‘Fiber for Farms’ focus for local providers

Bill Bodine borrows a lyric from a Van Halen song to describe the state of modern-day farming.

“The simple life ain’t so simple anymore,” said Mr. Bodine, the director of business and regulatory affairs for the Illinois Farm Bureau.

“I don’t know if you’ve been in a combine cab lately, but city dwellers may not understand the amount of technology that's involved in agriculture today. Precision agriculture tools, GPS guidance systems for equipment, the amount of data our farmers are collecting to make sure they're putting the right inputs in the right locations in the field to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly – that all takes technology.

“And whether it’s cattle, pigs, or chickens, those livestock operations are hooked up to tech as well to ensure the environment for the animals is comfortable and can be monitored and managed remotely. We even have robotic milking systems in dairy farms today.”

Like any business or homeowner these days, farmers require broadband internet access for their farms to function, said Scott Havel, the general manager of Hills-based Sharon Telephone Company.

The state of Iowa and federal government both agree – as witnessed by recent funding projects to help deliver better internet service to unserved and underserved rural areas.

“Some of the independent providers like us in Iowa have called it a gold rush for broadband,” Mr. Havel said.

“Iowa was really out in front of this before COVID-19 hit and made the issues of remote work and internet accessibility even more important. There’s still a lot of work to be done in Iowa – even after you account for all the grants – but in comparison to other states, Iowa also is going to look pretty good as far as rural broadband coverage.”

The state is on its seventh round of matching NOFA grants, said Dave Duncan, CEO of the Iowa Communications Alliance – a non-profit trade association advocating for local smalltown providers and their essential role in helping fix the problem.

The most recent Iowa grants in January 2022 featured $210 million allocated using federal funds through the state system, Mr. Duncan said. The sixth round of matching grants in September 2021 also included $97.5 million in state-only funds, he added.

Federally, a fourth round of funding is expected in early 2023 after the US Department of Agriculture’s Reconnect program closed its most recent application process Nov. 2. The first three rounds of grants and loans for rural internet began the year after Congress passed an infrastructure law in 2018. The awards currently total $3.1 billion – including in October 2022 when $5.6 million was devoted to a pair of Iowa projects.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed in 2022 by Congress, also provides $42.45 billion from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to expand high-speed internet access across the nation. Awards from that federal program called BEAD – Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment – are forthcoming.

Mr. Duncan added the Federal Communications Commission also continues to work on ways to improve funding for the rural providers for the broadband build through the Universal Service Fund. Some states and communities also have earmarked some of their American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) monies from COVID-19 relief to the cause.

“All of that really shows a lot of focus by policymakers on really trying to get as many people connected as we can and as fast as possible,” said Mr. Duncan, who represents nearly 120 local smalltown broadband providers such as Sharon, North Liberty’s South Slope Cooperative Communications and West Liberty’s Liberty Communications.

Iowa set an aggressive goal for 100% coverage statewide by 2026 while other surrounding states such as Illinois and the federal government are targeting 2028 or later.

Mr. Duncan said the companies he represents are collectively in over 700 Iowa communities – and over 500 of those towns have fiber to the home, “which really is the best, fastest way to deploy broadband, and the most future proof as well,” he added.

However, “much still needs to be done,” cautioned Mr. Duncan, whose coalition excludes national providers such as AT&T, CenturyLink, Verizon and Mediacom. “And it is expensive to keep expanding especially in rural areas, and that's why these state and federal programs are so important.

“The main barrier to getting connected is the high cost of fiber optics and the low return on investment when you're trying to deploy in an area that's not heavily populated. Our companies have been expanding their broadband offerings literally for a couple of decades. But it has been kind of a slow and incremental increase because it's so expensive.”

Justin Stinson, CEO of Liberty Communications, said the cost to build a fiber network is approximately $27,000 per mile.

“And that number keeps going up because of supply chain issues and the rising cost of goods,” added Mr. Stinson.

“If we're talking actual hardline fiber to farms? I'm never going to say never. It's just a very difficult proposition to see that done any time soon. It's going to take a lot of money and a lot of creativity because some of these farms are extremely rural. You may have to cross big crevices in the earth to get to them – or just the terrain sometimes doesn't support running fiber.”

That is why Liberty Communications is among the local providers investing in ever-improving fixed wireless technology – an increasingly popular and cost-effective option to running fiber to farms.

This fall, Liberty acquired Natel Broadband – based in Fairfield, 90 minutes to the southeast – because the family-owned company is already involved in the fixed wireless business.

The Internet connectivity is at speeds slower than 1 Gigabit – and unlike fiber, fixed wireless signals can be affected by weather or the landscape – but Mr. Stinson said the alternative still offers enough capacity and reliability for most operators.

Fixed wireless is delivered via the transmission of radio signals from a base station mounted at high elevation on cell towers, grain silos or other tall structures.

“There's still some increased cost there,” Mr. Stinson said, “and you do have to run fiber to the tower where you're mounting this equipment. But with some of the new technology that's coming out in the marketplace, it really does allow you to compete more aggressively.”

The federal BEAD program, which runs for the next five years, is in the process of finishing a federal map to determine funding eligibility. “But they can’t really start the bidding process until they finish,” Mr. Duncan said.

Iowa is among the many states updating their own coverage maps with the most up-to-date data, Mr. Duncan added, so they can better fight for funding by challenging the accuracy of the federal map.

Iowa is currently on the fifth generation of the state coverage map, which now features an address-specific, location-by-location accounting of actual rooftops with or without service.

Mr. Stinson said previous maps utilized census blocks in communities with providers self-reporting customers and services available.

“So, if one person in that census block can actually get that (Internet) speed that's being stated, then that basically blocks out the rest of that census block and nobody else qualifies – even though the rest of that census block may not be able to get those speeds,” Stinson said pointing to the biggest problem with that model.

Challenge processes to the mapping also have been improved, Mr. Stinson added, for customers, providers, and county officials alike.

"Hopefully, this will help get us to the most accurate information,” Mr. Stinson said, “so the money is actually going to where it really is needed the most.”

Chuck Deisbeck, CEO of South Slope, said that already is happening.

“Iowans are lucky. This issue is important to them, so it’s important to our leaders,” Mr. Deisbeck said. “The state is putting those dollars to use the right way. And companies like South Slope are taking those dollars and putting every penny of it back in the ground to serve the people, so that five years down the road we’re not having this same conversation.

“We have to have those amenities out in these rural areas if you want people to want to move to your towns or live on a farm and have a different quality of life for their family. They shouldn't be held back because they're an engineer for Boeing and they have to live in a populated area to get these kinds of services. But now if you come out to Norway, Swisher or Newhall? You can get the same services and probably better than you can in maybe downtown New York City.”