Broadband task force issues report
The 14-member Governor’s Task Force on Broadband submitted its report on how best to connect all Alaskans with affordable, high-speed broadband. The report’s release coincides with the news of $1 billion to $1.5 billion in funding coming to the State of Alaska for broadband from the recent adoption of the infrastructure bill passed by Congress.
The Broadband Task Force was appointed in May and began meeting in July. Its members represent rural and urban broadband stakeholders, including Nome’s Mayor John Handeland, Alaska Native leaders, urban and rural business leaders, State legislators, rural healthcare representatives, a rural school district superintendent, the telecommunications industry, the Commissioner of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, the Commissioner of the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development and several other participants.
The vision of the report is “to make it possible for every Alaskan to participate and be competitive in the global community by facilitating access to the full benefits of broadband with improved quality of service and lower costs.”
In the 100-page report, a list of recommendations includes bringing to every Alaskan’s home internet bandwidth to at least 100 mbps download speed and 20 mbps upload speeds (100/20 mbps); to create an Office of Broadband within the State of Alaska, focused on the deployment of broadband infrastructure funding to build out Alaska’s networks and ensure broadband access and digital equity.
Key takeaways for policymakers are to ensure equitable access and to prioritize expanding broadband to areas that are classified unserved or underserved. An unserved area does not have broadband speeds of at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. An underserved area is classified as not having speeds of at least 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream. The recommendation to policymakers is also to form a state Office of Broadband Deployment, supported by a State Broadband Advisory Board and regional broadband planning committees.
The following communities were listed as unserved: Brevig, Diomede, Elim, Gambell, Golovin, Savoonga, Shaktoolik, Shishmaref, Stebbins, Teller, Unalakleet, Wales, White Mountain. Nome is not listed, however, Bethel and Kotzebue are.
The task force has identified that affordability, not just physical access, is an important consideration in finding broadband gaps.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgent need for reliable, high-speed connectivity. “Closing the digital divide is now more important than ever to meet an exponentially growing demand for bandwidth to support basic government and domestic functions including commerce, healthcare, education, economic development, innovation and addressing quality of life issues for Alaskans,” the report says.