The next time you get annoyed because you have to connect to local WiFi (as opposed to having it just happening automatically), think of this: Approximately one-third of the country doesn’t have access to broadband at all.
Everyone from seniors to students to business owners in those areas would give anything to be able to connect to high-speed service. Having to see an ad for a local business wouldn’t annoy them.
Few people understand this as well as Ashley Travers, a New Jersey resident who serves as VP of partner strategy and business development for the Fiber Broadband Assocation — a role that takes her across the country.
“I’m grateful to live here; we have connectivity like nobody else,” she said during a panel at the recent N.J. Utilities Assocation conference. “I spend a lot of time in rural America and it’s very eye opening.
“When you see families outside of McDonald’s trying to have their kids get online so they can do their homework, that’s real.”
Here are three other things that are real:
- There are plenty of places in New Jersey that still have connectivity problems. Access issues that came to the surface during the pandemic remain;
- The federal government is in the process of re-evaluating the $45 billion BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access and Development) program, creating uncertainty going forward;
- The areas that need more access in New Jersey are not limited to rural spots with small populations.
Passaic County Commissioner Orlando Cruz detailed the issues the impact Paterson, both for residents and business owners, due to infrastructure concerns.
Paterson does not have the underground wiring of other urban areas, most notably Newark.
That means too many people trying to gain access in a multi-family building will see service slow considerably.
That means those in older single-family homes may see their access vary from room-to-room as older buildings, often built with more brick, can have internal blocks.
And if your business is in an area with limited coverage – in an area in which no one is willing or eager to rip up the roads to provide it – that means you often go without.
To your detriment.
“We have certain businesses that have dead spots where they have access to no internet at all,” he said. “They can’t accept credit cards, something as simple as that, so their losing, on average, about 30% in sales.”
Valarry Ballard, the director of broadband at the N.J. Board of Public Utilities, said these challenges speak to the issues of equity and equality – and how equal funding does not mean equal results.
Ballard has concerns about the possible upcoming changes to the BEAD program, but she said some show potential: Including a willingness to implement new technology, where the current plan was all about hard-wired fiber connection.
And while Ballard said hard-wired broadband is the most reliable, it is not always the most practical. She welcomed the idea of exploring the use of Starlink (satellite connecting from Elon Musk’s company) to increase connectivity – where it makes more sense, she said.
Making it all make sense – with a nod to dollars and cents. That’s the role of companies such as Verizon.
Peter Saharko, the senior managing associate general counsel, said the company has proudly stepped into the void for many on cost, with its Verizon Forward program, which Verizon fully funds and provides a $30 per month discount for people to ensure affordability for qualifying customers.
“This is a program we’re really proud of that we offer on a voluntary basis,” he said. “We’re really glad about how that has been going. It’s something we continue to offer for FiOS customers and also for fixed wireless access customers.”
Saharko, who acknowledges the challenges of providing access in both rural and urban areas, said the company falls back on a 3-A philsophy: Affordability, accessibility and amplification.
Changes to the BEAD program will have impact, he said.
“We are a business, so we’re always trying to find the right structure,” he said. “We have to make investments in a competitive industry, and (doing so) in some of these locations, without the benefit of these programs, would be very challenging.”
And while Saharko said changes to the BEAD program could make Verizon’s efforts more challenging, he pledged that the company will work to find a way.
“It’s an important thing to us, from a culture perspective, to ensure that everyone has access to affordable broadband,” he said. “The investments we can make in that regard are going to help build the next generation of learners and workers. That’s a really important part of our culture.”
