Iowa’s Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) Advisory...
Iowa’s Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) Advisory Council’s Broadband Committee submitted six recommendations to Gov. Terry Branstad (R) Monday designed as part of the Connect Every Iowan initiative to make Iowa the top broadband-connected Midwestern state (http://bit.ly/18YLz4S). The committee…
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recommended the state use broadband adoption rates, network speeds and a statewide broadband economic analysis as criteria to evaluate the state’s efforts, said the report. The state should allocate resources to “maintain within Iowa the capacity” to collect and analyze data for these criteria on a continuing basis, it said. The state’s broadband program should be streamlined by focusing responsibility in the Office of the Chief Information Officer or another existing agency in the state to coordinate a public-private partnership for its broadband initiative, said the report. The parts of Iowa Communications Network (ICN), now used to connect schools, hospitals and government agencies to a fiber backbone, should be repurposed to make bandwidth available to the state’s industry partners, it recommended. Tax code-based incentives and digital literacy training should also be used to bring in infrastructure and encourage broadband adoption, said the report. The committee also recommended the state establish the capacity for Iowa schools to act early on the FCC’s E-rate program by giving them increased latitude of school infrastructure funding for network expansion or upgrades, it said. All of the recommendations are focused on making broadband availability and adoption universal in the state, Iowa Communications Alliance CEO Dave Duncan told us. Duncan is a former president of the Iowa Telecommunications Association and became the CEO of the Iowa Communications Alliance when his organization merged with the Rural Iowa Independent Telephone Association last month. “We want to bring broadband to all Iowans, and I have been pushing for state policy to look at all angles of this including financial incentives,” said Duncan, who is on the committee. But he said the buildout of the ICN concerned him: “As the representatives of the private industry, we are concerned with government subsidized excess capacity being dumped.” Buildout of the ICN wouldn’t solve the broadband availability problem in the state because the endpoints of the network are limited, said Duncan: “This network would not be able to connect everyone.” While Iowa Utilities Code Chapter 8D would have to be revised to open the network, he said he’s not sure what form the network would take. “It would not be completely open access, and there would be some restrictions on who could use it,” said Duncan.