Arkansas State Broadband Plan Released

The Governor of Arkansas released a the Arkansas State Broadband Plan, which sets a goal to deploy high-speed broadband to all Arkansas communities with more than 500 residents by 2022. The high-speed broadband would have a rate of 25 megabits per second for download and 3 megabits per second for upload. 

This plan details the Governor’s goal, how close Arkansas is to achieving that goal, and outlines the means by which that goal can be achieved.  With the Governor’s release of a state broadband plan, telecommunications companies, rural electric cooperatives, utilities and internet service providers will be able to cite the plan when applying for federal grants to expand broadband infrastructure and connectivity in rural Arkansas.

“Arkansas has already established itself as a national leader in providing high-speed, broadband connectivity to our schools. Today, as a result, our students are developing 21st century skills in the classroom to succeed in tomorrow’s workforce. Our focus now extends beyond our schools and into our rural communities. Equal access to high-speed broadband in rural Arkansas is a critical component to the success and longevity of our state’s economy, and I believe this plan will help us accomplish that goal within the next four years.”

The 77-page plan includes thirteen sections:

• Section I: Provides additional details about the Governor’s goal, how the state can meet this goal, and the current state of broadband in Arkansas.
• Section II: Describes the competitive landscape for broadband services in the state.
• Section III: Describes federal government programs that have been instrumental in deploying broadband to rural Arkansas in recent years.
• Section IV: Lays out plans for a State Broadband Office, which Governor Hutchinson plans to create, to be tasked with helping Arkansas citizens, companies, and municipalities utilize federal programs. The Broadband office will also oversee public policy deliberations to ensure that all stakeholders are treated fairly while incentivizing deployment.
• Section V: Discusses the Arkansas High Cost Fund, which handles large quantities of funds and is highly valued by rural telecom companies, which in turn play an important role in supplying broadband to many parts of rural Arkansas. 
• Section VI: Describes existing state and federal communications assets, such as the Arkansas Research and Education Optical Network (ARE-ON), E-Link, which uses the ARE-ON network for telehealth, fiber accessible by the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT), the Arkansas Wireless Information Network (AWIN), and FirstNet. The state network has an all-fiber presence in all 75 counties, which is a significant asset for Arkansas.
• Section VII: Covers the use of broadband in education and the ways that education can promote broadband.
• Section VIII and IX: Focuses on two specific industries, agriculture and health care, where the role that rural broadband can play is especially salient for public policy.
• Section X: Addresses the important issue of broadband mapping.
• Section XI: Deals with a key policy issue in broadband deployment: access to utility poles, towers and other key connection points for wired and wireless communication equipment.
• Section XII: Explores policy options suggested by the Federal Communications Commission’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC) that could accelerate broadband deployment through changes in the codes governing infrastructure projects and construction of new buildings.
• Section XIII: Explains Act 813 of 2017, which permits public-private partnerships for purposes of infrastructure investments; and Act 198 of 2019, which allows municipalities to apply for funding from grant and loan programs to create broadband service and offer it to the public; and to give governmental entities in Arkansas new options for responding to citizen demands for broadband.

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The Regulatory Mix Today:  Arkansas State Broadband Plan Released, Senate Bill Looks to Improve Data Collection for Broadband

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Senate Bill Looks to Improve Data Collection for Broadband

In a press release, it was announced that Senators on the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, introduced legislation aimed at helping increase federal funding for broadband buildout in rural areas by improving the accuracy of broadband coverage maps.  The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are charged with allocating billions of dollars each year to ensure that broadband coverage gaps are closed. However, there is broad bipartisan consensus that the data the FCC collects is not sufficiently accurate or granular to pinpoint these gaps or guide decision-making on where funds should be directed to support broadband build out.

Currently, broadband maps are broken down by census block-which vary greatly in terms of population and geographic area. The physically largest census block, for example, is 8,500 square miles while the smallest is less than one tenth of one square mile. That means census blocks in rural areas tend to encompass many more square miles and many fewer people than census blocks in urban areas.

That's why Tester's bipartisan bill-co-sponsored by Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Brian Schatz (D- Hawaii), and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)-would require broadband providers to report data in a way that more accurately reflects the locations they actually serve.  This would create a new, improved National Broadband Map that is significantly more accurate and granular, as well as subject to an ongoing and multi-faceted challenge, validation, and refinement process. And accurate and granular data will enable federal agencies to target funding to the areas the need it the most, close the remaining coverage gaps, and ensure accountability and transparency.

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.