Broadband project to increase connection speed throughout state
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RONAN - When thinking of Montana, most imagine craggy peaks and stunning valleys rather than broadband access, but that stands to change thanks to the Montana Broadband Project. During an Oct. 11 meeting at Mission Mountain Enterprises, broadband distributors and consumers came together to listen to Applied Communications Principal Kathleen McMahon and Paul DeWolfe of Access Consulting about the project’s progress and ways to improve it.
The Montana Broadband Mapping Project is the first step in identifying broadband services in Montana. The broadband mapping program consists of data collection — the development of a statewide broadband availability map. During the planning portion, the program will look to perform outreach and facilitation to identify broadband access needs and solutions in communities across Montana.
Montana was a recipient of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration grant, with a goal of increasing community development, broadband adoption and broadband capacity building throughout the state.
“Our goal is to find what ways to remove barriers from what broadband can provide,” McMahon said. “This include telemedicine and economic development.”
In 2010 the first broadband map was produced, and it will continued to be updated for the next five years.
“We get information so the state can see what’s going on in all the regions,” McMahon said. “We’ve had 14 meetings around the state. We’re hitting all the areas.”
McMahon added that in 2009, the Federal Communications Commission came out with its National Broadband Program, which implemented goals for the United States to meet with broadband technology.
Some of these goals are increasing broadband so that 100 million United States homes should have affordable access to actual download speeds of at least 100 megabits per second and upload speeds of at least 50 megabits per second by 2050. Another goal is that the United States should lead the world in mobile innovation, with the fastest and most extensive wireless networks of any nation.
“The need for bandwidth needs to grow,” McMahon said. “One hundred megabits per second are going to urban areas, but both rural and urban areas need 100 megabits per second.”
According to McMahon, home-based businesses have grown by approximately 30 percent and are a rising sector in the economy.
After McMahon’s presentation, DeWolfe briefed the crowd about the mapping project and what information they have been able to collect throughout the project so far. The map goals are to document the availability of broadband, document the technology of transmission of broadband, look at the presence of competition and document community anchor institutions.
Original maps were submitted in June 2010 and were updated in September of the same year, and also in April and October this year.
According to DeWolfe, they were provided data at different scales, such as Census block, Census tract and provisional territory. One of the main reasons they’re traveling throughout the state is to hear first-hand from the broadband providers in the area to see different areas that need increased coverage. One popular tool they’ve been using is the broadband quality speed test, which gathers information about Internet connectivity across the state. DeWolfe encouraged everyone to test their connection, as it is a critical way they gather broadband speed. They’ve also tested third generation (3G) cell phone service throughout the state, as they had two college students drive around the state with all the various cell phone providers to map coverage.
“In June 2010 we already had 9,000 tests; it’s up to 18,000 now,” DeWolfe said.
As the broadband project continues to collect data in the coming years, its goal of providing broadband access to everyone is undoubtedly an incredible feat to accomplish in such a rugged area as northwest Montana, but it’s making headway toward a more connected Montana.
