Study looks at gaps in internet access
Got a beef about your broadband internet service? Bring it to a public meeting on Feb. 18, and become part of the solution.
Consultants who have been hired to develop plans for improving internet in the Methow Valley want to hear from community members as the first step of a year-long study. The Feb. 18 meeting will be held in the YourSpace meeting room on the TwispWorks campus, from 6-8:30 p.m.
Tilson Technologies, a telecommunications company based in Maine, has been hired through a $66,667 state grant to assess internet service in the Methow Valley and develop comprehensive plans to bring reliable broadband services throughout the valley.
As the need for fast, reliable Internet has become increasingly necessary for work and education, Methow Valley residents have become increasingly perturbed — and vocal — about inadequate internet service in some areas of the valley. TwispWorks, in its role of supporting the valley’s economic vitality, has taken the lead in looking for ways to address the problem.
The grant to hire Tilson Technologies was written by TwispWorks, which will oversee the study process, said Don Linnertz, executive director. Next week’s community meeting will launch the consultants’ on-the-ground examination of the state of broadband services in the Methow Valley. (The term “broadband” is generally interpreted to mean high-speed internet access that is always turned on.)
Linnertz said community members will be asked about improvements that are needed in six specific areas — availability, affordability, choice, support for businesses and employers, support for public services, and speed or performance. People will break into smaller groups to discuss these particular concerns and “work on prioritizing and brainstorming — what is and isn’t working, and what are the priorities of the community,” Linnertz said.
“It’s a great opportunity for the community to come out and articulate what a solution looks like for them,” he said.
In preparation for the consultants’ study, TwispWorks has assembled an advisory council to provide information, Linnertz said. The group represents local internet service providers, utility providers, the school district, emergency services, the regional library system, the U.S. Forest Service, state parks and natural resources, and homeowners associations — including Edelweiss, Pine Forest, Lost River and Twisp River Road.
“It’s a very diverse group of people who are impacted and would be impacted by any kind of broadband solution,” Linnertz said. The advisory council will meet with consultants before the community meeting on Feb. 18.
Talking to providers
The consultants will hold private meetings the next day (Feb. 19) with internet service providers — including CenturyLink, NCI Datacom and Methownet.com — to learn, among other things, about current broadband infrastructure and any existing plans for developing infrastructure, Linnertz said.
“Obviously for our internet service providers a lot of information is proprietary and confidential,” Linnertz said. “We want to be sensitive to that. But to develop a comprehensive plan for broadband there has to be some level of information sharing that allows us to develop a plan and potential solutions.”
In addition to information from stakeholders and the community, consultants will also “do a thorough evaluation of broadband policy for the state and the region,” Linnertz said. Washington’s broadband program director, Shelley Westall, is expected to attend the meetings with community members and advisers.
After their first visit to the Methow Valley, Tilson Tech consultants “will have a good sense of the problem statement they are trying solve,” Linnertz said. He said Tilson Tech was selected in part because they have done similar projects in other rural parts of the nation, including near their headquarters in Portland, Maine. The first phase of the study will be completed at the end of March.
The consultants will follow their information gathering phase with a “gap analysis report and demand assessment,” to be completed at the end of May, Linnertz said. There will likely be another community meeting in early summer to validate consultants’ assumptions, he said.
“Then they’ll do the geeky work — the infrastructure design, cost analysis, funding strategies,” Linnertz said. “What do we need, what does it cost, and who can pay for it.” That part of the study will be completed at the end of June.
The last phase of the study, Linnertz said, will develop business and technical models, addressing subjects like feasibility, barriers to success, regulatory considerations, lifespan of systems, route mapping, types of equipment and required permits. That phase will be completed at the end of August.
The consultants’ work will be reviewed by the Broadband Action Team, a group of Methow Valley and Okanogan County political and economic leaders, and people with technical expertise, that was created two years ago to address the issue of broadband access in the Methow Valley.
A long-haul process
“The goal is to accept their {the consultants’] project by the end of October. Then we have a roadmap” to guide the search for funding to build infrastructure, Linnertz said. “It will create a playbook for how we do it, how we fund it, and the entities that can apply for funding.”
The completed study will provide a plan that is available for implementation by the Okanogan County Public Utility District, Okanogan County Electric Cooperative, and internet service provider companies, Linnertz said.
“This is a long-haul process. A year for the study, another year for grants, another year to implement. At least it’s forward motion,” he said.
The grant for Tilson Tech’s study was awarded last year by the Community Economic Revitalization Board, part of the Washington Department of Commerce. The $50,000 grant includes a match of $16,667, shared by Okanogan County and the Twisp Public Development Authority.
This is not the first study of internet service in the Methow Valley. Partners for Rural Washington, a nonprofit organization that works on rural economic issues, donated time to conduct an initial assessment in 2018. That assessment concluded that further technical study would be needed to develop plans to upgrade current systems and build new networks.
The Federal Communications Commission reports that almost one-third of the rural U.S. population does not have access to broadband, according to a position paper developed by TwispWorks. That means that people living in those areas are “unable to take advantage of digital services and capabilities that are an everyday part of life for many urban residents,” the position paper says.
“This lack of access can put unnecessary constraints on education, health care, public safety, business and many other critical services we rely on for a healthy community and economy,” Linnertz said.
Most of the Methow Valley residents who complain of inadequate access to high-speed internet live in more remote areas of the valley away from the towns of Twisp and Winthrop, such as Twisp River Road and Lost River Road.
At a community meeting about broadband services held two years ago, one Lost River resident described how inadequate internet service is in that distant part of the valley. “I sent an email and drove to the Mazama Store for ice cream, and I passed the email,” he said.
