Benton Institute for Broadband & Society - National Strategy

Broadband for America Now

benton — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 21:23:32 +0000

Calling for a National Broadband Agenda

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The latest conversations about a national broadband strategy

On Democracy, Unity, & Broadband

On January 20, I heard a celebration of democracy – and a call that, in the midst of the pandemic, economic disparity, racial inequity, and a climate in crisis, “unity is our path forward.” In our American democracy, we are called upon to inform ourselves, form our own opinions, and contribute to the debate so we can decide together what is best for our communities and our nation. The call for unity requires us to accept that there are differences, to reach the end of a debate, and to accept the decisions made in our democratic process. E pluribus unum. Although we have many voices, we remain one. Without that commitment to each other, our democracy dies, our nation fails.

At the Benton Institute, we are not for broadband for broadband’s stake. We see it as the infrastructure of opportunity—an essential tool to ensure a thriving democracy.

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Recommendations for a National Broadband Agenda

We need a national, comprehensive broadband strategy, a plan that ensures that everyone in American can use High-Performance Broadband as soon as possible. These recommendations are drawn from Benton's Broadband for America Now and Broadband for America’s Future: A Vision for the 2020s. They highlight actions that can be taken by the Biden Administration, Congress, and the Federal Communications Commission.

The Recommendations

Contributions to a National Broadband Agenda

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society’s work on a national broadband agenda is built on the lessons and innovative ideas of communities, public-interest advocates, government officials, and industry experts that have labored to expand broadband’s reach to everyone in the United States. We’ve compiled a list of their research reports and briefs that contribute to the ongoing discussion of broadband policy crafted in the public’s interest.

The Contributors

If We Build It, Will They Come? Lessons from Open-Access, Middle-Mile Networks

This policy brief, written by Jordan Arnold and Jonathan Sallet, explains why and how the federal government should support the construction of open-access, middle-mile networks and how that support can be structured. It provides background on different kinds of open-access, middle-mile networks across the nation. It proposes the structure for a federal open-access, middle-mile grant program, incorporating the lessons we have learned about what boosts the chance for open-access, middle-mile success. And it focuses on the reasons the construction of open-access, middle-mile networks furthers deployment and competition.

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America Needs Broadband Now

The strength of High-Performance Broadband is that it will—if fully accessible to all in America—help solve some of our most critical challenges and help people overcome key barriers regardless of where they live and who they are.

Last year we asked you to imagine each community enabled to identify and build on its strengths and employ technology accordingly.

This year we say we can’t wait any longer to make it happen. We must start addressing at-home internet access as a civil rights emergency in need of a comprehensive solution. We ask for Broadband for America Now since our current crises demand it.

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See Benton's R ecommendations for a National Broadband Agenda and recognition of the many contributions that informed our thinking.

For more in-depth discussions about the nation's broadband challenges and proposed solutions, see our reports:

Broadband for America Now | Broadband for America’s Future: A Vision for the 2020s

If We Build It, Will They Come? Lessons from Open-Access, Middle-Mile Networks

We need a national, comprehensive broadband strategy, a plan that ensures that everyone in America can use High-Performance Broadband as soon as possible. High-Performance Broadband available to everyone in America is an important ingredient for a more just America, a healthier society, and an economy that offers true opportunity for everyone. We need to inject a new sense of urgency into implementing equitable broadband policies.

Before he passed, Congressman John Lewis told us, “Access to the Internet … is the civil rights issue of the 21st century.” There are almost three times as many people without broadband in urban/metro places than in rural places, and lack of broadband adoption is greater among Black, Hispanic, and lower-income households. Federal Communications Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, joined by civil rights leaders, explained, “Our historic failure to close the digital divide has had a devastating effect on communities of color in both rural and urban America.”

Five overarching principles should guide a comprehensive broadband strategy:

Digital Equity: Making affordable High-Performance Broadband available to low-income, unserved, and underserved populations—accompanied by training in digital skills that empowers users to make the most of their connections—will contribute to a more equitable society.
Deployment: In a world in which the talents of all people matter, broadband infrastructure investment is a necessary economic strategy. There is no reason to saddle any area with second-rate broadband.
Competition: Americans should not have to pay more merely because public policy has failed to promote competition effectively.
Community Anchor Institutions: Using broadband to fulfill their missions, these institutions should be able to reach users wherever they are and serve as launching pads for communitywide access.
State and Local Leadership: The best approach is to fuse federal support with more trusted state, tribal, and local leadership to ensure the promise of universal, affordable, open broadband.

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National Strategy

Broadband for America’s Future: A Vision for the 2020s

benton — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 21:42:37 +0000

A special report written by Benton Senior Fellow Jonathan Sallet

Report Breakdown

Today, too many people in the U.S. face barriers that keep them from maximizing the opportunities from fixed broadband connections that should run to everyone’s home. Leaders at all levels of government should ensure that everyone is able to use High-Performance Broadband in the next decade by embracing the following building blocks for a National Broadband Agenda: 1) Deployment, 2) Competition, 3) Affordability and Adoption, and 4) Community Anchor Institutions.

Download the One Sheet Summary | Download Full Executive Summary

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The latest conversations on Broadband for America’s Future: A Vision for the 2020s.

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Past Newsletters

October 20, 2020: Broadband for America Now

August 10, 2020: Benton Proposals Gaining Steam

June 8, 2020: A Digital Chasm

April 15, 2020: The Broadband Moment

Feb. 28, 2020: The Growing Role of Community Anchor Institutions

Jan. 27, 2020: From Networks to People

Dec. 18, 2019: Broadband Success Stories Across the Country

Nov. 19, 2019: The Conversation About America's Broadband Future Continues

Jon's Op-Ed in The Roanoke Times

The Roanoke Times published an op-ed by Jonathan Sallet on August 26. Jon urges the federal government to support state and local governments to address their broadband challenges: "The magnitude of the challenge requires that all the players — federal, state and local — take the field. The sooner we start to build a comprehensive broadband agenda, informed by state and local leadership and innovation, the sooner we will reap the benefits that will come when every person can use a robust internet connection at home."

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$50 Emergency Broadband Benefit Continues to Be Needed

In a July 22 op-ed Eboni Winford, director of research for Cherokee Health Systems, and Terri Sabella, chief executive officer of Tennessee Primary Care Association, argued that voice and broadband service is critical during the pandemic for struggling individuals to access lifesaving health services. "The Senate should act to offer low-income households a $50 monthly benefit to obtain faster speed broadband and unlimited talk and text for the duration of the coronavirus crisis."

This policy proposal mirrors Jon Sallet's April 1 piece Affordable Broadband Now and Later, where he wrote, "In pursuit of achieving truly universal broadband service at a time when we know everyone desperately needs to stay connected at home, the Federal Communications Commission should immediately provide $50 per month to low-income households to subsidize fast broadband service during these crises of health and economic dislocation."

As the pandemic continues, so too does the critical need for affordable broadband.

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Jon Cited in NYT Editorial

In a July 18, 2020 article Doing Schoolwork in the Parking Lot Is Not a Solution, the New York Times' editorial staff cited Jon's research: "One study found that poorer Americans can afford only $10 a month for internet service. But such service is typically at far slower speeds than what is available in more affluent neighborhoods, or for free at Starbucks." The study links to Our Broadband Moment–Acting Now and Looking Forward.

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Jon Cited in New America's "The Cost of Connectivity 2020"

On July 15, New America published The Cost of Connectivity 2020, a pivotal report on internet affordability worldwide, with a particular emphasis on connectivity in the United States.

Authors Becky Chao and Claire Park cite Jon Sallet's recommendation of $10 per month being an affordable benchmark for low-income households. The authors write, "Only six plans in our U.S. dataset meet this $10 benchmark at any speed tier (only four meet Sallet's 50/50 Mbps recommendation)," and all six are offered in Ammon, Idaho. Ammon's municipal broadband network was featured in Jon's Broadband for America's Future report. "Even with promotional pricing, no private provider offers a plan that meets Sallet’s $10 benchmark for low-income households," said Chao and Park.

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Jon Featured in Freethink Video

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The digital divide has left over 40 million Americans without access to reliable internet. The pandemic has kickstarted initiatives to change that. Jon Sallet said, "These are problems that existed for a long time but what this crisis has done is fast-forward us into a broadband future."

Watch the Video

Jon Sallet and Mignon Clyburn Featured in Boston Globe Ideas

Jon Sallet and former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn wrote a piece, "Make Broadband Far More Affordable", that was published in the Boston Globe's Ideas section. Sallet and Clyburn write that the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated that broadband is an essential pathway to full participation in our society and our economy, and urge Congress to ensure affordable broadband for all. "We urge Congress to establish a broadband credit — call it America’s Broadband Credit — to ensure many more people can afford high-speed Internet access."

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Jon's Research Cited by Rev. Al Sharpton, FCC Commissioner Starks, Et Al. In Essence

On June 17, 2020, Rev. Al Sharpton, FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, and other civil rights leaders published the article Broadband Access Is A Civil Right We Can’t Afford To Lose—But Many Can’t Afford To Have in Essence. "There is a broadband emergency in America," the article begins. "The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the digital divide in an unprecedented way. As civil rights leaders and a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, we are calling on our nation’s leadership to enact a robust connectivity plan to address the immediate and future needs of marginalized communities."

They wrote, "A recent study indicates that more than 18 million households lack broadband simply because it is too expensive. An affordable broadband option will help ease the burdens on people who struggle to make ends meet. Research shows that low-income families can only afford to pay around $10 a month for broadband, which is roughly the price point of many Internet offerings targeted toward low-income consumers. We must expand these offerings and remove barriers to participation," which links to Jon's Creating an Affordability Agenda.

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America’s Broadband Moment: Creating a Broadband Competition Policy Agenda

Broadband competition is more important than ever because – in these crises and beyond – America has fast-forwarded into its broadband future. But broadband competition is limited: At a typical broadband speed of 100/10 Mbps, at least 80% of Americans face either a monopoly (no choice) or a duopoly (only one choice) for fixed service. It’s worse in rural America, where monopoly is even more prevalent. The impact is obvious: higher prices, lower quality and/or slowed innovation limiting the ability of people to participate fully in society and the economy.

Here are five significant ways governments can encourage competition.

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Jon Sallet Referenced on ITIF's "Innovation Files" Podcast

On the June 1, 2020 episode of "Innovation Files," a podcast from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, hosts Rob Atkinson and Jackie Whisman spoke with Larry Downes and Blair Levin about their recent article for Aspen Institute entitled "The Internet After COVID-19: Will We Mind the Gaps?"

Atkinson incorrectly claimed Sallet suggested that "we should have subsidized two networks in every area" and asked Downes and Levin for their thoughts. To listen to the episode or to view the transcript, see: What the COVID Crisis Teaches Us About Broadband Policy, With Special Guests Larry Downes and Blair Levin.

Listen to the Podcast

Jon Sallet Featured on Next Century Cities Webinar on How Local Leaders Can Influence State And Federal Policy

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On May 27, 2020, Next Century Cities hosted a webinar to discuss the many ways for local officials to engage in state and federal policymaking. Jon Sallet and Kathryn de Wit, who manages the Broadband Research Initiative at Pew Charitable Trusts, spoke on the importance of elevating local connectivity challenges while finding ways to work in partnership with state and federal governments.

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Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Cites Jon Sallet, Benton Institute Research

On May 27, 2020, former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler published 5 steps to get the internet to all Americans: COVID-19 and the importance of universal broadband. He wrote:

"We hear often about the 'digital divide' in America. The challenge is greater than that, however. It is what Jon Sallet calls the 'digital chasm'—a cluster of digital divides that are larger, longer lasting, multi-faceted, and harder to close. Once and for all, it is time to attack the digital chasm. Any such effort begins with fixing America’s connectivity problem, both in terms of access and affordability."

He also cited Broadband for America’s Future: A Vision for the 2020s for the study that found low-income Americans can only afford to pay about $10 per month for broadband. He went on to write:

"In the 21st century, a low-income subsidy for internet access is as important as telephone access was in the 20th century. Americans availing themselves of the program should be able to use it to obtain service from any qualified broadband provider, not just a telephone company. And the provision of such a low-income program should be a requirement if a company receives federal support to expand broadband."

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Jon Sallet Referenced In Forbes Article on Addressing the Digital Divide

In the May 7 Forbes article Three Policies To Address The Digital Divide, Robert Seamans discussed expanding and reforming the Lifeline program in an effort to address the digital divide. Seamans, an associate professor at New York University's Stern School of Busines and former senior economist on President Obama's Council fo Economic Advisers, specifically cited Jon Sallet's suggestion that the Lifeline offering be increased to $50 a month and recipients be allowed more choice in how they can spend the offering.

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America’s Broadband Moment: Making Broadband Affordable

The time has come for Congress to establish a broadband credit—call it America’s Broadband Credit (ABC)—to ensure that people who can’t afford broadband can use broadband. The debate on whether broadband is a luxury or an essential connection to society is over.

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Jon Sallet Discusses the Digital Divide on Market Day Report

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Jon Sallet discusses bridging the rural digital divide amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"Rural American needs High-Performance Broadband just as much as the rest of America. And that's why Congress needs to act, hopefully, on a bipartisan basis."

This clip aired on RFDTV's Market Day Report on Wednesday April 29, 2020.

Watch on YouTube

Jon Sallet Referenced in Boston Globe Editorial

On April 26, 2020, the Boston Globe editorial board published A New Chance to Close the Digital Divide. The article stresses the need for policy solutions that focus on the digital divide in urban areas, advocating for solutions that focus on cost. The editorial board suggests expanding the Lifeline program, which provides subsidies of $9.25 per month for either fixed-line broadband at home or a wireless phone plan. They wrote:

To be eligible for Lifeline, a household must earn no more than 135 percent of the federal poverty level, or $29,000 for a family of three. But Jon Sallet, a senior fellow at the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, says that 135 percent cutoff should be higher — as it is for other federal anti-poverty programs — given the increasing importance of broadband for economic development and public health.

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America’s Broadband Moment

The debate on whether broadband is a luxury or an essential connection to society is over. More than twice as many people are now using residential broadband during business hours as before the COVID-19 crisis. Over 55 million students have been impacted by school closures. The use of telehealth has skyrocketed.

This is our broadband moment: a hinge of history that will determine whether today’s residential broadband is fit for the changed world in which we inhabit or whether its limits work to disadvantage those that are not equipped to use it.

This is the time to invest in, plan for, and engineer High-Performance Broadband for every person in America.

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Jon Featured in Merit Webinar "High-Performance Broadband: Economic Success in the 2020s"

On April 9, Jon led a webinar for Merit Networks where he discussed the long-term prospect for ensuring that everyone in American has access to high-performance broadband, on the continuing importance of state and local leadership in broadband, and on short-term federal action.

View Jon's Powerpoint

Our Networks Are More Vital Than Ever. The FCC Owes Us Updates.

On March 30, Jon wrote an op-ed in Undark, arguing the FCC should issue a weekly broadband status report during the COVID-19 crisis.

"America’s network infrastructure is a patchwork quilt of technologies reaching across a vast geographic area with widely varying usage patterns even in normal times. But we are not in normal times, and the need for an entity that can provide school administrators, emergency planners, and the general public with a bird’s eye view of the health of our variegated communications systems and technologies has never been greater. It’s not enough to receive (if we do) individual network reports. The FCC, with its view across networks, should step up."

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Our Broadband Moment–Acting Now and Looking Forward

To mark the National Broadband Plan's 10 year anniversary, Jon joined others in discussing what should be on the agenda for a plan for the next decade.

"The National Broadband Plan showed the way and it has stood the test of time. But we are being tested anew and we must, as a nation, respond with a broadband plan robust enough to withstand the challenges and seize the opportunities of this new, and already frighteningly novel, decade."

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Jon Quoted in C|Net Article

Can U.S. broadband companies handle the increased network traffic from the coronavirus crisis?

"To be honest, I think we just don't know the answer," he said. "But that's something the FCC should be asking the nation's broadband providers and telling the American people the answer."

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Jon Featured on Panel "2020 COVID-19 Pandemic Response: Will We Break the Internet?"

On April 8, the Fiber Broadband Association hosted a panel to examine the effect of COVID-19 on our Internet networks.

[Account required to view recording]

Watch the Recording

Affordable Broadband Now and Later

In pursuit of achieving truly universal broadband service at a time when we know everyone desperately needs to stay connected at home, the Federal Communications Commission should immediately provide $50 per month to low-income households to subsidize fast broadband service during these crises of health and economic dislocation.

But we must also look past this present emergency and think about long-term solutions for our long-standing problems.

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Jon Featured on Panel "How to Keep Americans Connected During the Crisis"

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Public Knowledge hosted a webinar to discuss the specific regulatory and legislative solutions the FCC and Congress should consider to help America overcome the challenges from the coronavirus.

Four Steps Towards E-Rate Connectivity and Competition

There’s more we can do to improve the effectiveness of the E-rate program.

Special Construction Offers More Competition and Lower Costs
Buyer Consortia Can Lower Costs and Should Be Encouraged and Expanded
Improved Administration Would Expand the Reach of E-Rate and Lower Costs
State and Local Efforts Magnify the Positive Impact of E-Rate

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Community Anchor Institutions as Launching Pads for High-Performance Broadband Deployment

Community anchor institutions can serve as a launching pad for community-based broadband access and, in places where broadband has already been deployed, more broadband competition. As Joanne Hovis explains:

By their nature, most government networks to anchor institutions will reach deep into neighborhoods that house schools, libraries, public health offices, and government facilities such as water towers and fire stations. Many localities then lease excess capacity to private sector providers to enable service provision and last-mile build-out in the neighborhoods. This trend is fast accelerating as hundreds of localities make available spare fiber-optic capacity to private carriers at rates designed to catalyze new private sector investment and opportunity.

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Tell The Story We Know: Broadband Competition is Too Limited

The competition story needs to be told: We can expect people with only one choice to pay monopoly prices, and people with only two choices to pay the higher prices typically charged by duopolies. People with three or more choices typically pay less. Clearly, people who can barely afford to pay a competitive price, say, low-income Americans, are particularly vulnerable to artificially high prices.

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From Places to People—Connecting Individuals to Community Anchor Institutions

Policymakers should help enable community anchor institutions to connect to their users wherever they are.

Congress and the Federal Communications Commission should expand E-Rate to provide wireless access to students of lower-income families who do not have broadband at home. At current prices, $100 million would support the full cost of LTE service to between and two million and three million K-12 students. (Such efforts should be affordable given that the E-Rate program is currently running about $1.3 billion below its $3.9 billion budget cap.)

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Supporting the Increasingly Important Missions of Community Anchor Institutions

Community anchor institutions should be at the center of any comprehensive national strategy to promote the availability and use of High-Performance Broadband. In the next decade of the 21st century, ubiquitous broadband and the special role of community anchor institutions will continue to evolve as ubiquitous broadband increasingly empowers such institutions where they are, and where their users are.

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Jon Sallet Featured in Broadband Communities Magazine

An excerpt of Broadband for America's Future was featured in Broadband Communities Magazine January/February 2020 edition.

"Today, too many people in the United States face barriers that keep them from maximizing the opportunities from fixed broadband connections that should run to everyone’s home. To overcome these barriers, leaders – notably at the state and local levels – are executing policies to boost deployment of networks where adequate broadband does not exist; competition, which will increase choices and spur lower prices and better-quality service to residents; and affordability and adoption for those who wish to have broadband in their homes but lack the means or the skills to acquire it. They also are working to support and enhance community anchor institutions, such as schools and libraries, that increasingly serve users wherever they are."

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Next Century Cities' Opportunities for Bipartisan Tech Policy 2020

On January 23, Jon spoke on the panel "Broadband Access Versus Broadband Subscriptions — the Difference and Why It Matters" at Next Century Cities' Opportunities for Bipartisan Tech Policy 2020.

You can watch video of the panel here: https://livestream.com/internetsociety/bipartisntech2020/videos/201203851

Moderator: Alejandro Roark, Executive Director, Hispanic Technology & Telecommunications Partnership
Joshua Edmonds, Director of Digital Inclusion, City of Detroit
Jonathan Sallet, Senior Fellow, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society
Angela Siefer, Executive Director, National Digital Inclusion Alliance
Tom Struble, Technology & Innovation Manager, R Street Institute

Watch The Video

Creating an Affordability Agenda

To meet the challenge of providing fixed broadband at roughly $10 per month requires implementation of a variety of strategies. Here are seven ways governments can tackle the affordability challenge:

Spur Competition
Protect and Strengthen the Lifeline Program
Provide Assistance to Broadband Providers’ Low-Income Programs
Require Affordable Tiers of Broadband Service When Supporting Deployment
Educate and Protect Consumers
Support Programs That Make Low-Cost Computing Devices Available
Provide Access Via Community Anchor Institutions

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How Do We Ensure That Everyone Has Access To Broadband?

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Jon was featured in a Next Century Cities video that asks "How do we ensure that everyone has access to broadband?"

Digital Skills and Broadband Adoption

A key element to adoption is the development of skills so people are able to find, evaluate, utilize, share, and create content using information technologies and the Internet. This digital literacy is a language, a language with which we become better speakers, learners, creators, employees, entrepreneurs, and citizens. The need for digital skills to get and succeed in new jobs is ubiquitous, across rural, suburban and urban areas, across demographics, across age groups. And the impact of success is equally broad — building economic success that strengthens a community, state and nation.

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From Networks to People

Broadband’s fundamental value doesn’t come from connecting computers to networks; its value comes from connecting people to opportunity, and society to new solutions. When a broadband network is available but a person who wants to use it can’t do so, then the network is less valuable to everyone else who does use it.

Drawing from Broadband for America’s Future: A Vision for the 2020s, over the next few weeks we'll be looking at the challenges the U.S. faces as we try to achieve more equitable and effective broadband use. We will also focus in on adoption efforts in the first Google Fiber location -- Kansas City.

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Too Big to be Left Unnoticed: America's Uncompetitive Broadband Market

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Jon's speech at The Capitol Forum's Annual Tech, Media, & Telecom Competition Conference on December 5, 2019.

We should pay more attention to the lack of competition in the provision of fixed broadband to homes and small businesses.

Fixed-broadband competition is very, very limited. That’s a problem for consumers and for their communities.
Pro-competition policies can tackle that problem by stimulating competition that delivers competitive benefits to consumers – more savings, more quality, more innovation.
The correct way to think about greater competition is not to ask simply what is most profitable for any one company; it is to ask what best serves consumers.

The benefits from the use of High-Performance Broadband accrue to the broader economic and social benefit of America. Limited broadband competition—without regard to its cause—therefore curbs the economic and social progress that broadband can help deliver.

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Jon Sallet Featured on the Broadband Bunch Podcast

The Broadband Bunch podcast interviews Jon Sallet at the Broadband Communities Summit in October 2019. Live, from Washington, D.C.!

Listen Here (00:00 - 19:30)

"Nobody is saying broadband by itself solves every problem. But what we do think is that the big problems in America can't be solved without including broadband. Agriculture, climate change, education for people of all ages, the economy, health care, all of these kinds of solutions will end up riding on broadband networks." — Jon Sallet

Full Podcast

Rural Electric Cooperatives Deliver Broadband

Home broadband subscription rates continue to lag in rural areas, holding back local economies and access to telemedicine. The deployment of broadband networks to rural areas echoes the challenges earlier generations had ensuring that electrical networks and telephone service reached everyone. The solutions those earlier generations employed provide us lessons for today’s broadband challenges.

See Also: Georgia Authorizes Electric Cooperatives to Deliver Rural Broadband. Bill Verner, Senior Vice President with Georgia Electric Membership Corp., discusses how Georgia is using electric cooperatives to reduce the digital divide.

Read Jon's Full Article

Jon Sallet and Adrianne Furniss on the Community Broadband Bits Podcast

Benton Institute Executive Director Adrianne Furniss and Senior Fellow Jon Sallet sat down with Christopher Mitchell of the Insitute for Local Self-Reliance on the Community Broadband Bits Podcast.

In this episode, Jon analyzes stories and situations from around the U.S. and establishes a vision that will help us move forward to connect as many people as possible. He and Christopher discuss the four major factors that, if nurtured correctly, can help us integrate broadband into all sectors of society and maximize its usefulness. Christopher and Jon give special time to competition, an issue that arises repeatedly in the work at Benton and at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Listen to the Interview

Building Blocks for a National Broadband Agenda

Jon's speech at the Broadband Communities Conference on October 30, 2019.

How does policy help us reach our broadband goal? Policymakers should use these four building blocks to create and further broadband policy.

Deployment of networks where adequate broadband does not exist;
Competition increases choices and spurs lower prices and better-quality service;
Affordability and Adoption for those who lack the means or the skills to use broadband; and
Community Anchor Institutions, such as schools and libraries, increasingly serve their users wherever those users are.

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Jon Sallet (Benton), Vint Cerf (Google) and Jim Baller (CLIC) Address a New Vision for America’s Broadband Future for the 2020s

A packed audience in Alexandria, Virginia, listened intently during CLIC’s afternoon event on October 31, as CLIC’s President, Jim Baller, led a fascinating discussion on a new vision for America’s broadband future for the 2020s. This is a moment worth remembering. Setting the tone was Gail Roper, Director of National Initiatives for the Knight Foundation, who noted how the Knight Foundation emphasizes the importance of access, and equity as new internet applications unfold. Gail then introduced Jim Baller, who guided Jon Sallet and Vint Cerf (Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google) through a spirited discussion of the key components of Jon’s special report entitled “Broadband for America’s Future: A Vision for the 2020s.”

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Bringing High-Performance Broadband to Rural America

Many rural communities understand the importance of broadband to their future and they are taking matters into their own hands. For example, drive about 80 miles from Washington, D.C., and you can find yourself in the northern portion of Queen Anne’s County, Maryland. The research Jon has done for Broadband for America’s Future: A Vision for the 2020s led him to observe Queen Anne’s County's work to connect.

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Imperial County: Closing the Homework Gap in a California Desert Community

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In communities where too many people have no access to broadband infrastructure, investing in connections to community anchor institutions is an intermediate step that can pay huge public dividends. Imperial County, located in the sparsely populated desert region of southeastern California, is an exciting example. To close the Homework Gap, the Imperial County Office of Education teamed up with local school districts to start the BorderLink project, which relies on LTE technology to bring wireless internet connectivity to students in eleven communities.

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Broadband for America’s Future Starts with Anchors

An Article by John Windhausen, Executive Director of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition.

"Broadband for America's Future" author and Benton Fellow Jonathan Sallet previewed its policy recommendations for community anchor institution (CAI) connectivity at the 9th Annual SHLB Conference. Sallet identified the SHLB Coalition’s “To and Through” philosophy as a fundamental principle for CAI broadband policy. To put it simply, connecting anchors to high-quality broadband enables them to serve as jumping off points to extend connectivity to surrounding residents and businesses in the community.

Unfortunately, some of the dialogue around closing the digital divide focuses on connecting residents and businesses, while completely ignoring the needs of CAIs. “Broadband for America’s Future” recognizes that connectivity for anchor institutions isn’t simply a goal of broadband deployment, but a necessary step in closing the digital divide. The report clearly shows we will not solve the digital divide unless policymakers and industry acknowledge the valuable role schools, libraries, and healthcare providers play in making broadband available and affordable to their surrounding communities. Learn more about the Benton Institute and read the full text of the report here.

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FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks Gives His Support

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks on Oct. 31 at the Broadband Communities Conference, in his prepared remarks:

I really wish I could have made it here yesterday as well because I know Jon Sallet at the Benton [Institute] gave a stellar presentation on his new work, ‘Broadband for America’s Future: A Vision for the 2020s.’ The National Broadband Plan was released in 2010 so I’m glad to see we have an advocate in this space who is thinking about creative and forward-thinking policies that will address internet inequality. Jon and I share similar views. We recognize that broadband access is necessary if we truly want to empower our communities in this digital age. So, thank you to Jon and the Benton [Institute] team for all of their hard work on this project. I really look forward to diving into it and engaging with you all more.

Next Century Cities: Report Gives A Comprehensive Overview of a Problem That We Can Solve

Broadband for America's Future: A Vision for the 2020s highlights Next Century Cities’ member stories, documenting their ability to overcome unique challenges with creative solutions. In a blog post, Next Century Cities said the report is, "sure to bring Next Century Cities’ member municipalities and others a step closer to a shared goal of ensuring that every community has access to high-speed connectivity. Sallet offers a masterful account of the policy landscape while conveying a sense of urgency for broadband infrastructure to be a national priority. His report weaves together policy analysis, impact stories, and thoughtful recommendations."

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Michigan’s MERIT Network: Connectivity To and Through Community Anchors

Investment in high-performance broadband infrastructure for community anchor institutions can deliver unforeseen dividends for years to come. Take, for example, the Merit Network, which operates almost 4,000 miles of fiber-optic infrastructure in Michigan. To extend critical broadband service to all community anchor institutions in Michigan, including in rural and underserved communities, Merit used two grants from the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) to create the REACH -3MC (Rural, Education, Anchor, Community and Health Care—Michigan Middle Mile Collaborative) project. Completed in 2014, the project constructed 2,287 miles of the almost 4,000-mile, open-access, fiber infrastructure network.

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Connecting Communities with High-Performance Broadband

Jon's speech at AnchorNETS: 9th Annual SHLB Conference on October 17, 2019.

Based on what we’ve learned, we’ve formulated three basic principles for community anchor institution broadband policy.

First, community anchor institutions need access to competitively-priced, High-Performance Broadband, and they deserve the discretion to make informed choices about what best serves their communities.
Second, broadband is needed to connect community anchor institutions with their users wherever they may be.
Third, community anchor institutions can serve as launching pads for communitywide broadband access and, in places where broadband has already been deployed, more broadband competition.

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Voqal: Report 'Outlines Road Map for Addressing the Digital Divide'

Voqal wrote an article on Broadband for America's Future, calling it a "magnum opus of broadband policy for the forthcoming decade." They note that Sallet's report highlights the Homework Gap and the value of immediate short-term solutions like Mobile Citizen, a Wi-Fi hotspot program Voqal operates.

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Libraries and Schools Join Hands to Connect New Mexico Pueblos

Over the last year or so, we've been speaking with people around the country about how communities are addressing their broadband needs. We know that community anchor institutions — schools, libraries, healthcare providers and others — play a key role in bringing service to broadband deserts. Our friends at the American Library Association (ALA) alerted us to how the Middle Rio Grande and Jemez-Zia Pueblo Tribal Consortia are connecting pueblos in New Mexico. As the release of our report nears, we think it is important to share some of the innovative solutions that we've heard.

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The broadband revolution is sparking broad social and economic change. We see three overarching benefits that High-Performance Broadband can deliver in the next decade:

Growing the American Economy. High-Performance Broadband transforms industries that are basic to everyday life, positively impacting agriculture, education, healthcare, energy, and more.
Empowering Workers. High-Performance Broadband advances skills training to boost individual opportunity, helping to overcome income inequality and economic frustration.
Strengthening Communities. High-Performance Broadband spurs economic growth and jobs. It can enable civic participation. It can improve the health, education. and learning of community members.

Broadband for America’s Future: A Vision for the 2020s collects, combines, and contributes to a national broadband agenda for the next decade. Our work is built on the lessons of communities, public-interest advocates, government officials, and industry experts that have labored to expand broadband’s reach to everyone in the United States. They deserve credit for their investments and innovations, and we have attempted to reflect their accomplishments and ideas, while contributing Benton’s own insights -- insights built on a body of work stretching back to the 1980s.

This publication is a part of a discussion on how public policy can close the digital divide and extend digital opportunity everywhere.

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National Strategy

Connecting Anchor Institutions: A Broadband Action Plan

emily_16801 — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 14:06:56 +0000

On July 13, 2016, the Benton Foundation published the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition's Connecting Anchor Institutions: A Broadband Action Plan.

The future belongs to those with access to high-speed broadband. In the 21st century, anyone seeking to launch a business, exchange medical records, conduct a research project, obtain a college degree, engage in community activities, or create his or her own path will need both a high-capacity Internet connection and the digital skills necessary to navigate the online world. Community anchor institutions (CAIs) – schools, libraries, healthcare providers, community colleges, public media, public housing, and other community organizations – are the key institutions that enable universal access to broadband. CAIs make essential broadband Internet services available to those who are most in need and ensure that the benefits of the Internet are widely available to everyone—promoting digital equity and opportunity for all.

Deploying high-capacity broadband to community anchor institutions will ensure the United States improves its broadband ecosystem and remains globally competitive and economically vibrant.

To fulfill this mission, every anchor institution needs to have open, affordable, high-capacity broadband that is scalable and adaptable to the growing information needs of the 21st century. Many broadband policies and plans focus on the needs of business or residential consumers without recognizing the significant, and sometimes unique, broadband needs of anchor institutions. Anchor institutions are the third leg of the stool for a healthy community. Connecting every anchor institution to a high-capacity broadband network is a cost-effective way to ensure that every community and every individual has high-speed access to the Internet.

Providing CAIs with high-capacity broadband – wireline and wireless – has many benefits: it stimulates economic growth, promotes individualized learning and STEM education, reduces the cost of healthcare through telemedicine, and expands community services. CAI broadband also promotes residential broadband adoption. Libraries and schools, for instance, offer digital literacy training for students, parents, and community members. Including CAIs in network deployment plans can improve the long-term economic viability of the network because CAIs serve as “anchor tenants.” Building open, middle-mile networks to anchor institutions also promotes competition. Networks built to CAIs with open interconnection policies provide “jumping off” points that allow competitive broadband providers to extend service to the surrounding community.

The Broadband Action Plan offers policymakers at all levels of government – as well as those directly involved in the adoption and deployment of broadband – a roadmap for improving the broadband connectivity of anchor institutions. The opening paper, A Vision of Our Future, describes the critical importance of high-capacity broadband to education, community services, health, civic engagement, digital equity, and economic growth. It also identifies key data points showing that many CAIs lack adequate broadband today and explains why improving anchor institution broadband is an urgent national priority. The Action Plan then provides ten policy papers, written by a variety of experts, focusing on key issues that must be addressed to ensure that anchor institutions have the open, affordable, high-capacity broadband they need to serve their communities. Each policy paper summarizes the issue, provides examples, recommends steps that policymakers can take to address the problem, and provides resources for further research. In other words, the policy papers provide a playbook for achieving the goals set forth in the introductory vision paper.

While the papers address ten different topics, three common themes emerge from our analysis:

Sharing

Sharing, aggregation, partnerships, and collaboration were common solutions identified by several of the papers. Public-private partnerships are often the best model to bring parties together behind a comprehensive broadband strategy. Eliminating silos and aggregating many users on a single network reduces per-unit costs and makes network deployment and use more affordable.

Competitive Options

Promoting a variety of technological and competitive options can provide enormous benefits to anchor institutions. Because CAIs come in all shapes and sizes and are located in all types of environments, policymakers need to be careful not to adopt a “one-size-fits-all” strategy. Some CAIs may choose to purchase lit fiber, dark fiber, Wi-Fi, cellular, cable, or other technologies. Some may prefer to engage a traditional broadband provider, a competitive provider, a municipality, or a research and education network, and others may choose to build their own broadband networks. It is important for CAIs to have the opportunity to choose the technologies and providers that best meet their particular needs, even if that means self-provisioning.

Funding

Deploying broadband networks can be expensive, and additional investment from both the private and public sectors will be needed to meet anchor institutions’ connectivity goals. Funding can be provided in a variety of ways – directly to CAIs, to network providers, or to non-profit organizations that redistribute the funding to others. Often, the biggest barrier to acquiring high-capacity broadband can be the up-front deployment costs. Grants, loans, and private sector capital can be important tools to fund network build-out and also reduce ongoing monthly service charges.

Each of the ten policy papers is summarized briefly below.

1. Broadband Needs Assessment and Planning for Community Anchor Institutions: Governments should identify anchor institution broadband needs and develop plans with stakeholders, broadband providers, and other partners to attract additional investment to fill broadband gaps. By Kelleigh Cole

Conducting an inventory of the locations and speeds of existing broadband networks for CAIs – and identifying gaps in broadband coverage – can help target investments to areas most in need. This paper urges policymakers to gather detailed, granular information about the availability and use of high-capacity broadband services needed by CAIs, rather than relying on outdated or generic claims that an area is already served by existing providers.

2. Wi-Fi and Wireless Networking for Community Anchor Institutions: By supporting robust Wi-Fi and wireless networking for community anchor institutions, policymakers can help enable a wide range of 21st
century Internet applications for improved education, learning, and medical care. By Amelia Bryne

Because of surging demand for Wi-Fi connectivity, many CAIs do not have the capacity and coverage to offer enterprise-grade, ubiquitous Wi-Fi access. Emerging technologies can provide new kinds of wireless connectivity between buildings and to communities. Recommendations include continuing E-rate support for internal connections, making more unlicensed spectrum available, sharing CAI wireless networks with the surrounding community, and providing CAIs with technical advice to ensure they are using wireless most efficiently.

3. Partnerships, Sharing, and Community Anchor Institution Broadband: Joint procurement, aggregated purchasing, and coordinated planning can significantly reduce the costs of providing high-quality broadband to anchor institutions. By Joanne Hovis

Aggregating the buying power of different types of CAIs through statewide or regional procurement is a tested best practice that can enable anchor institutions to achieve lower per unit pricing, higher bandwidth, and better service quality. Broadband policies and programs should promote, rather than limit, cross-sector, aggregated purchase of high-capacity broadband.

4. Promoting Competition for Community Anchor Institution Broadband Services: Policymakers can improve anchor institution broadband by fostering competition, lowering prices, and promoting open interconnection and shared use of broadband networks. By John Windhausen, Jr.

Competition breeds greater investment, more jobs, lower prices, and higher quality customer service. Yet many CAIs still only receive one or no responses after issuing a request for service. Policymakers can promote competition for CAI broadband by ensuring that broadband networks are open to interconnection, reducing prices of wholesale services, and promoting network sharing.

5. Broadband Infrastructure Policy and Community Anchor Institutions: Streamlining access to rights-of-way and effectively managing public land can expedite the deployment of high-capacity broadband to anchor institutions. By Tom Koutsky

Numerous studies document that rights-of-way management policies can dramatically impact the cost and speed of broadband deployment. This paper recommends “dig once” policies, installing empty conduit for competitive providers, permitting CAIs to use dark fiber, standardizing lease agreements for all providers, implementing asset inventory databases, improving wireless tower siting policies, and simplifying rights-of-way approval processes.

6. Community Anchor Institutions Served by Government and Non-Profit Fiber Networks: State and local government networks can often provide anchors with high-quality bandwidth at affordable rates. By Joanne Hovis

Local governments, research and education networks, and other non-profit providers have been serving anchor institutions for decades. Because of their non-profit status, these providers often focus on long-term and community-based goals and can pass through cost savings to their CAI customers. Key recommendations include expanding the availability of municipal and non-profit networks, promoting the use of shared networks to serve multiple CAI sectors, and allowing municipal and non-profit providers to build excess capacity for use by commercial companies.

7. Broadband Subsidies for Community Anchor Institutions: Community anchor institutions need financial support so they can afford to purchase high-capacity broadband services. By Gina Spade

Studies show that CAIs often cannot afford to purchase the broadband capacity they need to serve their communities. Policymakers can address CAIs’ financial constraints with direct subsidies to CAIs, encouraging them to work together in planning joint procurement of broadband services, and expediting review of consortium applications for funding that can yield cost savings.

8. Government Funding for Broadband Network Providers Serving Community Anchor Institutions:
Providing government funding to broadband network providers serving CAIs encourages economic development, expands educational opportunity, improves health care services, and promotes digital equity. By Amelia Bryne

Governments can provide funding directly to broadband providers to deploy robust broadband networks for anchor institutions when the commercial market is not able to do so. Recommendations include creating competitive grant programs, promoting public-private partnerships, considering non-traditional financing such as preferential tax treatment and loan guarantees, and allowing non-traditional providers to participate in broadband funding programs.

9. Rural Broadband Programs and Community Anchor Institutions: Governments should explore funding, network sharing, and service obligations to ensure that rural and tribal community anchor institutions have affordable, high-capacity broadband. By Tom Koutsky

Rural broadband networks require significant investment to cover high deployment costs and ongoing operations. More than 39 percent of rural Americans lack adequate access to broadband service, compared to only 4 percent in urban areas. In the absence of a sustainable business model for rural broadband deployment, policymakers should provide enhanced financial incentives to attract private sector investment. Policymakers should permit open access and interconnection to facilitate the entry of new providers and implement service obligations to ensure recipients of government funding provide CAIs with high-capacity broadband.

10. Community Anchor Institutions and Residential Broadband Adoption: Community anchor institutions are essential partners to increasing broadband adoption. By Angela Siefer

Residential broadband adoption has stalled – about one-third of American homes still do not subscribe to landline broadband service. CAIs can help increase residential broadband adoption in many ways. CAIs can provide digital literacy training, educate consumers about government programs to promote broadband adoption, lead community planning efforts, and, in some cases, provide wireless broadband services directly to consumers. For these efforts to succeed, however, policymakers must provide CAIs and their community partners with locally customized resources to meet the needs of specific populations.

This Action Plan does not contain all the answers, but offers a menu of ideas and seeks to stimulate greater
discussion, research, and most importantly, action.

Over the next few years, policymakers and influencers at all levels will determine whether the country will be divided between digital “haves” and “have-nots,” or whether we capture the benefits of the Internet for all. Open, affordable, high-capacity broadband enables CAIs to do what they do best—allow every student, patient, patron, and person to reach their potential in our increasingly digital world. It’s time for action.

Grow2Gig+: Anchors Advance Communities is the SHLB Coalition campaign to make gigabit speeds for anchor institutions a national priority.
Open, affordable,
high-capacity broadband for
community anchor institutions
is an attainable goal,
but only if we reach together.

SHLB Action Plan.pdf

Related Content:

Benton Partners With SHLB to Nourish Communities With Broadband (Adrianne B. Furniss)

Schools

Healthcare

Libraries Broadband Coalition

July 13, 2016

National Strategy