Seattle has a thriving digital economy since it is the home for a number of technology industry pioneers. But even in this high tech hub, 93.000 residents or 15 percent of the city’s population don’t yet subscribe to the internet.
Across the state of Washington and the wider Pacific Northwest, there are still rural communities that lack access to adequate broadband. The problem is particularly acute for many Native American communities, including the Makah, Quinault, tribes of the Olympic Peninsula, and the Spokane and Colville Federated Tribes east of the Cascade Mountains.
To discuss the broadband issues in the Pacific Northwest, recently the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) www.ntia.doc.gov presented a regional workshop on broadband that was hosted in partnership with the non-profit Next Century Cities in Seattle in March.
Over 250 stakeholders including local, state, and federal officials, tribal leaders, industry representatives and community activists attended the workshop in Seattle to study the broadband challenges facing the Pacific Northwest.
Overall, internet adoption in the Pacific Northwest is above national levels. New data from NTIA’s Digital Nation survey of internet usage based on Census data collected in July 2015, shows that 79 percent of Washington State residents, 80 percent of Oregon residents, and 81 percent of Idaho residents were online last year. Still 2.5 million people residing across the three states are not connected to the internet.
There are new efforts to close the internet usage gaps. For example:
- Northwest Open Access Network (NoaNet) www.noanet.net—used $139 million in Broadband Technology Opportunities Program funding to expand their high speed network by more than 1,200 fiber miles which has provided new access to 16 last mile providers and increased speeds for another 34 providers
- Sandy Oregon—launched a municipal fiber network 22 months ago. Now there is a three month wait to get connected. The network was financed with a $7.5 million revenue bond. A $7.8 million BTOP grant that went to the County of Clackamas, Oregon will be used to build a dark fiber network to link local communities to the internet backbone
- ToledoTel www.toledotel.com—a small family owned local phone company was able to build out fiber-to-the-home service to its own service territory and has partnered with neighboring public utility districts to bring fiber to the home in surrounding areas. ToledoTel used a $2 million BTOP award to provide free laptops, internet training, and broadband service to about 800 people in their service territory.
Seattle has made progress to help carriers to invest by streamlining the permit process, updating right-of-way policies, and modernizing the cable franchising process. The city also offers digital literacy training and has partnered with Google to make free portable Wi-Fi hot spots available for checkout from local libraries. At the other end of the state, the Spokane Public Library is exploring ways to boost Wi-Fi signals at their six branches to provide access to surrounding communities.