Joanne Hovis of CTC Technologies on the challenges and opportunities around broadband.

We’ve heard a lot of talk about smart cities with applications that will make our lives easier and better. But we won’t get there without high-speed broadband infrastructure. Meanwhile, there’s a growing digital divide to bridge. Joanne Hovis of CTC Technologies, which advises state and local governments in the U.S., on the challenges and opportunities around broadband: ‘The level of interest among policymakers was already at an all time high before Covid. Now it’s off the charts’. 

Where does smart technology make a real difference and when is it more of a gimmick, or even potentially dangerous? 

‘Some of the hype is driven by companies trying to sell devices. Collecting data over cost effective communications networks could make for an important set of tools for governments. Figuring out how those tools are used to meet public purposes and support public policy goals is really what smart cities are about. But it’s got to be done in a way that is protective of privacy and about collecting data that is useful, rather than for the sake of it. One thing we know for sure: in order to support autonomous vehicles and other devices, we are going to need a high-quality wireless fiber network.’ 

What are some of today’s challenges in improving broadband communication? 

‘The first challenge is the fact that in large, low-density rural areas, there is no business-case for a best-in-class communications network. In the US, there’s a lot of federal and state money going into trying to solve that problem over the next few years. If that is leveraged with private commitments, we will be able to solve those problems. 

‘Another challenge has to do with urban and suburban areas where public money is unlikely to go because there’s already some level of broadband infrastructure. The question there is the adequacy of that infrastructure. Most of metropolitan America is served over cable broadband networks, capable of delivering some pretty fast internet, particularly from a download standpoint. But it’s not of the same quality as fiber that’s delivered all the way to the user, known as fiber-to-the-premises. There’s a lot of private investment going into that, projections say up to 60 billion dollars over the next few years. But it will simply make the digital divide wider.’ 

How has the pandemic impacted broadband connectivity and the urgency to improve it?  

‘Over the past ten years, I have seen an increasing awareness in Washington D.C. and all state capitals about the importance of the rural broadband challenge. When the pandemic happened, it just lit a fire under that process. Literally overnight, our economy was being sustained by the internet to a degree that it had never been before. Everything and everybody was impacted – from ordering groceries to direct marketing, from farmers to white collar workers. Suddenly 90 percent of students in the United States were learning online.  

‘Covid increased awareness on the two critical issues of affordability and accessibility. Two pandemic relief bills in the United States helped support broadband initiatives. This was of an order of magnitude larger than anything we’d ever seen in the past. The level of interest among policymakers was already at an all time high before Covid. Now it’s off the charts’. 

How do you think the US compares to Europe or Asia when it comes to broadband investment and quality? 

‘The U. S. has in the past couple of years made as substantial a commitment to broadband infrastructure as any country in the world. Well, I think the country has, on a bipartisan basis, made the decision that we are going to get best-in-class infrastructure to just about every location we can, and we are going to build it right. I work in conservative states and liberal states and there’s not a lot of disagreement, even on how it should happen. Broadband access is seen as the electricity of the 21st century, and we want to build an infrastructure that will last for 50 or 60 years.’ 

‘The difference is perhaps in how this gets done. For instance, public-private partnerships are relatively new and rare in the US, whereas they are less so in Europe and Asia. The fiber-to-the-premises infrastructure in New Zealand, for instance, was developed through public-private partnerships. They shifted an enormous amount of the risk to the private sector while allowing the government to achieve its public policy goals. 

‘In the US, we are now seeing some really creative developments in models for public-private partnerships, while we are learning from best practices, in particular in Asia. And that’s exciting, because it is really going to require both public and private entities to solve issues around broadband.’ 

Key lessons from Joanne Hovis 

• Smart cities should support public policy goals, not just collect data for the sake of it 

• To bridge the digital divide, leveraging public money to attract private investment is key 

• In order to support autonomous vehicles and other devices, we need a high-quality wireless fiber network