ISPs Doing 'Little Bit of It All' in Extending Broadband to Hard-to-Serve Areas, NARUC Told
As they extend broadband to hard-to-serve areas, ISPs are aiming to upgrade speeds, working in public-private partnerships and getting pole space from electric cooperatives and others. Some providers are doing this using multiple technologies, including fiber and licensed and unlicensed…
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spectrum, they told a NARUC panel in Indianapolis Monday. The various efforts are having an effect, after some providers had an uneven track record of extending online services, said moderator and NARUC board member Chris Nelson. There used to be "big blotches, big pieces" of geography without broadband, said Nelson, who's also South Dakota Public Utilities Commission vice chairman. Now, "small puzzle pieces" or "niches" are getting smaller, he said. He's seeing "unique business models" fill these holes. Not one technology can do it all, said Pine Telephone General Manager Jerry Whisenhunt: "We do a little bit of it all," Cable operator and phone provider Midco uses methods like fiber and wireless spectrum, noted Director-Government Relations Andrew Curley in an interview. He said it reaches about 90 percent of its footprint with download speeds of 1 Gbps and is targeting 100 percent "soon." Both companies have gotten FCC Connect America Fund money for broadband, their representatives said. Whisenhunt told the panel Pine Telephone entered the ISP business when "the internet providers didn’t come." Comcast Vice President-Regulatory Affairs, Northeast Division Stacey Parker outlined what the company looks for in broadband grant programs. She said "public private partnerships really can work." She cited the company's state subsidies including in Massachusetts, which has rural areas, to which Parker said attendee NARUC Telecom Committee Chair and Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable Commissioner Karen Charles Peterson could attest. Parker said the operator wants tech-neutral programs not limited to eligible telecom carriers, "no regulatory [reach] on the broadband service" and to own the network.