The Orange County Board of Commissioners recently heard an update from the Broadband Task Force, which is tasked with discussing solutions to improve the high-speed internet services to Orange County residents – especially for underserved households without reliable internet.
The broadband task force was created in 2020 to address how the coronavirus pandemic changed the reliance on electronic devices for jobs, schools, and everyday living.
At a county commissioner work session in June, the broadband task force said it is working to provide internet services to about 5,200 underserved homes in the county.
One goal of the task force is to issue requests for proposals to find a partner willing to implement a “future proof” fiber network. This type of network has increased speeds and more flexibility to support a range of technologies.
The network must also meet the requirements for the $5 million funds from the American Rescue Plan Act which were allocated in the budget for the FY 2021-22.
Catharine Rice, is the Project Director for the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC), and consultant with Broadband-Matters. She said the Orange County broadband task force was “ahead of the game” when the American Rescue Plan Act was passed by the Biden Administration and congress.
“What the availability of the [American Rescue Plan Act] funds did was actually help your task force hone in its focus,” Rice said.
Because the funds are from the federal government, the U.S. treasury department laid out guidelines on how it could be used, including COVID-19 recovery, using loss revenue from government service, and deploying water, sewer, and broadband.
“Eligible projects are expected to be designed to a minimum of 100 megabit per second downstream and 100 megabit per second upstream,” Rice said.
Megabits are a measure of an internet bandwidth – which is the maximum speed you can download data from the internet onto a device. Generally the higher the megabits per second, the faster files will download.
Rice said the 100 megabit per second upstream suggests a fiber rich infrastructure. This means it can offer faster speeds than traditional copper-based technologies like digital subscriber lines which use local phone lines to transfer data and connect to the internet.
“It is seen by our congress and our president as critical for the kind of applications that our communities need now and in the future,” Rice said. “Things like telehealth, telework, tele-education – we’ve been there.”
Networks which serve underserved homes will also be able to serve homes which already have reliable service. Rice said this is because the increased economy of scales from serving more households makes the investment more worthwhile.
The treasury department wants to prioritize broadband networks owned, operated by, or affiliated with local governments, non-profits and cooperatives. Rice said the treasury reasoning is these are providers with less pressure to turn profits and have a commitment to serving the entire community.
Rice said all funds allocated from the American Rescue Plan Act must be obligated by December 31, 2024 and used by December 31, 2026. The task force is seeking bids for the construction of a fiber network for the 5,000 households in the county and will later issue a request for proposal.
The next Broadband Task Force is at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. For more information on the task force or to join the meeting, click here.
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