CEO’s Message – July 2023

History—a roadmap across the digital divide

Community Council is a local not-for-profit group that engages in “citizen-driven problem solving.” Community volunteers identify a topic of regional significance, learn about the issue, craft recommendations, and advocate for change.

At their recent annual luncheon, the group shared study results on its current topic of focus, “Internet for All.” As I listened, I was quickly reminded of a similar conversation that happened in our area almost 100 years ago, when a group of local citizens gathered to tackle the topic of “electricity for all.”

As noted on the front page of the June 8 issue of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, the study group found that “access to reliable and affordable broadband internet is not evenly distributed in the Walla Walla region. Such a digital divide disproportionately affects rural communities and exacerbates existing social and economic inequalities,” and, “high-speed internet has become essential for economic development, work engagement, education participation, healthcare accessibility and social connectivity.”

If you replace the terms “broadband internet,” “digital,” and “high-speed internet” with “electricity,” the same statements could have been published in the June 8, 1938 issue of the U-B.

Back then, electricity was a luxury afforded by those who lived in more densely populated areas, just as the latest high-speed internet technology is now. In both cases, the cost of building a network to serve rural areas with few residents would make it nearly impossible for providers to recover costs, let alone make a profit.

Where the large for-profit internet providers have dragged their feet in providing high- speed internet access to that “last mile,” small communities are partnering directly with local internet providers to finish the job, with help from the Federal Government, as they did back then.

The 2021 Infrastructure Bill dedicates 65 billion dollars to broadband expansion. Much of that money will be delivered to underserved areas through grants and other programs, and Columbia iConnect is already working hard to reach those areas.

Columbia iConnect used Federal Rural Development Opportunity Funds (RDOF) to build the Touchet/Gardena Fiber Project. We are also extending our existing high-speed wireless networks and breaking new ground in areas not currently served.

“That last mile is expensive,” says Gene Dawes, Columbia REA Manager of Broadband Services. “We believe there is a way to get high-speed internet to anyone in the region. We just need to get creative, and remain efficient and cost-effective in the way we go about it. Fiber-optic internet is the gold standard right now, and if enough people in a certain area want fiber-optic, we will build it. But if not, 1Gb internet speeds are available with wireless, and 1Gb is fast. We are out there, everyday, talking to people, gauging interest, planning for the future.”

Citizens coming together to solve problems. It worked a hundred years ago, and it’s working again. It usually does.

Best,
Scott Peters, CEO