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TechnologyDaily Mobile
Keeping Rural America Afloat In The New Economy
Rural America does not want to be left behind in the new economy and waiting even a few years to tap into a high-speed connection to the Internet is the equivalent of being left in the Stone Age while others cavort with the Jetsons.
"Meaningful access to broadband facilities may well be the lifeblood of these communities, spelling the difference between economic revitalization and stagnation," said Federal Communications Commissioner Susan Ness during the agency's open meeting in July.
Lawmakers have been scrambling to make sure rural regions do not become separated from metropolitan areas by a digital divide. The solutions include offering tax incentives (S. 2698, H.R. 4728) to companies that wire rural areas, amending the 1996 Telecommunications Act to provide exemptions to incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECS, i.e. the Regional Bell companies) and fostering foster deployment of broadband digital subscriber lines (DSL).
Sen. Conrad Burns, R-MT, introduced a bill, S. 2454, that sanctions the deployment of broadband over low-powered television. Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-SC, introduced S. 1312, the Telecommunications Competition Enforcement Act, that would fine Bells up to $100,000 per day for not meeting the "competitive checklist" in the 1996 act.
Yet new technologies are being tested all the time and may provide alternatives to putting copper wiring in the ground — an expensive and time-consuming task to reach just a few households.
Other alternatives include cable modem, fixed wireless, satellite, wireless and ultrawideband. Being able to effectively utilize wireless and ultrawideband is at least a couple of years away from implementation, but is something hailed as having great potential. Industry observers say it is impossible to identify which technology is best to reach rural areas, but geography, population density and customer demand will dictate.
So far, cable modem connection is the most popular option, with 84 percent of the households using it for Internet access and 11 percent choosing DSL, according to the FCC status report expected to be released this month. The report is part of congressional reporting requirements under Section 706 of the Telecom Act that requires the FCC to monitor whether rural areas are being wired.
The FCC is keeping an eye on rural access, but determined that there is not enough demand for these services to evaluate whether rural areas are being left behind, according to the report.
Digital Subscriber Line
DSL "is so compelling because the technology is already in the ground," said Maura Colleton, vice president of communications and public policy for the Internet Policy Institute. A provider merely must tap into the existing infrastructure and install modems on both the user and provider ends.
DSL comes in a variety of flavors. Asymmetric provides faster download speeds than upload speeds and works best for residential customers who rarely need to send heavy files. Symmetric DSL is better for businesses because it provides very fast upstream and downstream access.
Getting access to DSL is easy as long as the customer is within about three miles of the carrier's central office where the phone lines for the area converge — something that rarely happens in rural areas and would require expensive expansion.
The Bell companies are petitioning Congress to relax the Telecom Act so they can start competing in the DSL arena, but competitive local exchange carriers say they can fill the niche and make the investment if given access to the RBOC facilities.
In response, Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-LA, and Rep. John Dingell, D-MI, introduced H.R. 2420 that would exempt incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) from provisions in the Telecommunications Act that require the Baby Bells to open up their networks to local telephone competition before they can expand service outside their local regions. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-KS, introduced similar legislation, S. 1312, in the Senate.
"The lack of competition in broadband has been the big failing of the telecommunications act," said Tauzin spokesman Ken Johnson. "When it comes to broadband, we are still behind the curve and the reason is the biggest potential players are sitting on the sidelines twiddling their thumbs."
But Bell critics say the 1996 act is working just fine, and the only reason broadband is not being deployed in more rural areas is because the incumbents have set up stumbling blocks for their competitors.
"Congress should be focusing on enforcing the Telecom Act. Everything you need for broadband competition is in that act," Colleton said.
Cable
Cable has been popular with residential customers and has been fairly easy to deploy through upgrades to the existing cable infrastructure. "One of the advantages the cable and phone companies have is everybody knows who they are and there is some comfort level" in going with what you know, Colleton said.
But once on the system, not all customers have access to alternate Internet service providers (ISPs). Some companies have been unwilling to open their networks to multiple ISPs, something groups like the OpenNet Coalition are seeking.
After a circuit court in June determined localities cannot require open access but dubbed data transmissions through cable modems a telecommunications service under the purview of the FCC, open access advocates have been clamoring for the agency to issue guidance. FCC Chairman William Kennard has remained firm in his resolve to let the markets dictate the issue.
While cable Internet access is popular, it has limitations. Because the services are provided over shared networks, the speeds get slower as more people sign up. Engineers are working to address that problem, but it will be a while before it is solved. There also are security issues with cable Internet access when compared with DSL, but nothing that poses serious risks, industry experts say.
Fixed Wireless
The fixed wireless industry has the potential to deliver high-speed services to rural areas and is expected to evolve over the next three to five years to serve millions of households, according to the FCC. Now, fixed wireless services works well in urban areas because the minimum interface is 24 channels over a T1 line.
Most rural residents live in single family homes and will never need more than three or four channels. Companies won't offer the service in rural areas "because they will never get a return on the investment," said Bernardin "Berni" Arnason, vice president of business and technology for the National Telephone Cooperative Association. Eventually, when the interfaces are smaller, fixed wireless could be a viable option in rural areas.
Both Sprint and WorldCom are exploring the use of MMDS technology, which was originally reserved for one-way, wireless cable service, but that never really caught on. It is considered optimal for rural areas because it is inexpensive to set up and reaches a 35-square-mile radius.
Wireless and Ultrawideband
In three to five years, third generation wireless technologies should be able to fully connect to the Internet and come close to if not completely match the speeds of wired and fixed wireless technologies today, according to an industry source. Right now, wireless Internet connection is limited and sluggish, according to analysts.
Even as technology evolves to more efficiently use the existing spectrum, "spectrum is a very fixed resource," said Greg Rhode, assistant commerce secretary. Much of the existing available spectrum is filled with other services and companies are petitioning the FCC to make more available. While there isn't a spectrum shortage yet, it is possible there will be.
Industry sources criticized the agency for not having a coherent, long-term spectrum policy at a time when "there is not a whole lot of space up there in the sky any more."
That leaves the door open for the utilization of the ultrawideband space, which has been touted as having significant potential for communications services.
Last week, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced plans to begin testing the capability of the space and whether using it poses interference problems with the global positioning system, which is used to regulate air safety and execute 911 calls.
Ultrawideband could play "a significant role in achieving our social goal of bringing connection to more and more Americans," Rhode said. tr