When the federal government announced its investment in broadband, the broadband community applauded. Financial assistance would be in place to augment commercial investments in rural areas, provide opportunities for expanded municipal wireless networks and supplement middle-mile fiber builds connecting schools and government buildings.
Buried in the $7.2 billion funding allocation was a relatively miniscule allotment of $250 million for “sustainable broadband adoption,” with $150 million to be dispersed in the first round of funding. Yet, this small Sustainable Broadband Adoption (SBA) pool drew 328 applications totaling nearly $2.5 billion in “asks” - 10 times the amount of funding available. Why so much interest?
It’s simple. Broadband availability without adoption, use and innovative product and service development is like one-hand clapping - not much of a sound and very little real connection. The pool of 328 applications to the SBA fund indicates a huge pent-up demand, a desire to create change and the know-how to promote broadband adoption.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recognized as much in a recent report, saying the “Internet creates value only if applications are adopted by consumers; greater adoption yields greater value.”
The challenge becomes one of holding out a vision that Americans can embrace - one they can see and understand how their individual lives can benefit from broadband. As the FCC has outlined, broadband provides:
- Individuals a platform for education and training, wherever one lives, whatever one’s circumstances;
- Businesses a platform for innovation, greater cost efficiency and access to world markets; and
- Governments a platform that improves efficiency and responsiveness,
One stimulus application designed to connect broadband networks with quality of life in communities is the Connect Your Community (CYC) proposal from the Knight Center of Digital Excellence. The plan is to engage, train, equip and support communities across the county to develop and test training tools, in-depth tracking and analysis. But CYC is just one of the many proposals vying for the tiny pool of SBA funds.
Given the great demand and very limited funding for broadband adoption initiatives, we risk developing broadband networks that may result in under-usage. This is due to many Americans not understanding the benefits of new high-speed, high-capacity communications and how to participate in them fully. Part of the federal government’s job in considering applications is to weigh priorities. We hope this basic first step - of getting Americans up to speed with the what the ramifications of these new high-speed Internet highways can be - will get the attention it deserves.
America applauds the building of broadband networks, because we see the vision of a better life as a result. Our national investment in broadband will take on new relevance and excitement in communities across our nation.
