Investor-owned, cooperative, and municipal utilities have built strong customer relationships and community trust by providing reliable electric service over decades. These utility companies have a comprehensive infrastructure connected directly to every customer, which is well-positioned to bring high-speed broadband services to unserved and underserved markets.
The Rural Landscape
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) indicates that approximately 19 million Americans – 6 percent of the population – lack access to fixed broadband. Because so much of today’s economy is underpinned by access to high-speed broadband, communities without it find it difficult to attract and retain businesses. Covid-19 saw students struggling to access virtual learning, remote workers unable to complete tasks, small businesses unable to interact with customers, and isolated patients without remote medical care – all because they lacked adequate highspeed internet service. Continuing to roll out broadband is vital to rural communities.
Why Utilities?
Because electric utility companies directly connect to all customers in their areas, they already have the infrastructure in place, from utility poles and underground ducts to billing solutions and customer support resources. In addition, most providers are making substantial investments to modernize electric grids and build green infrastructures. And others have or are building carrier-grade wireless networks. As a result, many utilities have excess capacity on networks, towers, and other structures that can accommodate broadband equipment, plus administrative resources to service customers.
Partnering for Success
While utilities can encounter a few implementation challenges, they are not insurmountable. For example, geography can pose problems in places where mountains exist, or the ground stays frozen for months each year. Pole attachment issues can cause delays or added expenses. And often utility companies are stepping outside their core competencies by delivering broadband services. But by leveraging common infrastructure and capabilities, utilities, Internet service providers (ISPs), telecommunications operators, and telcos can – and do – work together to resolve these challenges and provide a solid framework for broadband deployments.
As an example, closing the loop between middle- and last-mile networks is a common challenge. While some utilities are becoming middle-mile providers, others are partnering with ISPs and telecoms where they use one another’s facilities and are forming last-mile agreements.
Although selecting the right partner requires diligent research and analysis, experience shows that collaboration is a successful business model. The U.S. Census Bureau and the FCC have extensive data repositories that can help you jumpstart your partner evaluation process.
Financial Feasibility
The lack of potential customers in low population areas makes building broadband networks unviable for private companies, but the U.S. government is willing to help. Increased public funds are now available to facilitate broadband projects, including:
- The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) will disburse more than $20 billion over ten years to bring a minimum of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) for downloading and 3 Mbps for uploading (25/3 Mbps) to unserved rural homes and businesses. This fund is unique for Electric Utilities in that it incentivizes them to get into the broadband business as a provider or a partner.
- The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is allocating $1.15 billion to the next round of ReConnect Program loans and grants to cover the costs of construction, improvement, or acquisition of facilities and equipment.
- The Infrastructure Bill and Broadband Funding Summary (INVEST in America Act) will include $65 billion to expand broadband in communities across the U.S.
Employing the Right Tools
As utility companies and co-ops seek to obtain funding and develop a successful broadband plan, outdated and manual processes will cripple your best efforts. You need state-of-the-art, fully automated, real-time tools to compete and meet aggressive government deadlines.
Utility companies across the world trust Enghouse Networks. Our platform helps engineers, network designers, construction crews, and field teams build and maintain successful networks. Enghouse’s GIS Network Planning and Management solution provides geospatial network planning, design, and engineering capabilities to enhance workflow, reduce errors, improve productivity, and aid network operations. Our Network Inventory Management Suite simplifies implementation, provisioning, and management of new technologies and services.
Contact our experts today to learn how we can help you successfully power rural broadband.
