WASHINGTON ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE LOCAL PAGES
MESSAGE FROM THE GENERAL MANAGER
WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT BROADBAND?
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ncreasingly, Washington Electric has heard from our members that there is a lack of broadband in much of our service area.
The term “broadband” itself is a topic of debate and is usually defined in terms of an available upload and download data speed when accessing the internet, such as 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. For simplicity’s sake, we can think of broadband as being high-speed internet. Regardless of the definition, or what sources you consult regarding broadband coverage in our area, there is no question that many households and businesses do not today have access to reliable internet with speeds capable of allowing our members to work or attend school remotely. The pandemic has made this even more painfully obvious as people have attempted to transition to online platforms. Broadband access has ceased to be a luxury; in fact, it’s an unquestionable staple for modern life, fostering economic development, promoting telehealth, advancing educational opportunities, affording remote work capability, and providing social connectivity. Some of our members and area government officials have asked Washington Electric what we can do to help bring broadband internet to our area. Part of our mission statement is to “improve the quality of life for our members and community,” and broadband would undoubtedly do just that. To that end, Washington Electric has spent a considerable amount of effort over the past two years to study how we can be part of the solution to provide an easier, collaborative pathway for broadband deployment. Some of our efforts include the following. • We have become much more educated on the various broadband technologies available and what it takes to provide retail broadband service. • We have formed relationships with vendors, consultants, elected officials, economic development agencies, and existing telecommunications and internet service providers (ISPs). • We have procured grant money to conduct studies and prepare business models. • We have evaluated partnerships.
• We have evaluated creating a retail broadband business offering. • We have sought and competed for funding to offer broadband.
Jeff Triplett
While completing the above GENERAL MANAGER due diligence efforts, it has become apparent why ISPs have not yet built out infrastructure to serve certain areas of our system. Simply put, the potential revenue while charging a competitive rate does not support the required investment to build and maintain the types of facilities necessary to offer reliable broadband everywhere. I include the terms “reliable” and “everywhere” in this statement because wireless broadband technologies may at first glance appear to be a cost-effective solution, but our studies have shown that wireless internet cannot be reliably offered to all locations due to the terrain in some areas. Regardless of the broadband technology, a certain amount of grant money and/or subsidies are required to make the business model work here. The amount needed depends largely on the terrain, density of households and businesses, and how many will subscribe to the service. As a not-for-profit memberowned cooperative, we are sensitive to the equity the membership has built up over our 80+ year history and unwilling to jeopardize the financial stability of your cooperative in a risky venture. To date, Washington Electric has not been successful in finding funding sufficient to develop an adequate business case for us to offer retail broadband service to our members. It is possible that future federal and state programs will create an opportunity, and we will continue to identify and evaluate anything that becomes available. In the meantime, we have been considering ways we can help to bring broadband to our members without being the actual ISP. Electric cooperatives are well positioned to be partners with telecommunications providers to quickly deploy broadband to our members. We have the infrastructure (poles) needed by telecommunications Continued on page 20
NOVEMBER 2021 • OHIO COOPERATIVE LIVING 19
