Broadband planning in Lincoln County

The County’s newly formed Local Technology Planning Team (LTPT) met July 1 to begin formal broadband planning under a grant from the Washington State Broadband Office (WSBO.)

Will Saunders, Broadband Program and Policy Director for WSBO, joined the meeting from Olympia via Skype to congratulate them on their award and to talk to them about statewide broadband planning. The remainder of the meeting was facilitated by consultant Monica Babine of WSU’s Digital Initiatives Program and Margie Hall, Director of the Lincoln County Economic Development Council (EDC).

The team reviewed the county’s broadband planning efforts to date, and discussed the timeline for achieving the goals and objectives committed under the grant. The first goals to be tackled are to evaluate the Public Utilities District (PUD) as a middle-mile provider and to survey county businesses to identify what they need from broadband in order to thrive.

The core team includes representatives from Lincoln County, WSBO, the EDC, PUD Commissioners, our public libraries, NoaNet and local utility providers. More participants will be asked to assist with individual goals as the project progresses.

History of broadband

planning in Lincoln County

In 2010, Lincoln County learned that new high-speed broadband fiber was coming. The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) had funded the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) to expand access to broadband services. That program had awarded grant money to Northwest Open Access Network (NoaNet) to bring high-speed broadband fiber to rural counties in Washington. We were on the list of counties to receive the fiber – a $5 million investment in Lincoln County alone. The fiber news set off a series of events that are summarized below.

2010

· The EDC was working with the Department of Commerce Information Services on a national broadband mapping project when the news broke about NoaNet’s grant award.

· Lincoln County Commissioners and their information services and public works departments worked with NoaNet so that their fiber installation was not problematic.

· A community forum with Michael Henson of NoaNet was held to introduce the project to the public.

2011

· The EDC hosted a regional broadband roundtable and NoaNet project launch in Davenport.

· A NoaNet project roundtable for commissioners, mayors and public works was held to facilitate communication throughout the install.

· The county’s librarians and the EDC began working with the Washington State Library to plan for their new fiber connections.

2012

· Lincoln County and NoaNet signed mutual inter-local agreements to locate NoaNet’s fiber-optic hub in the county’s data center in Davenport.

· The county and the EDC partnered on an application for the first round of LTPT grants, but did not receive any.

· The Lincoln County PUD joined the broadband discussion.

· The County’s economic development strategy was adopted and included broadband expansion as a planned infrastructure investment. Establishing a broadband planning team and implementing a broadband expansion plan were included in the action plan. The County’s comprehensive plan will also incorporate those strategies.

2013

· NoaNet expanded their connections beyond original anchor institutions.

· The county moved forward with broadband planning by holding a workshop facilitated by Monica Babine.

· The county and the EDC partnered on an application for the second round of LTPT grants and were awarded.