A goal of universal fiber, universal broadband as a minimum criteria for success
The “last mile” challenge is universal across many fields. For example, it’s been far easier to get Covid 19 vaccines to the first 65% Americans than it is proving to be for the remaining 35%. Getting decent internet to 73% of Hancock residences has been relatively easy compared to getting the same or better service to the last 27%, which is the percentage of Hancock households that are considered “unserved” by FCC definition (download speeds of more than 25 Mbps and upload speeds of more than 3 Mbps). So Hancock has a last mile problem.
But Hancock also IS a last mile problem as far as the internet service providers are concerned. You may have read about many towns around us who have recently gotten or are soon to get universal high speed, reliable internet. Harrisville, Dublin, Marlborough, Greenfield, Temple, Jaffrey and Fitzwilliam are just some of the Monadnock area towns that have successfully partnered with Consolidated Communications (CCI) to build out their fiber optic infrastructures. These infrastructures are funded in part by CCI and in part by 20 year bonds which are repaid by individual subscriber fees and not from general town revenue (property taxes).
Why hasn’t Hancock managed to get universal high speed, reliable internet when all these other towns have done so? In a nutshell, it’s a numbers game, starting with that all important percentage of our population that is “unserved” - 27% or about 242 households. All of the other Monadnock Region towns that have successfully partnered with CCI have had unserved populations of around 80%. So when CCI lays fiber optic cable through these towns they know they will get a big chunk of that town’s population as new subscribers.
So how are we going to solve this problem?
The Hancock Telecommunications Committee is planning to apply for federal American Rescue Plan Act money that is targeted at expanding broadband in rural communities. In order to apply for those and other funds, we need to partner with an internet service provider. And in order to partner with an internet service provider, we need to submit a Request For Proposal (RFP) to multiple internet service providers and keep our fingers crossed that one or more will respond with a plan to bring universal fiber optic to town. We have written the RFP, will submit it in early August, and will receive any responses by mid to late September.
In the meantime, we are making contact and having conversations with a variety of service providers, our local and state representatives, attending webinars on how and when this federal money will be dispersed, and talking to anyone who can help us bring reliable high speed internet to every home in Hancock. Have any funding suggestions or other ideas to share? Call me (525-4904 - no messages - or cell 617/281-1286) or anyone on our hardworking committee: Jim Callahan, Matthew Hale, Ken Messina, Jessica Quinn, Barry Tanner, and Andy Toumanoff.
The current challenge to provide universal access to reliable, high-speed internet is often compared to the push in the early 20th century to bring electricity to rural America. Our need has never been greater: if the last year has made anything clear it’s that access to broadband, like electricity, is no longer a luxury but a necessity. This is why the Hancock Telecommunications Committee is back up and running, with great appreciation for all the hard work that’s been done by previous members (mapping, conducting town wide surveys and more).
How does the lack of universal access to reliable fast, internet affect you?
Your pocketbook:
You can’t be hired for remote jobs, work or start a business from home without access to high-speed internet. Real estate agents report internet access is a requirement of the majority of younger workers moving to the Monadnock area, which is why your property is worth 3.6% less (according to Applied Economics) without access to internet speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) or more.
Your health:
Our older population will increasingly need access to high-speed internet as larger sections of the health care industry move online…yet another trend accelerated by the pandemic.
Your education:
Most education experts believe that some form of remote learning will continue post pandemic, whether elementary or high school, community college, or adult continuing ed. Hancock’s ability to provide universal high-speed internet goes hand in hand with our ability to attract younger families with school age children.
Your leisure:
Who doesn’t love Netflix, Zoom and Fortnight? The bandwidth required for streaming and gaming is increasing every year.
Your family:
Will family and friends visit less if they don’t have access to the internet speeds they're used to in order to do their jobs, go to school or be entertained?
The FCC considers any home with less than 25 megabits per second download speed and 3 megabits per second upload speed to be “unserved” (download speed controls how fast you can open up a webpage filled with photographs, for example, and upload speed controls how quickly you can submit homework or a report for work filled with graphics). My family, along with 27% of Hancock - 242 other households - is most definitely “unserved.” Many others in town, while they don’t fit the FCC definition of “unserved,” have erratic and woefully inadequate internet speed.
The FCC’s 25/3 download/upload speed standard is widely considered outdated for today’s internet needs. According to broadbandnow.com “internet speeds in the 100-200 Mbps range are ideal for most households since they can handle common uses like streaming and video chat for 2-5 users at once.” Home offices and gaming often require more. You can check your actual internet speed, as opposed to what’s advertised, at www.speedtest.net.
A few weeks ago, my eldest son drove up from Boston early on Mother’s Day to surprise me with an overnight visit. Imagine my disappointment when he had to leave less than two hours after he arrived because we didn’t have enough internet for him to finish a project due for work the next day. For all of these reasons and more, the newly revitalized Telecommunications Committee is determined to bring fast, reliable internet to every home in town. Every home: in the woods or downtown. And…to do it at ZERO cost to taxpayers. It has been done in neighboring towns and it can be done in Hancock. More to come on this in future postings.
A new FCC federal program called the Emergency Benefit Broadband Fund is providing funds to subsidize monthly internet costs ($50/month plus one time $100 towards purchase of computer or pad) to American citizens who qualify. For information and applications: getemergencybroadband.org or call 833/511-0311