By: Isaac Swanson

Eastern Washington University Urban and Regional Planning Rural and Small Town Planning 471 2/21/2016

Connecting Rural America

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The internet has changed connectivity around the globe. The digital age has connected people

and businesses, created, and produced many social groups and entrepreneurs, as well as

influenced culture by sharing traditions, thoughts, and ideals. High-speed internet has propelled

modern society allowing for information, education, and economic prospects access at the touch

of fingertips. Yet, many small towns and rural communities throughout America do not have

adequate access to high-speed internet. This lack of digital infrastructure is detrimental to rural

regions across the United States.

What is Broadband?

Broadband is a wired infrastructure framework

that allows for high-speed information access

via the internet using one or more methods of

transmission technology. It is much faster than

dial-up services providing residents and

businesses fast upload and download speeds.

Transmission via broadband is digital,

converting text, image, and sound into

electronic bits of data in streams of zeros and ones. The cable and fiber optic broadband lines

transmit data much faster than traditional telephone or wireless connections (FCC, 2015).

Broadband internet service can be provided over several different infrastructure platforms.

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) is a means of transmission technology that transmits data over

traditional copper telephone lines that are already installed in homes and businesses (FCC,

2015). Another method of broadband service provides connectivity through cable lines to a

home or office using the same coaxial cables that transfer television service. A cable modem is

able to receive digital signal for internet simultaneously as a television set without disrupting

Broadband Internet:

Connecting Rural America By: Isaac Swanson

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service to either (FCC, 2015). Fiber optic technology transfers electrical signals into light pulses

that sends data through transparent glass fibers at light speed. This method of data

transportation exceeds speed of both DSL and cable (FCC, 2015). Wireless Fidelity or Wi-Fi

connects end-users to a local internet service over shore-range wireless radio technology.

Wireless can be dispersed through public “hot spots” or through fixed directional antennas

providing access over longer distances by direct link. Wireless is also widely available from

mobile providers. However, wireless technology is slower than wired broadband connections

and has a limited data transfer rate (FCC, 2015). Satellite service is useful in very remote or

sparsely populated areas. Satellite speeds vary based on service provider and package. While

able to provide faster speeds, satellite is expensive and limited by orbit range and weather

conditions (FCC, 2015). Typically, all wired broadband alternatives are faster.

Broadband internet connection is a

fundamental utility and tool in

expanding educational and economic

opportunities for consumers in rural

areas. By providing access, broadband

connectivity allows people to take

advantage of services that are

currently not available in many rural communities through dial-up connections. VoIP (Voice over

Internet Protocol) is an alternative to traditional telephone services via broadband internet that

can be used with teleconferencing or telecommuting for meetings. Broadband also makes

telemedicine possible; this is particularly useful in rural areas where patients can confer with

doctors over the internet to get simple diagnosis quickly instead of having to travel long

distances to urban areas for healthcare checkups. Faster internet connections also provide fast

efficient access and use of many cultural and learning resources, such as college classes or

senior education programs (FCC, 2015). Another advantage to having broadband access is a

quick easy way to do online shopping. These are examples of just a few benefits that

broadband internet connections would bring to rural communities throughout America.

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Broadband – Four Rural Americas:

There are four main characteristics brought up by the authors of Place Matters (Hamilton,

Hamilton, Duncan, & Colocousis, 2008) that categorize each rural region and small town. These

four broad categories capture significant highlights: [1] amenity rich, [2] declining resource

dependent, [3] chronic poverty, and [4] amenity declining. Each of these categories has a

unique need for Broadband internet connection that could solve many current and future

problem throughout the communities.

[1] Amenity rich regions have quality access to natural and scenic qualities and recreation

opportunities. There are usually higher levels of employment, income, and educational

achievement within these areas. Amenity rich regions tend to have growing population from in

migration to favorable communities (Hamilton, Hamilton, Duncan, & Colocousis, 2008).

In amenity rich regions, broadband would

help advertise the natural and scenic

features of a community as well as

highlight the recreational opportunities

through imagery, video, and websites.

Online connectivity would allow for

residents to telecommute and visitors to

continue to stay updated during their stay.

Broadband connectivity could potentially draw new residents to amenity rich communities by

displaying special community features that would draw in and encourage incubator companies,

entrepreneurships, and businesses that might not otherwise locate in the region.

[2] Declining resource dependent communities have fundamental economies that are built

around timber, agriculture, or mining industries. Many of these communities have experienced a

boom-bust cycle. Demographically there are older long-term residents, but there is a severe out

migration of youth. These Declining resource dependent rural communities and towns tend to

have religious and conservative core values (Hamilton, Hamilton, Duncan, & Colocousis, 2008).

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Resource dependent communities would be

greatly impacted by the expansion of

broadband internet to serve them. Schools

and libraries would be greatly benefitted with

a fast broadband web connection.

Broadband would help local businesses and

farms be able to advertise and order or send

shipments of goods. This would also help network businesses to other local communities.

Broadband would also be a factor in bringing youth back to the community as well as attracting

other people who could telecommute for work. Broadband could help bolster the declining

resource industry the community has experienced or it could bring in new economic

development. This additional economic growth stemmed from broadband connectivity would

create a more stable, diverse economy that would benefit the community, which in turn would

bring in an influx of residents relocating from other regions.

[3] Many rural and small town communities are considered chronically poor and impoverished

throughout the United States. These areas have a long history of hardships with decades of

resource depletion and underinvestment. Communities in these poorer regions have many

vacant buildings and struggling businesses. In many cases, community or city services and

needs based resource institutions have closed or relocated to other regions to consolidate

costs. The remaining civic institutions and leadership is relatively weak in supporting the

community. Educational and economic resources have been minimized. These regions are

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continuously ignored and forgotten by policy and development initiatives (Hamilton, Hamilton,

Duncan, & Colocousis, 2008).

These chronically poor rural areas would benefit greatly from installation of high-speed

broadband internet connections. Connecting libraries and schools would allow students access

to various educational methods including research, video links, and college classes. Broadband

would also allow for social networking and connectivity in isolated areas. High-speed internet

would connect civic institutions and community leaders more easily. More importantly, this

digital connection has the potential for technical assistance grant initiatives as well as providing

a connection to state and federal agencies. The addition of a regional broadband network has

the potential to attract businesses and corporations to these impoverished areas. Online

shopping would also be available for inexpensive shopping and delivery methods. Broadband

could be a medical link to these poorer regions, or at least give an alternate option for medical

treatments. These impoverished areas also would reap the same benefits that both amenity rich

and resource dependent communities would receive via broadband internet service.

[4] Amenity decline is the last of the four types of

rural communities in America. These areas tend to

be small towns or regions that are in a transitional

economic phase, somewhere between resource-

reliant, amenity-based, and chronically poor. The

volatility of markets can leave some of these

amenity decline based communities in an unstable

limbo. These communities have a mix of characteristics from amenity rich and declining

resource economies at various stages of development, some of which teeter on the brink of

turning into impoverished areas (Hamilton, Hamilton, Duncan, & Colocousis, 2008).

High-speed broadband internet service would help stabilize these amenity-declining

communities and would set the framework for new potential commerce and industry. Since

these amenity decline based communities are in transition, high-speed internet availability

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would have the same benefit as those of amenity rich or declining resource dependent

communities. It would bring new jobs, allow for better global access and connectivity, improve

educational opportunities, and allow a community to advertise and share its assets on the World

Wide Web.

Rural Broadband Disparities:

Today the world is a highly global and interactive place that has become socially and

economically connected through the age of technology and the rise of the internet. A high-speed

broadband internet connection is considered by current standards to be a necessity, not a

luxury. Yet, a surprisingly high number where 55 million Americans do not have high-speed

broadband internet access with speeds over 25 Megabytes per second (Mbps). This digital

divide disproportionately hurts rural America (Tiernan, 2015).

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filed a 2015 report that found that 17 percent

of the U.S. population lacks access to advanced broadband internet connections. Over half of

all rural Americans lack internet access with 25 Mbps of service. This report also lists details

that 53 percent of rural Americans (22 million people) lack access to broadband. Both

Americans living on Tribal lands and Americans living in U.S. territories lack broadband internet

access by 63 percent (2.5 million and 2.6 million people, respectively) (Tiernan, 2015).

Even local government officials and news writers in small towns throughout America do not

have good connections or broadband access. For instance, in the town of Coffeeville Alabama,

the county administrator cannot get broadband access at her house and neither can the

sportswriter for the Thomasville Times (Severson, 2011). In small towns like Coffeeville, the only

computer most students ever touch is at the local high school, creating an untold number of

missed opportunities. A study done by the Pew Internet and American Life Project showed that

only one fifth of adults do not use the internet because they feel it is not relevant to their lives.

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Many of these people reside in rural areas or small towns and do not have access to

broadband, if any internet connections (Severson, 2011).

While there are thousands of

miles of fiber optic broadband

lines that run through rural

communities, most have been

bypassed to link urban areas

together as well as providing

access worldwide. The greatest

challenge for rural communities

and small towns has been to get local service providers to connect the proverbial “last mile” to

the broadband network when there is not the infrastructure to do so (Miller, 2015). If government

and private sector leaders fail to find creative ways to connect small towns with the digital

highway, it will mean an economic collapse for rural communities and small towns, creating a

larger economic disparity between urban centers and rural regions across America.

Broadband Connections – Solutions and Opportunities:

As a part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, President Obama has worked

towards a goal that would require both the private and public sectors to invest more than $260

billion into new broadband infrastructure that would bring high-speed internet to all Americans.

Under the president’s initiative, the investment in broadband infrastructure has empowered rural

America to continue leading the way while strengthening the economy of small towns and rural

communities to help reduce the digital divide (USDA, 2015).

The Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) is part of this high-speed

broadband initiative. BTOP offers $4 billion in grants that is administered by the National

Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) in an effort to create jobs, improve

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education, healthcare, and public safety in rural and small

town communities across America (Tiernan, 2015). Also as a

part of this broadband connectivity initiative, Comprehensive

Community Infrastructure (CCI) projects, which are funded by

NTIA through BTOP, have led to the creation and expansion of

the “middle mile” network connections between rural

communities and broadband mainlines. This program has

already installed more than 113 thousand miles of fiber optic

lines across the country. It has connected or upgraded over 25

thousand community anchor institutions like schools and

libraries. The program has also signed more than 860

interconnection agreements to small towns and rural

communities with local service providers (Tiernan, 2015).

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has also

provided funding as a part of the 2009 American Recovery and

Reinvestment Act. So far, the USDA has awarded 74

Community Connect grants that total more than $85 million to

construct broadband projects in rural areas that previously did

not have any high-speed internet service. This is the

equivalent of bringing broadband access to 1.5 million

households, businesses, education, and public safety facilities

across the United States (USDA, 2015). As USDA Agriculture

Secretary Tom Vilsack stated, “Broadband is fundamental to

expanding economic opportunity and job creation in rural

areas, and it is as vital to rural America’s future today as

electricity was when [the] USDA began bringing power to rural

America 80 years ago.”

“Broadband is

fundamental to

expanding economic

opportunity and job

creation in rural areas,

and it is as vital to rural

America’s future today

as electricity was when

[the] USDA began

bringing power to rural

America 80 years ago.”

USDA Agriculture

Secretary

Tom Vilsack

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The Community Connect Program specifically supports bringing broadband service to extremely

rural and lower-income communities while stimulating economic development and opportunities

in rural areas by generating practical everyday uses and applications for broadband services.

The current application of this program says that proposed projects must serve a rural area

where broadband transmission service does not exist. The program requires service providers

to offer service at the speed level that is stated in the grant to all residential and business

customers. The grant program also specifically states that service to critical community facilities

must be provided free of charge for a minimum of two years (Tiernan, 2015).

There is still much work to do bringing high-speed broadband connectivity to rural America.

However, the current federal and private grant programs have significantly helped bridge the

digital divide between urban and rural America. If more steps are taken to construct and secure

digital connectivity, rural America will again flourish next to its urban counterparts.

Broadband – Economic Impacts:

Several cities and rural communities have already benefitted from high-speed broadband

internet connectivity. Here, economic growth and development have flourished. As suggested

earlier in this paper, beautiful rural settings have the potential to host telecommuters,

entrepreneurs selling wares online, students studying or taking college courses, and

professionals linking with networks in the cloud. Even farmers need good internet access for

marketing goods and creating purchase orders to advance their enterprise (Miller, 2015).

An impact study produced by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration

(NTIA) has shown progress of rural communities and small towns that have connected to high-

speed broadband internet over the last two years. This impact study has shown an estimated 2

percent higher economic growth rate in communities that have broadband availability compared

to communities that have not. Economic growth in these communities has been estimated to

generate an increase in economic activity between $5.17 billion and $21 billion annually

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(Tiernan, 2015). This is a considerable monetary spread of actual economic impacts. Yet, each

of the communities that have recently connected to high-speed broadband internet has seen

economic returns in billions of dollars. The continuing addition and maintenance of broadband

infrastructure in rural areas is expected to create more than 22 thousand long-term jobs and is

expected to generate more than $1 billion in additional household income every year. Also, as a

part of this study, schools, libraries, and other anchor institutions served by BTOP grants,

experienced a significant increase in internet connection speeds with lower overhead costs.

A report from the Massachusetts Municipal Association, under the seventh partnership principal,

states that it should be a state’s responsibility to invest in technology for public and private

infrastructure at both the state and local level to ensure sustainability and expansion in a

modern economy. This report also states that broadband connectivity, in particular, promotes

economic development, stimulates innovation, and improves the quality and efficiency of

municipal services.

A prime example of small town and rural success is

the City of Ephrata, in Grant County, Washington.

While far away from urban life, associated with Silicon

Valley, this small town of 7 thousand people

surprisingly has the fastest internet in the nation. The

county originally created its broadband infrastructure

from a Public Utility District (PUD) where internet

connectivity to rural areas was connected through a primary ISP (Internet Service Provider)

iFIBER Communications (Sankin, 2013). Gizmodo, an online tech blog site, has found that not

only has the Grant County PUD continued to increase its performance speed, but that there is a

positive correlation between internet speed and both median income and population density.

The higher the internet speed, the higher the income and population. The original intent of

iFIBER and the Grant County PUD was to provide inexpensive residential and small business

customers with high-speed broadband connections. Already several data centers have

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relocated to Grant County due to a combination of low climate temperatures, access to

inexpensive hydroelectric power, and the lightning fast broadband internet connection. The PUD

says that about 11 percent of its revenues come from providing wholesale broadband service to

its largest customers, including data centers (Sankin, 2013).

The basis for linking rural America to the urban centers is fundamentally sound. The economic

benefits that each rural community or small town reap is necessary and ideal. Several studies

have already shown the positive effect that high-speed broadband connection has on rural

communities and their economies.

Conclusion:

Broadband infrastructure is a fixed investment. The costs are the same whether it delivers

service to 7 thousand or 700 thousand people. Yet, the price is worth the investment. If rural

communities want to attract businesses, they need to invest in high-speed broadband internet

infrastructure and connections, because low-level service is not going to give a competitive

advantage. More importantly, in constructing these broadband internet connections, rural

communities and small towns can stay socially and economically connected to the rest of the

country.

Economically, high-speed broadband internet has not only connected urban centers, but also

the world as a global engine. In small towns and rural areas that have used federal and state

grant money or PUDs to expand broadband connectivity the communities have flourished. It is a

primary solution to stimulating and growing small town economies, retaining a younger

population as well as offering better educating opportunities, providing the opportunity for small

business and entrepreneurs to flourish. Broadband internet access will stem the outflow of

people to the cities, by allowing the social and economic connectivity to come to them. There is

great potential for the 22 million disconnected people living in the Four Rural Americas.

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All Americans, throughout the county, deserve to have access to the same quality of life

standard; after all, America is the land of opportunity. Having high-speed internet connectivity

will unify the nation socially and economically and it will allow small rural businesses to have the

same advantage as their urban competitors. Broadband internet will connect rural entrepreneurs

and students giving uncounted opportunities for success. More importantly, it will open the job

markets for employees and businesses to locate in any community they desire.

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References:

FCC. (2015, November 4th). Getting Broadband. Retrieved from Federal Communications Commission:

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/getting-broadband

Hamilton, L., Hamilton, L., Duncan, C., & Colocousis, C. (2008). Place Matters. Durham, New Hampshire:

Carsey Institute | University of New Hampshire.

Holmes, A. (2015, February 14). Small towns and Internet giants await decision on broadband service.

Retrieved from Reveal: https://www.revealnews.org/article/small-towns-and-internet-giants-

await-decision-on-broadband-service/

Miller, L. (2015, May 19). Growth of small towns limited by lack of high-speed Internet. Retrieved from

CenteralMaine.com: http://www.centralmaine.com/2015/05/19/growth-small-towns-limited-

by-lack-of-high-speed-internet/

Sankin, A. (2013, Nov. 19). How a tiny Washington town ended up with America's fastest Internet.

Retrieved from The Daily Dot: http://www.dailydot.com/technology/ephrata-washington-

fastest-internet-us/

Severson, K. (2011, FEB. 17). Digital Age Is Slow to Arrive in Rural America. Retrieved from New York

Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/18/us/18broadband.html

Tiernan, T. (2015, July 30). Broadband Initiatives for Small-Town America. Retrieved from

INTERNATIONAL CITY/COUNTY MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION:

http://icma.org/en/icma/knowledge_network/blogs/blogpost/3737/Broadband_Initiatives_for_

SmallTown_America

USDA. (2015, July 20). USDA Announces Funding for Rural Broadband Projects. Retrieved from United

States Department of Agriculture:

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2015/07/0212.xml