WASHINGTON, September 25, 2023 – An absence of middle mile infrastructure is the biggest barrier to affordable broadband in rural areas, experts said at the Broadband Breakfast BEAD Implementation Summit on Friday.

“Middle mile” refers to the infrastructure running between communities that connects their local networks to the internet backbone. Money from the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program can be used for middle mile infrastructure, but last mile builds — internet connections to individual homes and businesses — are prioritized.

“Middle mile is the problem in terms of affordable rural broadband. Plain and simple,” said Joel Daly, a senior vice president at network company Zayo. “If you’re far away from a major internet exchange, that infrastructure is expensive.” 

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration approved in June nearly $1 billion for middle mile projects, over $90 million of which went to Zayo for projects in three states. All told, the money will fund over 12,000 miles of fiber-optic cable to supplement the BEAD program. 

Laurel Leverrier, the assistant administrator of the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service Telecommunications Program, said her experience working on rural broadband projects reflected Daly’s observation. She recounted laying hundreds of miles of fiber and an undersea cable before even breaking ground on last mile connections in Alaska.

“In a lot of places where we see these unserved locations, it really is the lack of middle mile service that is driving that,” she said. “Oftentimes if there’s a good middle mile facility, companies and communities can extend off of that.”

Keeping additional middle costs down will be key for reaching every unserved area – those with the slowest and sometimes nonexistent internet – panelists said.

Dr. Tamarah Holmes, director of the Virginia Office of Broadband, said her state is facilitating partnerships between utility companies and unserved communities to make use of their existing fiber infrastructure and avoid some of this cost.

Through its Utility Leverage Program, the state is using over 3,800 miles of existing fiber across 17 projects to aid last mile builds. 

“It’s been a game changer for us,” she said.

Chaz Eberle, director of outreach at the Treasury Department’s Capital Projects Fund, a $10 billion program set up with the American Rescue Plan Act, noted that CPF funds can be used to support middle mile builds so long as they directly benefit last mile infrastructure.

He pointed to Tennessee, which was awarded $158 million for middle mile builds under the program. The state pitched these as primers for BEAD projects, but other states have successfully applied by providing evidence of current demand for broadband in unserved areas, Eberle said.

If you missed the BEAD Implementation Summit, sign up for Broadband Breakfast’s BEAD Starter Pack for $35/month (cancel anytime). You’ll get access to all the videos and each of the three Breakfast Club reports prepared for the BEAD Implementation Summit:

• July 2023 – A Deep Dive into Allocations Under the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program
• August 2023 – Precursors to BEAD Implementation: A Deep Dive Into Prior Broadband Programs
• September 2023 – A Deep Dive into the BEAD Program’s Matching Funds

Already a Broadband Breakfast Club member? Watch the videos!

WASHINGTON, September 25, 2023 – State broadband leaders addressed on Friday their key areas of focus as they look to allocate billions in Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment grants.

The conversation took place at the Broadband Breakfast BEAD Implementation Summit, along with panels of other federal grant program officials, service providers, and investors. The $42.5 billion program is getting under way, with states releasing their initial proposals for implementing it and hearing public comments. Those proposals are due to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration by December 27.

Community outreach

Broadband heads cited engaging with communities – especially around challenges to broadband map data and fostering internet adoption – as being essential to the success of the program.

In New Jersey, broadband office leader Valarry Bullard and her team organized a listening tour. They go to churches and community centers to explain how high-capacity internet can play a role in people’s lives and local programs, without, she emphasized, jargon or acronyms.

“You kind of meet people where they’re at, you know?” she said.

Arkansas broadband director Glen Howie said his team went to all 75 counties in the state to explain how mapping challenges will work and work with counties to set up local broadband committees.

“You go into a county and you tell folks they have an opportunity to challenge their internet availability, they get fired up,” he said.

Mapping and data

As part of their proposals to the NTIA, states are required to outline a process for accepting challenges to the Federal Communications Commission’s map of broadband coverage. That map, now on its third iteration, is based on coverage reported by internet service providers, which is widely considered to be overstated.

Those map challenges will be crucial, both for BEAD and other federal broadband programs, the panel said. 

“It’s the foundation of all of our programs. We spend a huge amount of time on mapping,” said Angie Bailey, North Carolina’s head broadband officer. “We can’t do this work without strong, location-level mapping.”

In Maine, Andrew Butcher and the Maine Connectivity Authority have been investing in broadband mapping efforts for years, he said. A parallel mapping process to the FCC’s has helped them allocate previous broadband funds and confirm coverage reported by providers.

“It has allowed us to have a data-driven conversation, as opposed to a policy of dibs,” he said. “We want to understand where there’s service and where there’s not.”

Timelines

Deadlines, both for submitting initial proposals and awarding subgrants, are on broadband leaders’ minds. Those initial proposals are being submitted in two parts, and states have one year from the approval of part II to award their entire BEAD allocations.

That has Howie’s office in Arkansas worried about completing the challenge process, grant awards, and state rulemaking before the deadline

“The one year, arbitrary timeline that we’re all under at the moment is a huge concern for us,” he said.

Taking time on the initial proposal deadlines is helping states with smaller and newer broadband offices, like Bullard’s office in New Jersey, she said, learn from other states and prepare for the task ahead of them.

“Our plan will be submitted December 27, probably at 11:59,” she said. “It’s giving us some more time for that investment. We’re learning more about our counties… we’re connecting with our community anchor institutions.” 

If you missed the BEAD Implementation Summit, sign up for Broadband Breakfast’s BEAD Starter Pack for $35/month (cancel anytime). You’ll get access to all the videos and each of the three Breakfast Club reports prepared for the BEAD Implementation Summit:

• July 2023 – A Deep Dive into Allocations Under the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program
• August 2023 – Precursors to BEAD Implementation: A Deep Dive Into Prior Broadband Programs
• September 2023 – A Deep Dive into the BEAD Program’s Matching Funds

Already a Broadband Breakfast Club member? Watch the videos!

WASHINGTON, September 22, 2023 – A small Michigan island, Beaver Island, is asking the Federal Communications Commission to require broadband carriers receiving legacy federal funds to lay fiber-optic cable, or face competition from other providers.

The 55-square mile island is the largest in Lake Michigan and had a population of 616, according to the 2021 American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Beaver Island’s Joint Telecommunications Advisory Committee made the request in a September 18 filing to the FCC asking that the commission reconsider its adoption of the Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model, or Enhanced ACAM. That model updates the previous allocation of federal money from the Universal Service Fund to internet providers in rural areas.

The model makes $13.5 billion available through 2028. It allows carriers to continue receiving funding if they upgrade or continue to provide service at 100 Megabit per second (Mbps) upload by 20 Mbps download – regardless of the technology they use to do so.

This, the island’s committee says, will prevent the island from being reached with fiber-optic cable, the highest capacity, most future-proof broadband technology. The Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, established in 2021, allocates $42.5 billion for states to expand broadband infrastructure, but disqualifies areas already served by federal funding.

Michigan’s broadband office estimated its portion BEAD funding could provide fiber-based internet to every location in the state currently receiving less than 100 * 20 Mbps service. That covers all of Beaver Island. But the island expects its providers will take the Enhanced ACAM  money and update their older, copper-based equipment to meet speed requirements rather than compete at auction for BEAD grants to build fiber.

“Rather than assuring [sic] those areas affected by the Order will receive adequate service,” the filing reads, referring to the commission’s official adoption of the new model on September 1, “the Order instead all but guarantees they will receive a service that will quickly become outdated.”

The committee  said in its filing that in order for an Enhanced ACAM recipient to prevent an area from being eligible for BEAD funding, it should be required by the FCC to use fiber.

Providers have until September 29 to accept or deny Enhanced ACAM funding.