42 | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com | November/December 2012

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The mantra that has helped the broadband industry focus its ef-forts is access, adoption and use.

Access refers to deployment, mainly of middle-mile and last-mile networks.

Adoption requires that deployers pro-vide offerings, pricing and customer con-tact that induce people to buy services.

Use occurs when computer literacy and comfort with technology reach suf-ficient levels.

To this three-legged stool a fourth leg should be added: leveraging broad-band for economic development.

A BroAdBAnd VisionEarlier this year, when I studied the Milken Institute’s 2011 list of most pro-gressive cities, I found that the small cities that excelled in job creation, job retention, economic growth, wages and other indicators of economic health all had adequate broadband service. How-ever, none of the economic development officials I spoke with in those cities had any strategic vision for leveraging their broadband speeds in their (relatively suc-cessful) economic development efforts.

This finding holds true at the re-gional and municipal gatherings where I present economic development findings and speak with many municipal repre-sentatives. In the vast majority of these conversations, municipal officials say broadband will improve their commu-nities and help economic development, but very few have clear plans for stra-tegically leveraging this important and costly asset to meet clear goals.

A recent study of the Appalachian region by researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (see the August-

The Fourth Leg of the Stool Ensuring broadband access, adoption, and use is a good start. Leveraging broadband for economic development takes communities to the next level.

September issue of this magazine for details), found fascinating results con-cerning higher-speed broadband and economic development. Only two coun-ties in the survey, Pike and Bell coun-ties in Kentucky, reported that “access to broadband is likely not an obstacle for economic development,” and survey respondents from those two Kentucky counties “consider broadband to be im-portant for economic development.”

the surveys, not enough is being done with broadband adoption and utilization to benefit business development, entre-preneurship and workforce development initiatives. And Kentucky, for all it has done to ‘get connected,’ is doing little in Bell and Pike counties in the way of edu-cation to train and encourage residents and organizations to use broadband for economic benefit. … More must be done in Kentucky and throughout Appalachia

Municipal officials say broadband will help economic development in their communities,

but few have clear plans for strategically leveraging this asset to meet their goals.

By Ken Demlow ■ NewCom Technologies

About the AuthorKen Demlow is the national business development manager for NewCom Technologies, which performs engineering services and network data management, including GIS plant mapping and smart-grid deployment, for the telecommunications industry. You can reach him at kdemlow@newcomtech.com or 765-366-8370.

Yet, the researchers found, in those counties, “residents view broadband-enabled economic opportunities in their county as slightly unlikely … and dur-ing discussions, no new jobs or busi-nesses were credited to broadband uti-lization. Remarkably, the two counties in this study best positioned to benefit from broadband, in fact, do not recog-nize the opportunity that broadband presents for economic development.”

The researchers added, “Clearly, as seen in site visits and as reported through

to educate the business community and residents on the value that broadband brings to competitiveness, workforce de-velopment and entrepreneurship.”

LeVerAge Versus useSome may think that “use” (in the ac-cess, adoption and use paradigm) al-ready covers this fourth leg. I am not trying to split hairs. However, most people address “use” by educating in-dividuals to use broadband – a very necessary task. Economic development

See p. 14

Make TheConnection

November/December 2012 | www.broadbandcommunities.com | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | 43

leaders, community leaders and project leaders also need clear visions and strat-egies for using broadband to reach their economic development goals. We have a lot of work to do in this area.

Chattanooga is probably the best example of a city’s leveraging its high-speed broadband assets. One reason this city has been so successful is that it has addressed all four legs of the stool very well. First, it installed an exceptionally good system (access) for its electric utility and telecom utility. It markets to cus-tomers exceptionally well (adoption) and offers very good services and customer service. It worked on several ways to make sure that their customers can and do use the system.

Finally, Chattanooga has done an incredible job of leveraging the system for economic development. Look at the website thegigcity.com. to see how Chattanooga positions itself as a gig city, as a tech city and so forth. Its Gig Tank competition combines entrepreneurship with its gigabit network. Chattanooga’s brilliance is just as much in how it has sold its 1 Gbps network as in its instal-lation of the network. To be sure, the city has a great network, but it has done equally great things in using the net-work to put itself on the map.

Lessons From LeAdersHow can all cities do an excellent job in leveraging broadband? Let me offer some observations.

Find a champion. For most high-speed broadband networks to succeed, a champion or champions in the com-munity must stick with the project until it is finished. This is also true for using the network in economic development (though the champion probably won’t be the same individual – that would be a lot to ask). The “fourth leg” champion can be a person, such as an economic de-velopment leader, or a group, such as a marketing/economic development com-mittee. Someone must keep the project vision and goals in motion and take them to the people who need to imple-ment them. It won’t happen on its own.

Develop a vision. This may sound obvious, but leveraging a high-speed broadband network for economic devel-

opment requires deciding how the net-work will be portrayed. This is a big deal – as big as answering “Who do we want to be?” A municipality may want to have a tech entrepreneurial program and in-cubation system or a technology park that will highlight and use the network. Or, like Lac qui Parle County, Minn., it might be more interested in helping people stay in the county and keep their jobs or create their own jobs.

I enjoy leading groups through the visioning process because it offers com-munities a chance to decide who they are and who they want to be. Do they want to be technology leaders? Do they want to keep their young people? Do they want to lead in an area such as tele-medicine or education? Communities can spend a lot of money on broadband networks, and they should know what kind of return they want from that in-vestment. Developing a vision early on and generating consensus and excite-ment about it is very important.

Define steps. Once a vision exists, clear steps need to be developed. With-out them, there is a greater chance that the vision will fall by the wayside. Three components are needed for a clear plan and strategy: political, public and profes-sional. Elected and appointed officials must embrace (if not help lead) the vi-sion. The public must understand and get excited about the vision. Finally, the eco-nomic development professionals, who will be selling the message, must under-stand the broadband network, the vision for leveraging it, their resources and what they will be accountable for. There also needs to be a clear path for communi-cating successes. These all require steps, meeting dates and dates for deliverables.

Without these steps, this fourth leg will fall off – especially if a project is being developed at the same time. If an access network project is under way, the other three legs are easily forgotten. Those legs are the very reason the access leg was undertaken – yet they are so easily lost among all the big things that have to be done for a project.

Consider the region. In economic development, there are now quite a few regional initiatives and opportunities for

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

44 | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com | November/December 2012

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT regional discussions. Regional organiza-tions can bring a lot to the table in de-veloping a regional identity, sharing re-sources, pursuing funding and so forth.

Get help. There are people who can help with this process. As with Chat-tanooga, it makes sense to consider this fourth leg as critically important to the implementation of a high-speed broad-band system. It is not too late if you already have a system that is not being used as much as it could be for economic development.

Collaborate. A good, high-speed broadband network can be used for eco-nomic development no matter whether an ILEC, a CLEC or a municipality owns it. There can be and should be a lot of common ground and common goals in marketing the system. Leveraging the network for economic development is in everyone’s best interest. Discussions of exactly where the assets are and how those will be used and priced can get a little tricky, and it can be difficult to get pricing and timelines from a private net-

work deployer – but it is worth trying to bridge those gaps if they arise.

The Acid TesTAre you wondering whether your eco-nomic development team is ready to leverage your broadband network? Here are some questions to ask:

• Do team members know what up-stream and downstream speeds are or will be available?

• Do they know how redundancy is achieved? (If there is no redundancy, a whole other problem exists.)

• Do they know where the network is run or where it will be run?

• Is the network an FTTx project? If so, what is the x?

• Who will set the pricing for network services, and when will that pricing be available (especially scaled pricing for businesses)?

• Is there a unified vision of “who we are” that includes the benefits of high-speed broadband?

• Is that “who we are” big enough?• What printed promotional material

answers the question of “Who we are with high-speed broadband”?

• Who is targeted for that message?• How are subjects being targeted, and

what is the timeline?• What dates are on the calendar to

spread the message?• What dates are on the calendar to

build excitement and buy-in for that message?

Good networks have been built in many areas across the country, and more are being built. Work is also being done to help people adopt and use broadband. Now, communities need more focused efforts to help leverage their networks to achieve their goals. The communi-ties that do that best will stand the best chances of getting the most return on the investments that have been made in high-speed broadband. This is an excit-ing time, and the process can and should be very exciting and rewarding. v