving people to drive long distances to see doctors. Policymakers are counting on telemedicine to fill in the gaps.

Fiber cities know the difference between publicly overseen networks, aimed at providing a utility service, and wholly private, “demand-driven” communications networks. There is no single meaning of the word utility, but the concept is familiar to many people. The basic idea is that a utility is a service that 1) relies on a physical network of some kind and 2) is a basic input into both domestic and economic life. A utility is not a luxury.

California, Washington and Indiana recently enacted legislation to help facilitate community broadband networks: 

Underserved communities can provide broadband for themselves through nonprofit, cooperative entities. Many co-ops that were originally set up to provide phone service and distribute electricity now deliver broadband as well. Rural electric and telephone cooperatives are fiberizing rural America. Following are a few examples of the hundreds of successful cooperative projects. 

Regional efforts to develop broadband infrastructure are becoming more common.