[ infrastructure ]
Building
Broadband
A Public-Private
Partnership
High-speed internet is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity.
According to the 2016 Broadband Progress Report adopted by
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 34 million
people in the United States lack access to advanced broadband, which is defined by download speeds of 25 megabits
per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of 3 Mbps. Of those 34
million people, 23 million live in rural areas.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires the FCC to
take immediate action if advanced telecommunications capabilities are not being deployed to all Americans in a “reasonable
and timely fashion.” For millions of Americans, a fast, reliable
internet connection remains unavailable.
Several broadband bills have been proposed in West Virginia’s
past two legislative sessions in an effort to build new and improve
existing infrastructure that would provide internet service, reliability and affordability for families, students and businesses
across the state. In 2015, Senate Bill (SB) 459 proposed the
creation of a 2,500-mile fiber optic broadband network. With
a price tag of $72 million, the bill did not make it out of the
Senate Finance Committee before the session ended. The most
recent 2016 session saw two more proposals in SB 16 and SB
Editor’s Note: For this issue, West Virginia
Executive (WVE) reached out to a high-ranking
official at a communications company within the
state in order to get an industry professional’s
viewpoint on West Virginia’s broadband issues and
how they need to be addressed. He agreed to share
his perspective on the condition of anonymity in
order to avoid potential backlash. While anonymous
bylines within WVE are a rarity, his perspective
will provide valuable information to our readers.
315. SB 16 proposed incentivizing private telecommunications
companies to build out the last legs of the existing network by
providing a tax incentive. The bill passed 32-0 in the Senate but
was not taken up in the House. SB 315 proposed
the creation of an open-access middle-mile network ExEdge
to increase competition among service providers
to drive improvements and quality. The funding The internet,
known as
would have come from federal grants and perfor- ARPANET, was
mance bonds, and the network would have been brought online in
overseen by the West Virginia Water Development 1969 to connect
Authority. This bill also passed the Senate 29-5 but computers at four
universities: UCLA,
was not taken up in the House.
Stanford Research
These proposed bills, while valiant efforts, didn’t Center, UCSB and
pass because they didn’t present a realistic solution University of Utah.
in terms of who would be responsible for building, Source: www.
maintaining and funding broadband expans ion highspeedgeek.com
in the Mountain State. West Virginia desperately
needs to address its lack of broadband availability. Without a
reliable, high-speed network, the struggling state will continue
to lose potential businesses and millennial population in this
innovation economy.
www.wvexecutive.com
summer 2016
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