For years, government leaders and internet providers have worked to close West Virginia’s “digital divide” and bring affordable high-speed internet service to every home in our state. Last month, a landmark Broadband Summit in Charleston aimed to chart a path to finish the job.
The timing couldn’t be better as the state prepares to receive over $1.2 billion in federal broadband investments, courtesy of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law championed by Senators Capito and Manchin. And with more than a quarter of West Virginians still lacking any options for high-speed service, the stakes are enormous.
Stronger broadband across our state is vital to attracting new employers and industries that will only build facilities where connectivity for their operations and employees is reliable and fast. It opens up even the farthest corners of our state to remote workers, which will help slow years of population loss. And it can power expanded telemedicine, boosting healthcare access in communities struggling with provider shortages and hospital closures.
Importantly, quality broadband also helps level the playing field for small-town retailers. Today, mom-and-pop shops operating in West Virginia’s “broadband deserts” are cut off from the e-commerce platforms and digital point-of-sale systems that their big-city competitors take for granted. We can’t expect our state’s small retailers to compete and thrive with one arm tied behind their back.
As West Virginia inches closer to putting this federal money into work by closing these internet access gaps, last month’s Broadband Summit was a chance to game plan for the barriers still standing in our way.
There’s no shortage of challenges. As a state, we need to train up the workforce that internet providers will need to put these federal dollars to work building high-speed networks. We need to streamline the paperwork and permitting so that networks can get built faster.
Meanwhile, our state utility regulators need updated rules to avoid costly, drawn-out disagreements when internet cables owned by one company need to be strung on utility poles owned by another. State broadband officials have indicated that this issue poses a major risk to West Virginia’s rural broadband goals.
Federal and state laws require most utility companies to let internet providers attach wires on their poles – but those negotiations take time. Projects have the potential to end up logjammed for months, or longer, over disagreements about who is responsible for the cost of replacing old or damaged poles that are required to handle additional attachments. Utility companies bear a responsibility to the community to ensure that poles are of adequate size, strength and have the capacity to handle the broadband expansion and to ensure that reliable electric service is maintained. Through this cumbersome process, West Virginia’s unconnected rural communities, meanwhile, are forced to wait even longer for service.
West Virginia’s Public Service Commission (PSC), thankfully, has the authority to streamline this process and prevent bad actors from derailing network buildout projects. With $1.2 billion now on the line – and with it, West Virginia’s best opportunity to finally close our digital divide – the PSC recently announced a Task Force to search for creative solutions to these frequent utility pole obstacles.
Simple, common-sense reforms would go a long way. Creating an expedited dispute resolution process for pole attachment negotiations would incentivize both sets of companies to reach agreements more quickly. Allowing “temporary attachments” would let buildouts move forward even while the parties work out financial terms.
West Virginia has a generational opportunity to bring fast, affordable broadband to all its residents and boost economic growth and quality of life in every corner of the state. We need to seize the moment – and we need state leaders in Charleston to help clear out the obstacles standing in the way.
“Bridget Lambert is chairwoman of the West Virginia Business and Industry Council and the President of West Virginia Retailers Association.”
