Counties Mobilize for Broadband

Providing internet to every household and small business by 2030 may not take a village, but it will require the efforts of local officials and service providers working together to pave the way for fast and efficient construction, an effort that the National Association of Counties (NACo) says its members have been steadily working on.

“About two years ago, we put together NACo’s Broadband Task Force,” said Seamus Dowdall, Associate Legislative Director for Telecommunications & Technology, NACo. “This included over 40 county leaders who convened from across the country, different political parties, different regional and geographic backgrounds, with one commonality, which was understanding the salience and importance of high-speed broadband connection.”

The task force generated a report to define how counties could facilitate the deployment of broadband for their residents in terms of how to prepare for broadband, what barriers existed and how to reduce or eliminate them, strategies to address digital disparities, and how to make sure investments were future-proof to last for decades.

Counties are no stranger to building and maintaining infrastructure, with broadband the latest piece necessary for modern society and what Dowdall called the “Glocal” economy.

“We invest over $200 billion annually to help the nation’s infrastructure systems remain up to date and operating,” said Dowdall. “This includes owning and operating 45% of America’s roads. We support over 40% of public transit agencies, operate almost a third of all airports across the country, support over 900 hospitals, over 90% of jails, and we own and operate 38% of bridges.”

The NACo report identified county governments as policymakers, funders, and partners for sustainable broadband access and affordability. Counties collect and analyze plenty of data as a core part of their administrative tasks, making them perfectly suited to understand where the strongest need is for broadband investment. This includes infrastructure, digital literacy and training, and affordability programs.

“We found that open middle mile systems can in fact increase competition and that that open system would allow other interconnectors to help boost competition and ultimately options for residents at the last mile,” said Dowdall. “We found that the incentive for future proofing broadband once again is essential. We’re uniquely positioned to help coordinate dig once policies, whether we’re working with the Department of Transportation or Department of Energy within the county or at the state level, we can help make sure that the investment and infrastructure decisions we make today go as far as possible for the dollars allocated.”

To learn more about how counties can work with service providers for successful fiber network deployments, tune in to the latest Fiber for Breakfast podcast.