Objective
About 91.38% of Refugio County households have access to 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds, which is considered high-speed internet by the FCC. However, when analyzing broadband data for speeds of 100 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload, Refugio County coverage is just over 69%. When charting a path forward for connectivity in Refugio County, leadership should target increasing broadband availability to 100 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload for all residents – the optimal speed needed to run many modern applications today. Through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) commitments, Refugio County has the opportunity for nearly all of the county to have access to at least 25/3 Mbps in the coming years. However, the community should still develop a long-term strategy for continuous improvement and advancement of broadband speeds in Refugio County.
Actions
Action 1 – Establish a county broadband manager position to handle the business of broadband in Refugio County.
Currently, there is no office or person to call, other than Judge Blaschke, if one needs to discuss broadband in Refugio County. Since broadband has become part of a community’s critical infrastructure and with funding potentially coming in via the America Rescue Plan and the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and other opportunities, it is imperative that there is an assigned leader to handle the necessary engagement, planning, and execution of broadband-related activities. Providers and the public will need to understand the County’s processes to do business and relationships will need to be established. This is especially important given the Fiber Optic Loop Feasibility Study conducted by CobbFendley, which may have dramatic implications for the region. Information about the study can be found here: https://www.aransascounty.org/harvey/aransas-county-fiber-optic-feasibility-study/.
Duties of the Broadband point of contact can include:
- Developing and managing provider relationships. Additionally, establishing relationships with RDOF winners, Resound Networks and NexTier Consortium. Between the two, 1,234 new locations will be receiving broadband with minimum speeds of 25/3, and Resound is promising Gigabit speeds.
- Creating partnerships with local community organizations around broadband access, adoption and use of broadband.
Establishing contact with Representative Michael Cloud’s office. James Baker is his Director of Public Policy, e-mail: james.baker@mail.house.gov, Tel. 361-884-2222. He is very knowledgeable about broadband in rural communities and can offer help on federal grants and programs.
- Distributing public information on affordable broadband services and training.
- Deploying RFQs for services needed regarding broadband.
- Reporting updates about broadband activity to county leadership. This includes activity generated from RDOF money and other grants, loans, and subsidies the County may seek.
Action 2 – With RDOF funds committed to covering unserved areas, Refugio County may consider completing an audit (field validation) of currently served areas of the county.
- This should focus on areas where the surveys indicate that service is not available. Also focus on areas where FCC 477 broadband data is the main source of data, as this data could misrepresent services in these areas, particularly at the outer edges of these service areas.
Develop and release an RFQ for an evaluation to better understand Refugio County’s assets and barriers to service.
- Assets include anchor tenants, antennas, building rooftops, light poles, and towers that Refugio County owns.
- Barriers include road easements, pole owner leases, polices and regulations that Refugio County controls.
It is important that the broadband manager negotiate with the providers for the benefit of the residents. Understanding and negotiating your broadband assets is the beginning of establishing public/private partnerships with providers. Counties have assets, providers need to deploy their services. This is an opportunity to work together.
Action 3 – The broadband manager should develop relationships with their counterparts in the region and meet regularly as funding opportunities become available to implement the plan.
Refugio County needs to understand the Regional Fiber Optic Infrastructure Study (RFOIS) that has been released for the entire region by CobbFendley. The County needs to be an active stakeholder and participate where it benefits Refugio County. Understanding how this plan may or may not overlap with RDOF plans is important in order not to duplicate work.
Understanding the goal of the RFOIS and the goal of Refugio County is important. The goal of RFOIS is to determine the feasibility of designing a network for emergency management that can withstand natural disasters. Secondary benefits will be economic development and better communication. RDOF funding goals are to improve internet access for residents and businesses in Refugio County with secondary benefits being economic development.
Responsible Parties
The broadband manager should be established immediately by leadership. Although details of the job have been discussed above, it can be modified to fit the specific needs of Refugio County. Finding a regional solution is desired by Judge Blaschke and this should be considered, and discussion should be centered on how a regional approach can work across county lines and how each entity receives the attention it needs.
Depending on the final decision, this position may be housed under a regional entity or locally under Refugio County leadership and if agreed, cost may be shared with surrounding cities and counties needing the same dedicated attention to broadband. It should also be noted there are philanthropy grants for broadband and this option can be explored for additional funding.
Resources
