Broadband

Spotlight on Broadband

Broadband, a generic term for high-speed internet access, enables students of all ages to learn online and businesses to reach customers and co-workers; facilitates electronic and verbal communications; provides access to healthcare and job openings; and can be the deciding factor of where a company chooses to expand. When the coronavirus pandemic forced millions of Americans to stay home in 2020 and 2021, an estimated one in five school-aged children lacked the high-speed internet connection needed to access lessons and other materials.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) defines advanced telecommunications capability as a download speed of 25 megabits (MGB) per second or higher, and upload speeds of 3 MGB or higher. Internet can be provided by satellite, digital subscriber line (DSL), cable, microwave, or fiber. Presently, the FCC does not consider wireless connections, e.g., cell phones, in its assessment of broadband access. Infrastructure includes tower-supported antennae/repeaters (wireless), and fiber optic or copper wire (wired). Wired communications also involve a significant amount of underground duct-installed circuiting.

Estimates paint a fuzzy picture at best on how many Americans can access broadband internet speeds. According to the FCC, 93.5% of the U.S. population has access to high-speed internet. However, there are significant disparities in the FCC’s estimate, which defines “access” as one or more locations per census block capable of accessing download speeds of 25MGB or more. The National Association of Counties (NACo) estimated in 2020 that 65% of counties have average connection speeds lower than the FCC’s definition of broadband. NACo reported counties of all sizes had connectivity issues, but the majority of small and medium-sized counties (populations of <50,000 and 50,000-499,999, respectively) experienced slower speeds, as compared to less than 20% of larger counties (population >500,000).

President Trump signed the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (DATA) Act in early 2020 that requires the FCC to update their broadband maps to more accurately reflect broadband coverage availability. However, the timeline for this update is unclear, and the FCC has stated more resources are needed to carry out the DATA Act mandate.

Notably, disadvantaged and rural communities are typically worse off when it comes to being able to access broadband internet. A study by the Center for Public Integrity reports that families with household incomes over $80,700 are five times more likely to have access to broadband than a household with income below $34,800 (the top fifth and lowest fifth income thresholds, respectively).

Americans’ reliance on fast internet is only forecasted to grow in the coming years. According to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), data use in 2018 was 73 times higher than in 2010. To meet the demand for data, the telecommunications industry is expanding and deploying more cell sites, launching 5G, and looking at the next generation of wireless. Reliable and widespread access is also a prerequisite for communities looking to integrate communications and data into transportation and utilities infrastructure systems.

As elected officials and decision-makers work toward increasing access, the role of civil engineers in the deployment of broadband is important. Expanding broadband infrastructure typically involves right-of-way issues and “dig once” or co-location policies that have heavy involvement from civil engineers. Additionally, civil engineers manage construction and design and deliver poles, structures, and towers across the country that will play an increasingly important role in hosting 5G receptors, as well as verify the structural integrity of buildings that host transmitter and receiver antennas.

Federal, state, and local governments and the private sector are working to close the digital divide. CTIA reports the telecom industry has spent over $253 billion in capital investments since the launch of 4G in 2010. In 2019, telecom invested $27.4 billion in expanding capacity, increasing coverage, developing infrastructure, and upgrading technology to support 5G. However, it is important to note that private companies are not incentivized to invest and expand service in rural areas with smaller or less affluent customer bases, contributing to service gaps in many of those regions.

Limited public funding is available to help support the deployment of broadband to previously unreached communities. Through the FCC, the federal government disbursed over $15 billion by funding various programs across the U.S. between 2000 and 2018. In 2020, the agency launched the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, a 10-year, $20 billion program that will finance the deployment of faster broadband networks to underserved rural areas. Other public agencies are also focused on closing the digital divide. The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded $600 million in rural telecom grants between 2009 to 2016. Governors and state legislatures have established broadband deployment grants and requested coordinated policy from relevant state agencies.

Of course, significant work remains, and the deployment of broadband and preparation for 5G should involve careful planning and productive partnerships between all levels of government and the private sector. These planning efforts must recognize that rapid growth and expansion is necessary to avoid technical obsolescence, also leverage legacy infrastructure to the extent possible.

Increasingly, other infrastructure sectors are relying on telecommunication capabilities to modernize and improve safety. Everything from autonomous vehicles reading road signs to water pipes embedded with leak detection sensors will depend on broadband access. Looking forward, the pressing need to modernize our infrastructure networks will require information on where broadband service is lacking and a clear vision of where we’re headed.

A Note on this Spotlight

The importance of broadband infrastructure has grown exponentially as we increasingly rely on it to support our connected lives. Meanwhile, civil engineers play a growing role in broadband installation, and high-speed internet is increasingly critical to the operation and modernization of our legacy infrastructure systems. Because of this, the ASCE Committee on America’s Infrastructure felt it important to make recommendations on how to improve broadband infrastructure. However, the committee determined there was insufficient information on broadband infrastructure to justify a category grade.