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The Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute (TCCRI) Energy and Infrastructure Taskforce met via Zoom on November 17, 2020, in order to discuss rural broadband internet connectivity issues, the overall issues and recommendations of broadband in Texas, and policy initiatives that could be adopted in the upcoming legislative session.

The HillCo report below is a summary of remarks intended to give you an overview and highlight of the discussions on the various topics discussed. This report is not a verbatim transcript; it is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.

 

Opening Remarks

  • Open by recognizing Representatives in attendance
  • COVID has brough broadband to the forefront again
  • Our position shifted somewhat because now the state is requiring students be online, many healthcare organizations must use electronic software
  • As a conservative organization, we may have balked at a statewide plan before but now it is at the forefront
  • Over 300,000 households do not have access to broadband (900K people)
  • More than the majority in rural Texas
  • Want to talk about the difference between access and adoption

 

Jennifer Harris, Connected Nation Texas

  • Key difference between access and adoption: require different policy initiatives
  • Defines Broadband, can be gotten in a number of technologies; speed is critical
    • As defined by FCC, 25 megabyte/sec download, 3-megabyte upload
  • Over 96% of Texas households have 25/3 access BUT almost 1 million do not have access
    • 90% of those without access are rural areas
    • Equivalent to the entire state of South Dakota without access to broadband
  • 4% of households to not subscribe to broadband services
  • Texas is 35th in the Nation in broadband adoption among other states and territories
  • National Digital Inclusion alliance study
    • Out of the entire US, as far as 65k > cities, not subscribing to broadband, 4 of those cities are in Texas
    • Problem is not geographically specific, it is a statewide issue
    • Not having broadband impacts daily life during COVID
  • Broadband maps: connectednation.org/texas/mapping-analysis
    • Maps showing distribution of broadband and slower internet speeds over whole state and all counties at various speeds
  • Much of West, East, Valley, Panhandle, and I-35 corridor lack high-speed internet
  • Majority of the issue in physical connectivity is rural Texas
  • Displays map of Winkler County
    • Includes percentages, household counts, and descriptions of broadband speeds and access
  • Interactive map display for broadband connectivity over the entire state and each county
    • Also includes various other filters, including State House/Senate districts, school districts, etc.
  • What do communities want? Connected Nation did a nationwide tour to find what communities wanted
    • Pre COVID, student access to online resources, accurate maps, connectivity to support telehealth, etc.
    • Still relevant, if not more important
  • Looked at the Pew study done earlier this year
    • On the state level, nearly Âľ of states have a dedicated broadband office
    • Focus on common elements of leadership, dedicated staff, visibility and responsiveness, and connectors
    • NOT REGULATORS: facilitate federal funds
  • Texas is one of only 6 states that does not have a state broadband plan
  • Some federal dollars are tied to state broadband plans, ex. US Department of Agriculture program is tied to broadband plan
  • State mapping programs have also been begun – Congress passed a bill earlier this year to improve FCC data collection
    • Distinct from Texas
    • Many states already do their own mapping programs to inform policy and monetary requests
  • Current Texas initiatives: Governor’s Broadband Development Council
    • Created by HB 1960 (86th)
    • Created report and recommendations
    • Main recommendations include creation of state plan and office
  • Current Initiative: Operation Connectivity
    • Statewide initiative is a 3-phase project to connect students to high speed internet and devices by beginning of the next academic year
    • Online education is here to stay even post COVID
  • Questions?
    • Ben Leman: Referencing the maps, there is a huge disconnect in the maps showing connectivity and reality. At the end of the day, I could see they are not accurate for my district. The statistics and numbers you are providing, from a map perspective, how do we define access? For example, my home says I have access to broadband, but I do not. My whole area only has access to satellite. My question is, who is defining access, how do they define it, and how can we reconcile some of these differences to increase accuracy?
    • When maps have two color of greens (lighter is FCC and may be overstated since it is collected by census block, the darker color is granular information by provider); for example heading to Bastrop county see the hear detail is overstated

 

Leslie Ward, AT&T Texas President

  • Thanks members and representatives, as well as TCCRI
  • Supporting efforts to bridge digital divide in areas that need it most
    • Experts in broadband
    • Over 140 years in business
  • Networks did not buckle during COVID, but it has revealed challenges and we want to help the legislature address those issues
  • 86th session saw SB 14, HB 1960, HB 2422, all supported by AT&T
    • SB 14: electric cooperatives could deploy broadband infrastructure
    • HB 1960: Created Governor’s Broadband Development Council
    • HB 2422: TxDOT required to plan, install, or improve broadband connectivity along highway construction projects
  • High level public policy issues relating to broadband:
    • Served vs unserved areas are very different
    • AT&T supports state broadband office and plan
    • Important for any initiatives adopted to be technology agnostic: they should not prioritize fiber or cable over wireless or vice versa
  • Two main policy focus areas: need policy encouraging adoption and subscription
    • There is a large gap between adoption or subscribership rates and broadband availability
    • AT&T is providing a service for affordable internet at $10 per month, encourages members to help spread this opportunity to their constituents
    • Affordability of products can hinder access to the internet
    • Constant and correct information is vital
      • Incorrect and false technology concerning broadband, such as conspiracies about 5G, are a barrier to subscription
  • AT&T opposes Government-Owned Networks (GON), especially in areas where private companies already maintain broadband services
    • Known as “overbuilding”
    • Specifically referring to cities looking at creating GONs where companies already maintain broadband
  • Technology agnostic critical
    • No single technology is going to fix the rural broadband gap. Fiber and wired may work in some areas, but 5G may work better in others
    • Fixed wireless uses wired internet towers to broadcast service
    • Permitting and licensing take time to process – in Austin, 5 permits pending since 2017 for wired towers
  • Level Setting
    • Building broadband is expensive – to deploy 1 gigabyte service to every US household without access, would likely cost $100 billion
    • 25 gigabyte service to low-access areas would cost tens of billions
    • Federal government currently spends $8 billion per year to subsidize broadband infrastructure
    • State subsidization (and federal funds) can help incentivize deployment and construction of broadband infrastructure
    • Operation Connectivity one such key program
    • Should the State create the fund, General Revenue should fund the issue due to it being a common issue
    • Expansion of Texas Universal Service Fund (which is only funded by one industry and limited individuals) to fund broadband would be bad
    • The fund is in decline, and is a declining method to raise revenue for the deployment of broadband

 

Nora Belcher, Texas eHealth Alliance

  • Last two sessions SB 1107 in 2017 and SB 670 in 2019 opened up Telemedicine market
  • Do not have strong data on Pre-COVID adoption of telemedicine but estimates include 15%-28% for physicians and 76% for hospitals
  • Post COVID 80% of physicians say they offer or plan to offer telemedicine as of April 2020 and for hospitals there is no survey data yet but probably close to 100%
  • We should be exhausting federal funds first, but many physician practices are private small businesses and do not qualify for these federal funds targeted for non-profits
    • Must consider our obligation to these providers
  • Patient Utilization:
    • Pre-COVID: range from 8% to 23% (likely 8%)
    • Post-COVID: peak as high as 42% nationally
    • Estimates for around 4.5 million Texans
    • Predict 1/5 visits will be virtual in the future, up from ~10%
    • Must support the infrastructure and broadband services to increase access and adoption
    • Huge shift in telehealth market and consumption
  • We are going to look back on COVID-19 as a boon for telehealth and telemedicine practices
  • Going to help more people, and that hinges on broadband availability and reliability
  • Permanent market change: consumers will not go back, especially for behavioral care

 

J.J. McGrath, TekWav

  • 4 million public education and 3.2 million on Free/Reduced Lunch program
  • Common Sense Media report said 1.8 million kids in Texas without adequate internet
  • Texas Governor’s Council pegged it at 1 million Texans without broadband
  • Has to do with socioeconomic and geographical restrictions
  • This needs to be a federal funding issue
  • Challenges include: funding, scaling, spread over large geographic area, affecting kids no matter the socioeconomic status, no standards, support constraints, siloed thinking and misunderstanding/misinformation on how ISP’s function
  • What ISD’s would like: long-term solution, reliable/dependable connectivity, quick deployment, minimum speed of 25/3 with Target of 100/10, bilingual support, 99% uptime, unlimited data usage, comply with Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) content filtering, ISP to deploy, account management, single ISP operator relationship
  • ISD’s do NOT WANT: build and maintain network off campus, do end user support for connectivity issues, go to student homes to do installs, one single point of contact
  • Concluding remarks: Texas has power to solve this problem, a legacy to protect, can leapfrog above other states, need to set standard on how to solve

 

Walt Baum, Texas Cable Alliance

  • Company saw a huge increase in usage due to the pandemic
  • Believes this is the new normal
  • Saw a 98% usage increase in upstream and 70% increase in downstream
  • Were able to adapt due to billions in private investments members have made
  • Proud of our role in keeping people connected
  • Members all signed the FCC Keep America Connected challenge
  • Many members offering low-price or free connection for school-age families and low-income issues
  • Accessibility v adoption: these kinds of programs need to be focused on
  • The harder issue to deal with is the rural issue: it is not just money, its infrastructure that needs to be constructed
  • Also supports state office and state plan recommendations
  • Would like to see it at a state agency or inside an executive agency that handles economic development rather than a regulatory agency
  • The plan should focus on areas with the greatest need, focus on unserved areas first
  • Plans ought to be technology neutral (tech agnostic) – there is no silver bullet for addressing the issue
  • Any program should not prioritize wireless or wired
  • The broadest funding source possible is the best possible, i.e. General Revenue
    • Funding on the backs of internet and telecom customers is not the best way to tackle financing
    • Echo sentiments about fund being declining source of revenue
  • Hope to see new federal money, and use of existing federal dollars to tackle the problem
  • One way to kickstart the issue is to see federal funding for these programs and existing projects to expand broadband
  • We need to ease the burden of permitting, ease deployment of broadband infrastructure
  • Pandemic has brought the issue to the forefront
  • Legislature responds best when a crisis is thrust upon them

 

Closing Remarks –TCCRI Staff

  • Jennifer Harris, Connected Nation Texas  – providers should be included in any state broadband plan; successful in other states as well
  • TCCRI Staff – Thanks everyone for coming, reach out to us if you have questions or need anything