As the U.S. government slowly works its way toward allocating $42.5 billion in broadband funding and concerns about FCC’s broadband maps reach a fever pitch, the most marginalized communities in unserved locales are waiting. And that wait for an internet connection feels like it has lasted forever.
Evan Feinman is the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Program Director for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. He told Fierce that about 8.5 million homes and businesses across the United States and its territories don’t have access to a reliable, high-quality internet connection.
While fiber has emerged as a focal point in the NTIA’s BEAD rules, it’s worth noting some of the communities that remain unconnected are transient in nature, like people who live in RVs or trailer parks. Others are Indigenous Americans who live on tribal lands.
Within rural communities, fiber construction can cost as much as $60,000 to $100,000 per mile. Thus, Mariel Triggs, CEO of MuralNet, a company which works with tribal nations to design and build broadband infrastructure, believes that the best course of action for rural tribal communities may be to develop middle-mile fiber, drop to anchor institutions or stable housing, and provide wireless options to households and businesses that may be too remote for fiber’s reach.
Feinman believes that even in larger, less-dense states, fiber will be built out as far as possible. Fixed wireless will be deployed to serve people outside of that reach.
“Fixed wireless is a good technology that can achieve true broadband speed. It’s not as good as a fiber connection, so wherever we can, we’re going to get fiber. It’s a priority,” explained Feinman.
A major hurdle that has long gotten in the way of expanding fiber access to transient or rural communities are the aforementioned economics. Fiber is pricey. What if a connection is built to a household or community that people move away from in the short term?
In that regard, Feinman isn’t concerned. To him, the logic is that if fiber is run to a trailer park, it may be hooked up to 30 trailers the first year. The next year there may only be five connections, but that isn’t an indicator of failure. The strategy is to make sure that all centers of community congregation can get stable fiber access. “[It’s] not who is there now, but will this be occupied in the future? These are investments that won’t just pay off in the short term, but for generations,” explained Feinman.
There is another solution for these communities on the horizon: low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Triggs has seen this option deployed in Alaskan villages where fixed-wireless networks are fed by satellites. “Any middle-mile solutions that can be implemented now and made more robust later are more important to these rural communities…The most viable solutions are a mix of these technologies,” she concluded.
Feinman agreed, with the caveat that while satellites may be a future option, the industry needs to answer some serious questions and elaborate on the longevity of their business plans. “[For] a tribal village in Alaska with no road, it’s unlikely [they’re going] to get fiber. [The question is] whether or not we can come up with creative solutions,” Feinman said. Satellites may be a shoe-in considering they can offer good speeds and low latencies for these rural pockets.
Whether it’s fiber, satellite or fixed wireless, a final looming question in the next few years is if build costs are going to skyrocket precisely because of increased activity from the government subsidies. Since the pandemic began, Triggs has noticed that the cost of services and equipment shot up for MuralNet.
Feinman knows that the upcoming wash of government funding could be misallocated and is working hard to avoid that outcome. “For each state and territory, we’re using complex datasets and underlying economics to determine what level of government subsidy is appropriate,” he said. “We’re not interested in creating a windfall for providers and don’t want to over-subsidize a private entity. We want to preserve taxpayer dollars for the digital equity space.”
To target broadband builds, NTIA has hired staff in all 50 states and six territories to gather consensus from various communities. “There’s a long history in this country of [people in] Washington D.C. or state capitals showing up [to a community] and saying ‘we know what you need’ instead of asking people what they need…It’s especially hard in those communities, for generally quite good reasons, [because people] are skeptical of relationships with the federal government,” said Feinman.
In this spirit, Feinman strongly encouraged advocates and citizens concerned about their fiber access to reach out to their accompanying state broadband offices.