The Intersection of Broadband and Economic Development Nate Walowitz Regional Broadband Program Director

Broadband = Economic Development Attract and keep businesses in Northwest Colorado Access to regional, national, and international economy and market Maintain population base and young families by supporting their career and lifestyle choices Benefit for part time residents and tourists driving business and sales tax revenues Increase property values and expanded sales

Broadband Access by the Numbers The National Digital Divide – 2016 snapshot [1] 92.7% of Americans have broadband access 97.9% of urban population have at least 25/3 Mbps access 30% of rural population lacks access to broadband Colorado Divide 50,000 Colorado households lack access to 10/1 Mbps 150,000 Colorado households lack access to 25/3 [2] [1] FCC 2018 Broadband Deployment Report [2] “What is the Broadband Fund” DORA 2018

Economic Development Research Two decades of research on link between broadband and economic development Thompson and Garbacz – 10% increase in broadband penetration associated with 3.6% increase in economic efficiency [3] Kuttner – Rural broadband providers in Colorado provided a total economic impact of $300M and 840 jobs in 2015 [4] Little – Doubling of broadband speeds resulted in a 0.3% increase in GDP Little – 10% increase in broadband penetration (adoption) translates into at 1% GDP increase [3] “Broadband Impacts on State GDP: Direct and Indirect Impacts” 2008 H.G. Thompson Jr. and C. Garbacz [4] “The Economic Impact of Rural Broadband (2016) H. Kuttner Source: The Social Impact of Broadband – Colwell Schumann Shakfa Definition Economic Efficiency - Economic efficiency implies an economic state in which every resource is optimally allocated to serve each individual or entity in the best way while minimizing waste and inefficiency. When an economy is economically efficient, any changes made to assist one entity would harm another.

Social Impact Research Red Cliff , Colorado 75% of survey respondents drove an average of 10 miles to gain access to broadband Broadband service adoption 65% 69% indicated broadband would have an extremely positive impact on the community 31% indicated moderately positive impact on community 62% knew someone who would work from home using broadband (forgo the work commute) 75% of respondents indicated they would have a high interest in telehealth Calling over WiFi will enable them to use their cell phones at home and 75% would replace existing landline phone with internet based calling Source: The Social Impact of Broadband – Colwell Schumann Shakfa

Rural Broadband and Millennials “When they live in rural remote areas, millennials are more likely to reside in a county that has better digital access.” Entire population growth is US of 14.4 million between 2010 and 2016, 94.6 % were located in metro counties compared to 1.6% in rural counties When looking at only rural counties millennial populations increase where the digital divide was lowest 2.3% (Also occurs in metro and small cities) Considering completely rural counties 420 in US, those with lowest digital divide experience a 13.5% increase in millennials (2010 – 2016) Conclusions: “If you just look at overall numbers, our population is behaving just like they did in the industrial age – moving to cities where jobs and people are concentrated. Rural areas that lag in broadband connectivity and digital literacy will continue to suffer from these old trends.” “…. Any community attempting to retain or retract millennials need to address their digital divide both in terms of broadband access and adotion/use/” Source: “When it comes to broadband millennials vote with their feet” April 11, 2018 The Daily Yonder Print

Rural Broadband Needs Resilient middle mile to provide minimal connection outages Affordability - Pricing and Speeds that match business and consumer needs Robust symmetric bandwidth to allow upload speeds for business and work from home residents Rural broadband deployments do not provide return on investment for existing providers Public Private Partnerships are essential to support rural broadband deployments

Local Broadband Initiatives Create local consensus and alliance Dig-Once Small Cell Policy Local Building Code and Standards Opportunities for additional providers Bury open-access conduit when ground is opened Municipal fiber network Jurisdiction-wide aggregation

Funding Options Public Funding Private Funding Local Bonding, Sales Tax, EID FCC, USDA, DOLA, DORA Senate Bill 18-002 Private Funding Venture Capital Private telecom funding (match contributions) CDOT funding linked to DOT and NTIA

NWCCOG Regional Broadband Program Regional Broadband Director Technical Assistance Planning, RFP, and Deployment Support Collaboration across jurisdictions Coordinate support from CBPO, CDOT, DOLA, DORA FirstNet and Public Safety Communications Grant support for DOLA, DORA, SIPA ($6M+ to region) 5 Year Report Broadband education Support for CU ITP Program Project THOR

Takeaways Every community is unique – one size does not fit all Community, Regional, and State collaboration is essential to drive broadband process State funding for regional and local broadband planning and project funding is critical YOU have control of your community’s economic and social future through broadband deployment and adoption

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