By Brant Wolf
The Oregonian
01/19/2018
Dramatic changes are taking place in Oregon’s telecommunications industry, and those of us at the Oregon Telecommunications Association are highly invested in ensuring that we are using the best technology to connect every community in our state.
Our rural telecommunications companies, some of which have been operating continuously for more than 100 years, have worked hard to make sure Oregonians are able to communicate with each other and the outside world. As technology has advanced, so too have our members. As an association, we’re always looking for new technologies and better ways to serve our members, helping them offer the best services available at affordable prices.
Right now, Oregon’s urban areas along the I-5 corridor have better and more reliable access to high-speed broadband internet than our fellow Oregonians in more rural areas. That inequity in access causes a “digital divide.” People who happen to live in big cities have multiple options for high-speed internet, while those in certain rural and remote areas have limited options.
The everyday impacts of that divide are obvious. It’s more difficult to start and maintain a new business without access to internet. It’s more difficult for the unemployed to find jobs. Young students who don’t have access to high-speed internet fall behind their classmates who do. It can also be more difficult to gain access to quality health care through telemedicine options.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Technology exists that would help bring affordable and fast internet to all Oregonians by using an unused portion of the telecommunications spectrum. Known as “TV white space,” this spectrum already reaches 80 percent of the underserved rural population and could be expanded to broadcast broadband to areas that have few to no high speed options.
TV white space holds great promise because Microsoft is looking to deploy this technology via partnerships with service providers already working in local communities. Those partnerships will give our members another tool to bring better broadband to rural areas that’s 80 percent cheaper than fiber optic cable and 50 percent cheaper than LTE wireless technology. As cost is the major barrier to rural broadband deployment, this can be the bridge across the digital divide that we’ve all been waiting for.
In order for this technology to deliver broadband-level speeds, the Federal Communications Commission needs to update its regulations regarding the telecommunications spectrum. The federal agency must ensure that three channels below 700 MHz are available for wireless use on an unlicensed basis in every market in the country, with additional TV white spaces available in smaller markets and rural areas. Our federal delegation should support this action.
The Oregon Telecommunications Association is proud to be a member of Connect Americans Now, a coalition dedicated to closing the digital divide. We support TV white space technology and view it as a buttress to existing technologies that will allow us to better serve and connect our Oregon customers. The federal government must recognize this opportunity and support a policy that will allow underserved communities the access to high speed internet for which they have so long waited.
Brant Wolf is the executive vice president of the Oregon Telecommunications Association, which is based in Salem.
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