Rural Pa. Prepares for Possible $1.2B in BEAD Funding
Rural areas mustn’t take a “back seat” when Pennsylvania receives a large influx of federal dollars for high-speed internet, said state Sen. Gene Yaw (R) at a Center for Rural Pennsylvania broadband hearing livestreamed Friday. Preparing to distribute possibly more than $1 billion, the new Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority is “combing through” NTIA notices of funding opportunity released earlier this month, said Executive Director Brandon Carson. State legislators appeared interested in pursuing a state broadband map after a panel of data experts said it could help maximize the state’s funding.
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Just 27% of Pennsylvania’s population lives in 48 rural counties, while 73% lives in the other 19, said Yaw, the bipartisan, bicameral center’s board chair. He asked if the state office is willing to spend four times as much on access in the rural counties. “Those areas with lower population densities have to be a priority,” replied Carson.
Pennsylvania’s broadband office is requesting $5 million in planning funds for the broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), said Carson. Each state is guaranteed at least $100 million in BEAD funding, but Carson estimated Pennsylvania’s allocation could be “significantly higher,” with the state possibly able to get as much as $1.2 billion of the $42.5 billion available nationally. “The resources are going to be there,” he said. “That's why it's imperative that we lay the framework now.”
Established by a 2021 law, the Pennsylvania broadband office is staffing up and will post jobs for about 10 roles in the next few weeks, said Carson, noting he has been in his job for one week. Pennsylvania aims to complete a state broadband plan by the end of November, said Carson, saying the broadband office will engage stakeholders on that over the summer. The plan, which state law requires by Dec. 22, will feed into the five-year action plan the state must develop to apply for IIJA funding, said Erin Wachter, deputy secretary-policy and planning for Gov. Tom Wolf (D).
“We do plan to undertake a fairly massive statewide data collection and mapping effort that I’m laying the framework for right now,” said Carson. He “spent some time this week starting to wrap my head around how we’re going to approach that data collection effort” and “the partners we’re going to engage through that process.” Mapping could assist the state review accuracy of FCC maps expected later this year, said Carson: ISPs’ actual speeds don’t always match what’s advertised.
Pennsylvania should be prepared to challenge coming federal maps, said Jeremy Jurick, Michael Baker International national broadband services director: New FCC maps will be better “but will not be perfect.”
If Pennsylvania doesn’t make a map, “we're going to forgo potentially tens of millions of dollars in federal funding that we are entitled to," and nearly 20 other states with maps will take larger pieces of the pie, said Pennsylvania State University Palmer Chair in Telecom Sascha Meinrath. Federal mapping delays mean the state has a “last-minute reprieve” and can still possibly create a map in time, he said.
Senate Communications Committee Chair Kristin Phillips-Hill (R) asked about time and costs for making a state map. Meinrath estimated it can be done in six to 12 months and would cost “in the single-digit millions” of dollars, with maintenance costs after that minimal. Mapping cost Michigan $5.2 million, said Jurick.
The IIJA money’s point is “to serve the unserved,” said Mifflin County Commissioner Robert Postal (R), who chairs the County Commissioner Association of Pennsylvania Community and Economic Development Committee. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for every county, and public-private partnerships are critical, said Postal.
"This is a lot of funding,” stressed Tioga County Commissioner Erick Coolidge (R). “I don't think we'll see this kind of money again. ... We cannot miss this one.”
“The dream of statewide access truly is possible,” but only if the state keeps focus on unserved and underserved people, said Todd Eachus, president of state cable association Broadband Communications Association of Pennsylvania. Don't fund inexperienced network builders, warned Eachus. "There are companies forming with the sole intent of getting a shot at these dollars,” and "potential for fraud, waste and abuse is high, even probable.”
Pole attachment process inefficiencies remain a deployment barrier, said Eachus. Crown Castle Manager-Government Affairs Thomas Musgrove agreed zoning, permitting and pole attachment processes cause delays and undergrounding fiber is expensive. Pennsylvania Wireless Association President Barbara Burba also cited municipal zoning as a barrier. For small rural telcos dealing with line losses and increasing competition, "monopoly regulation is costly,” said Pennsylvania Telephone Association President Steven Samara.
Education and healthcare sector witnesses said broadband is critical. “It’s disturbing that in 2022, and only after working our way out of a global pandemic, that this topic has risen to the level where potential action is on the horizon,” said Wyalusing Area School District Superintendent Jason Bottiglieri. Students are suffering, he said. "A failure to act will have irreversible damage.”