Broadband Grants, Better Maps Wanted in Nebraska
Nebraska phone companies and others supported state broadband grants and improved maps, but disagreed on details, in comments due last week on a Nebraska Rural Broadband Task Force draft report. The task force, planning to approve the report Friday, found…
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Nebraska residents falling behind other Americans on broadband (see 1909270008). Government assistance is needed but no “unfair government subsidies” that create an "unlevel playing field,” CenturyLink commented Thursday. The state should develop a challenge process for state grants to ensure subsidies don't go to areas that already have broadband, it said. Broadband needs funding, but “reallocating funding from traditional voice support to broadband grants is simply robbing Peter to pay Paul,” the incumbent said. Windstream supported broadband grants that prioritize areas with less than 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds, the FCC’s definition of broadband. The Nebraska Farm Bureau disagreed with the task force proposal to define unserved as areas with less than 10/1 Mbps, and underserved as between that and 25/3 Mbps, saying the FCC definition should be the minimum everywhere. “While slow speeds are better than nothing, many next generation precision agriculture tools will require a more reliable and high-speed Internet connection as a minimum requirement,” the bureau commented Oct. 3. FCC maps likely overstate broadband coverage, agreed CenturyLink, Windstream and others. The Center for Rural Affairs suggested Nebraska establish a "Broadband Data Validation Program" to "empirically validate the accuracy of fixed broadband data collected by the FCC, and challenge the validity of such data on behalf of the State of Nebraska at least once per year.” The Nebraska Power Association urged Nebraska to update dark fiber leasing statutes. “Drafted at a time when there were fewer emerging technologies, the language and the process set forth is cumbersome and a hindrance to creative partnerships. Only one lease is in place and in 18 years, the Internet Enhancement Fund has only awarded 14 grants."