An Informed Citizens View of the Current Broadband Fiber Kerfuffle

Rural broadband Internet in this country for the most part remains monopolized, overpriced, insufficiently fast, hampering economic growth and resilience, as well as educational and healthcare  opportunities. 

Federal government programs are currently funding the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, and other programs to help alleviate this. But progress is stalled and delayed by federal regulations, corporate interests,  and lobbying by wealthy executives who have bought influence in our legislatures. 

Now the naysayers and the  profiteers, smelling government monies, are getting louder and a looming corporate government takeover may  either kill, or wound these programs significantly. The U.S., as creator of the NSFNET, as well as the ARPANET and INTERNET, currently ranks 27th in Internet broadband availability and 32^nd in affordability, in the developed world. This  Internet is no longer a luxury, but a necessity, and these ratings should be a disgrace to us all.

Critics also argue that fiber networks are too expensive and unnecessary, promoting wireless, and satellite  alternatives instead. However, these alternatives offer slower speeds far slower than fiber’s current and future  potential. As Harvard’s Professor Susan Crawford writes, it is like comparing our current 2-inch copper water pipes to a  14-mile-wide fiber optic cable river.

While burying fiber may be costly in some areas, existing electrical, telephone, and railroad right-of-ways— often now hiking trails—offer an underused infrastructure that could be repurposed to string aerial or bury fiber  cables. The government granted these right of ways, and they can now be reclaimed for the public good, via  eminent domain if necessary. 

All wireless technologies – cellular, fixed wireless, and satellite – suffer from the same issues

• Satellite has affordability (hardware and service) as well as connection viability issues.
• They all require subsidizing noncompetitive costs (require 50-75% consumer subsidies).
• They all have upgrade/maintenance issues, including high maintenance and upgrade cycles
  • 4G, 5G, 6G cellular hotspots: High cost, low performance
  • Multiple upgrades of Starlink in the past five years is detrimental costly to consumers
  • Broadband Point-to-Point Wireless (urban and rural) only advanced from 1-100 Mbps over 5 years 
• They all have low performance/high maintenance/upgrade costs, and limited capacity compared to fiber wireline technologies 
• They all require line-of-sight or near line-of-site to towers or views of the northern sky, with questionable viability  in rural hilly and wooded areas.

There is an old computer IT maximum that rings true still today that says that: “wired is for data, and wireless is for voice”. 

We do have other options using fiber optic based networks, such as: 

Open Access community-owned internet networks versus subsidizing incumbent monopoly ISPs

These networks provide long-term ROI (Return on Investment) through equal access, local control, and  economic growth. Initial costs are high but Open Access community networks recoup investments by avoiding  profit-driven ISPs (quarterly Wall Street expectations) to offer affordable pricing.

They attract businesses,  creating jobs, and support education. They address digital divides by prioritizing underserved areas while  remaining accountable to residents, which can result in better service and lower fees and generate long-term  revenue that can be reinvested into local infrastructure.

Subsidies to ISPs often result in limited long-term ROI. They reduce immediate costs for consumers, but do  not guarantee affordability. Incumbents also fail to serve rural areas without substantial incentive subsidies and  do not provide lasting infrastructure assets, leading to higher future costs.

Open Access community networks need significant upfront investment but offer sustainable equal access  stimulants to economic activity without continual funding or addressing systemic inequities. Open Access Community-owned networks deliver better long-term ROI by creating lasting infrastructure,  leased to the incumbent monopolies, promoting economic and digital equity. 

While subsidies can offer short term relief, they lack the transformative impact of some of the current 2000 community-owned systems. The current incumbent monopoly ISP’s failed to deliver widespread service and affordability over the past  thirty years. It is long past overdue to follow in the footsteps of our ancestors, who brought us nationwide  affordable and reliable electricity and telephone networks.

Rural citizens were not relegated to second class  citizen status with electricity or telephone networks. They did not provide 120 volts of electricity to urban  citizens and 60 volts to rural ones. They just did what it took and got it done.

The analogy is clear: just as railroads and telegraphs connected the country in the past, we must now invest  in future-proof fiber networks to ensure rural citizens are not left behind. As hockey legend Wayne Gretzky said,  "Skate to where the puck is going, not where it is now." 

10 Gbps and beyond is where this puck is going, and Open Access competitive fiber middle mile networks and Open Access competitive last mile networks are the  only reasonable ways to get there. The future is fiber, and it’s time we act to meet the progress of previous  generations who built our railroads, roads, and communication networks.

It is necessary for us to see beyond a narrow vision and the limitations of self-interest, to see and do the  important and the necessary and retouch with our humanity to obtain a view of the greater good. As humans with the unique, in the animal world, ability of imagination, it is incumbent on us to strive to  utilize this gift in a manner to provide the fullest opportunities for the advancement of our civilization and  progressive human achievements.

Michael Pitsch is a veteran of the U.S. Army U.N. peace-keeping force in South Korea, a former Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa and former Illinois high school and Community College teacher. He holds a B.S. in Education degree from the University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign. Pitsch was the President and CEO of a Tri-County business, where he involved in the manufacture, sale and support of custom business computer systems. He was also the Executive Director and Board President of Tech Corps Wisconsin, Inc., a statewide non profit volunteer group dedicated to helping provide children with computer and Internet technology access. This Expert Opinion is exclusive to Broadband Breakfast.

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