Community Broadband Master Plan Guidebook

Chapter 3: Understanding the True Availability of Broadband in Your CommunityDelving deep into the supply side of the broadband equation, we offer guidance on accurate broadbandmapping. Specifically, we explain the basic steps for how to ascertain the true availability of broadbandin a given community and how to verify the accuracy of the data collected by the state and published bythe federal government through the National Broadband Map. This is a critical issue, because in manycases the mapping data, which are published jointly by the National Telecommunications andInformation Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), have beeninsufficiently granular to give a local community a full picture of its broadband supply.As in other chapters, we provide a concise overview of the issue, and action-oriented checklists/matricesto help readers capture the essential information about their communities.Chapter 4: Broadband TechnologiesThis chapter provides a high-level primer of broadband technologies, from fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP)to satellite, with particular attention to fiber optics and emerging wireless broadband. We review theadvantages and disadvantages of the technologies, and discuss their abilities to support both evolvingcommunications requirements and consumer expectations.Chapter 5: Public-Private PartnershipsThis section of the guidebook surveys a range of factors to be analyzed as a community considersentering into a public-private partnership to develop a broadband network. The variety of public-privatepartnership models reflects the diversity of interests, goals, and resources among the manycommunities seeking to build high-speed networks for their citizens.Chapter 6: Broadband Funding MechanismsThe natural extension of a discussion of broadband network partnerships and business models is adiscussion of project funding mechanisms. This chapter presents strategies that local governments cantake to identify funding sources for community broadband projects, including federal E-rate subsidies,the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) loan and grant programs, other federalgrant programs, and other current and potential funding sources.Chapter 7: Benefits On and Off the Balance SheetAs with any significant public investment, a broadband initiative requires detailed financial analysis anda calculation of the potential return on investment. However, we believe that local governments shouldalso consider the “benefits beyond the balance sheet”—the intangible rewards that broadband offersthe community as a whole and might deliver to individual citizens. This chapter provides a generaldiscussion of the full range of quantifiable and non-quantifiable benefits that may inform a robust publicdiscussion of a community broadband initiative. The off-the-balance-sheet benefits include economicdevelopment, positive environmental impacts created by increased telecommuting, and improvededucational outcomes realized through delivery of innovative multimedia lessons.Chapter 8: Risks of Broadband InitiativesUnderstanding the risks inherent in pursuing a community broadband initiative is essential to asuccessful outcome. This chapter briefly introduces a range of potential risk factors that projectNMBB Program: Community Broadband Master Plan Guidebook 3