The Fiber Fad: Are Public Dollars For Broadband Buildouts Too Good To Be True?

Millions of dollars in federal funding are currently making their way to northern Michigan to aid in the buildout of fiber-optic broadband internet infrastructure throughout the region. As a historic moment, these fiber internet investments mirror what the government did with electricity back in the 1930s. But are the investments good for northern Michigan, or are they inadvertently steering the region away from the kinds of local operators and stakeholders that are best positioned to provide stable, long-term solutions to the area’s connectivity challenges? What is playing out now regarding fiber internet buildouts in rural parts of the country has been called a modern equivalent of the Rural Electrification Act. According to a 2022 report conducted by the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA), only about 43% of American households currently have access to fiber internet. And per a 2021 Pew Research Center report, only 77% of Americans have any kind of high-speed broadband internet connection at home – even if those connections aren’t fiber. Both of those statistics leave considerable room for providers to build out networks and close the gaps, and a recent surge in funding is making the possibility of universal broadband access that much more likely. Proponents of state and federal funding for broadband say public dollars are the key to unlocking better internet service to support robust business development, remote work possibilities, online education, and improved quality of life in rural parts of the country. Still, some skeptics say that state and federal funding for fiber and broadband might not necessarily result in the most stable, sustainable, or complete networks.