Viewpoints

Now comes the time to ask an exciting question: What happens next?

By: Matt Dunne, Founder and Executive Director, Center on Rural Innovation 

The ongoing rollout of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program promises the 21st century’s version of rural electrification, with historic amounts of public funding committed to erasing critical infrastructure gaps across the country. Only, instead of electrical lines going to every community, this time it is broadband.

But investing billions to improve broadband access for generations of Americans wasn’t our “mission accomplished” moment — it was just the start. That infrastructure tees up the potential for a new role internet service providers (ISPs) can play to strengthen their customer bases, ensuring their core communities are able to grow and thrive economically in the digital age.

This isn’t a new idea. Once again, it would be following the incredibly successful road map to prosperity, particularly in rural America, that utilities created after the rural electrification effort of the last century.

Beginning in the 1950s, electric utilities drove economic development in rural regions, particularly in the realms of site selection, and attraction of manufacturing and heavy industry. Their investments improved economic conditions in the communities they served and bolstered the reputations of utility providers, who benefited from increased demand for industrial-scale electricity and customers as populations grew.

Internet providers now have the same opportunity to maximize the value of this transformational public investment and build a stronger customer base of businesses and entrepreneurs who are the heavy users of the ISP’s own services.

And by supporting initiatives that help rural regions create new tech-based, broadband-dependent opportunities, ISPs can answer the “so what” question of fiber to the premises. This could look like funding to support new innovation hubs, backing technical assistance work with rural community leaders, Smart City initiatives, coworking spaces, or educational programs that build tech skills at the K-12 level and beyond.

Fiber broadband is crucial to building a strong economy of the future, but it doesn’t do so on its own. Offering fiber does not automatically mean sweeping growth in subscribers, particularly among businesses or people in professions that would lead them to pay for upgraded services to leverage the full power of a gigabit-speed connection.

The good news is that ISPs are already well positioned to convene the right kind of stakeholders (chambers of commerce, local and state officials, business owners, education leaders, Tribal organizations) to make a difference in seeding new economic initiatives. This can be deeply impactful for small cities where local leaders might otherwise be operating with limited capacity.

Not only will this create good will and vibrant economies in areas where ISPs may need to recruit talented employees, but it will also drive demand for the higher-margin services that will ensure their bottom lines continue to thrive.

At the Center on Rural Innovation, we’ve conducted original research into what high-speed broadband can do to unlock tech talent and improve business creation rates in rural places. And our work with dozens of communities across rural America has provided real-life examples of this virtuous cycle in action.

In Wilson, North Carolina, the city constructed the state’s first gigabit fiber-to-the-home network, known as Greenlight Community Broadband. Wilson then built on its initial investment by implementing programs like the Gig East Exchange innovation hub and partnering with a nearby nonprofit to support entrepreneurs.

That suite of services was exactly what a founder like Marcus Aman needed to launch his startup, Bayley.

Aman used his experience managing auto repair shops to create a software platform that streamlined and improved the management of service shops and dealerships across the country. Since participating in Wilson’s cohort of the RIoT accelerator program, Aman has raised millions in funding, built a customer base with dealership groups up and down the East Coast, and is employing people in Wilson who love being a part of the first rural gigabit community.

The widespread broadband expansion made possible by BEAD has leveled the playing field for Americans in previously unserved or underserved communities. We finally have a chance to unlock our nation’s full potential for innovation and drive a truly inclusive economy.

It is now up to forward-looking ISPs to invest in the programs that can unlock rural communities’ full potential and become economic leaders in the age of the internet.

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