Sunne Wright McPeak, President and CEO of the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) appeared October 29th before the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet to discuss California’s broadband adoption and how the Federal government should move forward.
The state has more than nine million residents living in remote rural communities on tribal lands, or living in low-income neighborhoods, or living with a disability. To add to the problem, the state has some of the most challenging terrain in the nation for broadband deployment plus the largest populations of disadvantaged residents.
As McPeak explained, “The number of unconnected residents is the equivalent of having five other states within our boundaries. Approximately 94 percent of all residents have access to broadband. However, the six percent of the residents totally unserved represents 768,000 households which is more than the population of Nebraska and spread out over more than 44,000 square miles of inhabited areas.”
So far, CETF has awarded more than $31 million in grants to community-based organizations and public agencies working together as partners to achieve broadband deployment and adoption.
Also, the FCC awarded $22.1 million from the Rural Health Care Pilot Program that was matched by $3.6 million from CETF to connect a network of 800 facilities in rural and urban medically underserved communities to make up the California Telehealth Network (CTN).
In addition, NTIA as part of the Department of Commerce awarded 13 ARRA BTOP grants exceeding $428 million for broadband infrastructure deployment and 17 grants for broadband adoption totaling almost $122 million.
CETF has goals set for 2017 and wants to see at least 98 percent of households equipped with broadband, development of a robust rural-urban CTN, and 80 percent overall statewide adoption of broadband by 2015 with 90 percent adoption by 2020.
To achieve these goals, CETF has developed strategies to drive progress on broadband deployment and adoption to include civic leader engagement, venture philanthropy grantmaking, public policy initiatives, public awareness and education, and strategic partnerships.
McPeak made several recommendations on behalf of CTEF on how the Federal government should deal with further broadband adoption. For example, HHS should encourage stronger collaborations with health exchanges to link to the telehealth networks funded by the FCC Rural Health Care Pilots and/or the new Connect America Fund.
Also, a concerted effort should be made to have the HHS and the FCC connect all state and local government public health services, FQHCs, critical care hospitals, and tribal healthcare facilities to telehealth telemedicine networks.
These entities need to connect with USDA’s Distance Learning Telemedicine and Broadband Program. In addition, USDA’s Rural Utility Service and the other rural economic development programs should encourage larger-scale integrated proposals for existing grant funds that combine broadband deployment and adoption.
To meet the need for emergency response, the Department of Homeland Security should become a proactive partner in FirstNet to accelerate broadband deployment and adoption to actively support public safety, emergency response, and homeland security.
The FCC should structure Universal Service Fund reforms for an affordable Broadband Lifeline Rate and eRate program within the next year and make the program available to residents in low-income census tracts where there is a coherent digital inclusion component of a neighborhood transformation initiative.
A further recommendation would be to provide additional funding to NTIA to establish the next generation broadband adoption program to achieve adoption goals and outcomes by 2020. NTIA should facilitate collaboration among successful BTOP grantees and join forces with state governments to develop broadband adoption strategies.
McPeak summed up by saying, “CETF firmly believes that closing the digital divide is imperative for economic prosperity, quality of life, and for family self-sufficiency. It is a goal that can be achieved with vision, focused leadership, alignment of existing resources, and a modest amount of additional public funding to encourage partnerships involving the federal, state, public-private, and provider community.