550 households in the upper part of Lake Cushman will finally have access to high-speed Internet thanks to a USDA Communities Connect grant to Hood Canal Communications.  Days ago, HCC also opened a new community center to serve this very remote, rugged area.

Lake Cushman is a beautiful man-made lake in Mason County, Washington featuring dense forestation and mountainous terrain.  It has been a popular seasonal destination that is quickly becoming a desirable option for full time living as real estate prices increase and inventory availability decrease in the region.

The grant application and the project have the support of many community partners including the Lake Cushman Maintenance Company HOA, the Skokomish Tribe, and numerous home and property owners in the affected area.  Sincere gratitude is expressed for the support of many residents, businesses and elected officials such as Governor Jay Inslee, Congressman Derek Kilmer, Congressman Denny Heck, Senator Patty Murray, Senator Maria Cantwell, State Senator Tim Sheldon, State Representative Drew MacEwen, and Mason County Commissioners Kevin Shutty, Terri Jeffreys, and Randy Neatherlin.  Dozens of local citizens wrote letters of support asking the USDA for funding.

HCC’s grant application was denied in 2016 and resubmitted in 2017 which resulted in the company being awarded $2.3 million.

Congratulations to Doug Weis, winner of the Pioneer Award, and R J DelMese who received this year’s President’s Award.  R J received his award at this year’s annual meeting, which was held in Salishan, in recognition for his work on our scholarship and accounting committees.  R J has also ensured that Moss Adams is a frequent sponsor to WITA events such as our Leadership Conference.  He’s also volunteered hours of time as a trainer for our accounting seminars as well as preparing comments and background data for legislative hearings and similar forums.

The Pioneer Award is no longer given out on an annual basis.  Instead, it’s only awarded when the committee feels that someone is especially deserving.  This year it took the committee no time at all to determine that Doug Weis fits that description both in terms of his career and his personal approach to life.    Unfortunately, Doug was not scheduled to join us at Salishan so we made arrangements for Steve Hanson to present him with a certificate commemorating his award during a fishing trip a few days before our meeting.  Rick Finnigan, James Brooks, Greg Maras and several of Doug’s family members were also in attendance.  We plan on presenting Doug with the actual ward at this fall’s Leadership Conference.

In addition to these awards Unitel presented WITA with a giant check for $3242 (we already deposited the real check) to be used for safety training and our friends at the ITA presented us with a $4000 donation to our scholarship account. 

It’s great to have so much to celebrate!

OLYMPIA — Over the next two years, Washington plans to lend $14.44 million and give another $7.11 million to public agencies, tribes and businesses to bring high-speed internet to rural areas and Indian reservations.

The money, set aside in the new two-year capital budget, is a fraction of the $1 billion the Washington Independent Telecommunications Association estimates will be needed to blanket the state with service that meets the federal definition of high-speed internet.

Because the funding will be mostly loans, the program may not do much to introduce internet to isolated areas with few paying customers, the association’s executive director, Betty Buckley, said May 2.

“If we could make money or even repay a loan, we’d have done it already,” said Buckley, who represents 18 small companies that serve rural areas.

“We are cutting out the really remote areas,” she said. “Everyone wants to make rural broadband happen, but no one wants to pay for it.”

Opening an office in the Department of Commerce to oversee broadband expansion received bipartisan support from legislators. Lawmakers also directed the state’s public works board to distribute $21.55 million for high-speed internet projects.

Presumably, legislators will continue to allocate more money in future budgets, and Gov. Jay Inslee’s office likely will advocate a larger share to put in grants, according to an adviser.

Early in the session, the governor’s office suggested a 50-50 split between loans and grants. In most unserved areas, only grants will make sense, according to the adviser.

The rules will favor projects on tribal lands, in rural counties or urban areas with high unemployment or low incomes. An internet service provider will have a chance to object to a competitor getting public money.

The state has set a goal of making high-speed internet available to every home and business by 2024. The Federal Communications Commission defines high-speed internet as download speeds of at least 25 megabits per second.

Netflix, the video provider, recommends the slower 5 megabits per second to view movies in high-definition and 25 megabits per second for “ultra high-definition.”

The USDA awards grants to bring “sufficient” internet service to rural areas. The agency defines sufficient as 10 megabits per second.

“We can have a brand-new federally funded service and layer state money right on top of it,” Buckley said.

In a really tough budgetary year, we are happy to be walking away with any level of funding for broadband so I would chalk it up as a win. In the future we will likely continue to advocate for a greater percentage of overall funding to be in grants.

The definition of broadband internet continues to evolve, according to a USDA report released Tuesday. As technology advances, famers likely will need faster internet speeds, the report states.

The Washington Farm Bureau put a high priority on passing the rural broadband bill. According to the FCC’s latest survey, nearly all the state’s 6 million urban residents can have high-speed internet at their homes or businesses. But nearly 1 in 10 of the state’s 1 million rural residents can’t.

“We’re very excited it passed,” Farm Bureau associate director of government relations Bre Elsey said. “It’s really just a start.”

Elsey said she would not be surprised if the ratio of loans to grants was revised as lawmakers see the results of the program. She also said she wouldn’t be surprised if the standards for internet speeds change. “It’s hard to hit a target when the goalpost keeps moving,” she said.

As of the end of 2016, 24 million Americans did not access to high-speed internet at a fixed location, according to the FCC. Some have mobile internet service, but that might not be reliable enough or fast enough to keep up, according to the USDA report.

The USDA said there isn’t enough information available to estimate how much bringing high-speed internet to unserved areas would cost. In places with few customers, it’s unlikely internet providers will extend service to the last mile, so rural broadband may need to follow the example of rural electrification, according to the report.

“Broadband in rural America will be as transformative in the 21st century as rural electrification was in the last century,” USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue said in the report.

Read the original article here

House ITEC Committee Passes Bill with Ten-Year Extension to the State Fund!

On a unanimous voice vote the House Innovation, Technology and Economic Development Committee passed the Governor’s broadband bill, HB 1498, after amending it to include a ten-year extension of the State Universal Communications Fund. The original bill included a five-year extension. Rep. Sharon Wylie (D – Vancouver) offered the amendment so that HB 1498 would match the bill she had sponsored to extend the fund by ten years. That bill, HB 1373, will not be voted out of committee.

Yesterday the Senate Energy, Environment and Technology Committee passed an identical version of the House bill. That version still contains a five-year extension of the fund. The Governor’s bill still contains some troubling provisions including the creation of a state broadband grant and loan program which could be used to overbuild some of areas now served by WITA members at speeds of 10/1. We are working to amend that language to ensure that limited state dollars are targeted at areas which have no service. However, our highest priorities are to ensure the extension of the state fund and changes to the qualifications for drawing from that fund so that all our members can benefit from this program.

All of this occurred during the snowiest week in Olympia history. Many people reported 18 or more inches of snow at their homes, dozens of homes were without electricity and state government was shut down on Monday. Some legislative staff were unable to make it to work which resulted in the systems designed to track bills and amendments being out-of-date and incomplete. Dan Coyne and made it to the Capitol every day while Betty Buckley was unable to return from her ranch in eastern Washington due to heavy snow and pass closures. Shellie Burnham did a bit of work from home but also made it to her office, which is a block from the Capitol, every day.

We hope you’re all staying warm and safe!

This week my goal was to get thirty signatures on our bill. That effort was interrupted by Governor Inslee’s press conference where he announced his broadband bill. WITA is one of the few organizations that has been involved in drafting this bill and so I was invited to attend. After the formal presentations, and after the cameras had been turned off, I took the opportunity to talk with reporters about some of their questions. Which resulted in at least one camera being turned back on.

Then it was back to gathering signatures. The process of making legislation is designed to be ponderous and time consuming to weed out frivolous bills. The hearing process and session deadlines make the process even more challenging which is why only a small percentage of bills get to the Governor’s desk for his signature. Only a legislator can introduce legislation which means state agencies and the Governor have to find someone to sponsor their ideas, just like everyone else.

Rep. Sharon Wylie (D – Vancouver) is sponsoring the legislation we need to extend the State Universal Communications Fund. Rep. Norma Smith (R – Camano Island) is the first co-sponsor. Rep. Smith’s district includes Whidbey Island and she’s the most senior member Republican member of the committee which will hear our bill.

By late Thursday we had gathered two dozen signatures including almost everyone who represents one of our members, two-thirds of the members of the committee which will hear the bill in the House, seven members of the Appropriations committee which will also hear the bill and the House Majority Leader. It’s a good mix of Republicans and Democrats, all of whom have voted on and supported this issue in the past. Instead of pursuing a few more signatures I decided to “drop” the bill a day early to ensure that it makes it onto the House Bill Introductions sheet this Monday. That will enable us to give out a specific bill number during out meetings with legislators. Besides, there are only twenty-four lines on the signature sheet so I added one more signature for a total of twenty-five and called it good.

This coming Monday and Tuesday we will have a chance to meet with new members to the legislators, along with some of our old friends, to ensure their support for the bill.

The past few days have felt like legislative session.  Dan Coyne and I have talked with dozens of legislators as we continue to work on securing an extension of the state universal communications fund.  There will be two pieces of legislation introduced in January, either of which will accomplish our goal.  The first is the Governor’s Broadband bill which will include several sections including a five year extension of the state fund.  The second bill will be introduced at our request and will contain a ten year extension of the fund.  Rep. Sharon Wylie (D-Vancouver) has agreed to sponsor this bill and Rep. Norma Smith (R – Camano Island) will be the first co-sponsor.  These first two sponsors are important because they establish that we have bi-partisan support for our effort and also support from veteran legislators.  Both representatives are on the House committee through which our bill will have to pass and both have agreed to help us move the bill forward.  There are several steps in this process, each with a  deadline.  Here’s a link to a website that gives more information if you would like to learn a bit more about this process.  http://leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/Bill2Law.aspx

Our next steps include getting a sponsor for our bill in the Senate and adding more names to the list of bill sponsors.  The more names the better.  We’ll also be working on handouts for each company to share with their local representatives, in person if at all possible.

Legislative session begins on January 14^th and we’ll be ready.  Shellie Burnham will be setting up meetings for those of you who can join us in Olympia, as the group from Consolidated Communications did last year.