Broadband deployment stands to be an economic game-changer for rural and suburban communities, and the commonwealth must continue aggressively investing in bridging the digital divide. The economic implications of broadband expansion, while not necessarily as high profile as a new corporate headquarters, are staggering. State support to build out broadband infrastructure is repaid many times over by any measure of economic outcomes. But access to the Internet goes beyond dollars and cents. This is an equity issue. Today’s students need access to the learning tools the Internet offers whether they live in Floyd or Fairfax. Likewise, innovations in telehealth are unavailable to patients without high-speed Internet at home. Lives can be drastically improved and even saved by increasing broadband access. Broadband is increasingly comparable with roads or electricity — commerce and communication depend on them. Imagine how any modern community would fare without access to roads or electricity. Businesses would suffer. Homes would be sold at lower cost. Young people would move away. These are the challenges facing Virginia’s rural communities, where there are an estimated 600,000 people without access to the Internet. 

As members of the House Appropriations Committee, we took action to address the digital divide in the budget, increasing the state broadband grant program fivefold from a $4 million to $19 million. This $19 million grant round closed in early September and received more than $43 million in requests from 55 different localities. This is the fourth year in a row the program has received more than double in requests than available funds.

[Mark Sickles, a Democrat, and Nick Rush, a Republican, serve in the Virginia House of Delegates]

Whether Americans will pay more for cellphone service is at the center of arguments made by both sides battling last week over T-Mobile's purchase of Sprint. The coalition of state attorneys general that filed the antitrust lawsuit challenging the $26 billion merger fear consumers will pay more if the No. 3 and No. 4 U.S. carriers by subscribers combine, and that wireless industry competition will suffer. Plaintiffs’ lawyers said in court that even though T-Mobile promised not to raise the price of its rate plans for three years after the deal, it could pull back on device-related promotions. T-Mobile executives, meanwhile, testified that they would lower prices and better challenge larger rivals if the deal is approved. They said T-Mobile may have to raise prices if the transaction doesn’t happen, a situation that Chief Executive John Legere called a “worst nightmare.”

In the race to 5G, American wireless companies are sorely lacking one essential ingredient: mid-band spectrum. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that  the FCC will pursue a public auction of a portion of the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz spectrum band – also known as the C-Band – by the end of 2020. Senate Commerce Committee approved S. 2881, C-Band legislation that would modify the automatic Treasury deposit. The legislation would require at least 50% of C-Band proceeds (up to $40 billion) to be deposited in the Treasury. If the auction raises more than $40 billion, a higher percentage would be deposited in the Treasury. The bill also sets aside 10% of proceeds for broadband deployment in underserved and unserved areas. Some revenue may also go to the Spectrum Reallocation Fund for studying other spectrum bands. Once 50% for the Treasury and 10% for rural broadband are deducted, that leaves approximately $16.87 billion. So, what would happen to the rest of the cash? 

In urban neighborhoods, where Internet service and health care can be hard to access, a novel pilot project uses local barbershops and salons as wireless hubs and hypertension screening centers. Dec 2019, barbershops and hair salons in urban and rural communities across five cities will connect USB blood pressure cuffs to telehealth platforms via community networks to attack hypertension, the leading cause of strokes. By adding telehealth capabilities to the screening process, customers potentially can access educational content about stroke and heart attack prevention, hypertension and wellness programs. During the pilot, customers can download free telehealth software that enables them to set up home video consults with their own doctors. 

Ron Deus is CEO of NetX, a regional wireless Internet service provider (ISP) in Cleveland (OH). “What happens in the suburban and urban areas amounts to redlining,” said Deus. “Incumbents’ buildouts, upgrades and adoption efforts happen in the most profitable areas first. Areas just a mile or two away become digital deserts. A lot of incumbents are shareholder driven, so their first concerns are their profits and cherry-picking.” As Internet network hubs, urban barbershops are less costly to set up than in rural areas, and they are good locations for telehealth pilots. They are also great when it comes to word-of-mouth marketing. What’s needed is the right kind of grant to cover both broadband and telehealth for these urban locations.

[Craig Settles assists cities and co-ops with business planning for broadband and telehealth.]