An article recently published by the Erie Times and GoErie.com, tells us: Broadband Deserts Leave PA Farms Far Behind Neighbors, but is it true? Certainly many farms and households in rural areas are not connected to the internet at high speed, but it doesn’t mean there are no options available right now.
Government to the rescue
For years federal and state governments have studied the issue, making maps, making speeches, making promises and yet nothing much has really happened. Now they’re promising to spend money. They know how to do that:
The federal government has allocated approximately $1.5 billion for high-speed internet in Pennsylvania, according to the state’s Department of Community and Economic Development.
About $1.16 billion is provided through the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, also known as B.E.A.D. The state also has received $279 million from the Capital Projects Fund and $6.6 million in federal planning funds.
All they have to do is come up with an infrastructure plan, get bids, hire the contractors, do a lot of digging to run the fiber optic cables and make connections to all of the homes and farms. As a result, “rural Pennsylvanians could see expanded internet options as early as 2025.” “Owners of Pennsylvania’s 57,000-plus farms (without broadband) hope their properties make the cut.”
Well, that’s one option.
Starlink
On the other hand, Starlink, the satellite internet service launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, has been rapidly expanding and now covers the entire United States. A few small holes exist, but in Pennsylvania, we’re covered. Starlink costs $120/mo in most locations with a hardware cost of $599.
Really Simple arithmetic
What’s 57,000 farmers times $599 to connect? Pencils down. It’s $34,143,000. Let’s see, there’s $1.5 billion available in PA for high speed internet, so after connecting all of the 57,000 farms, we still have $1,465,857,000.
$120 per month for one year of internet service is $1440. So 57,000 farms times $1440 for an entire year of internet is $82,080,000. Subtract that from the remaining balance above and everyone is connected for one year with $1,383,777,000 still left.
Result?
In round numbers, we can provide every one of the 57,000 “broadband desert” farms with free broadband internet for an entire year and still have almost $1.4 billion left over from the original $1.5 billion the government is ready to spend. And we can start right now, no bids, no digging, just place the orders. Start tomorrow and many of those farmers could be surfing the web in weeks.
Of course, any of these farms can order Starlink on their own and be connected as soon as their equipment arrives, no government program necessary.
Why wait for the government?
Broadband deserts don’t exist unless you insist on waiting for a fiber optic cable to run by your home or business. For those who can’t afford it, the government could provide Starlink with a tiny fraction of the money already allocated.
We didn’t run phone lines to everyone’s pocket so they could carry a smartphone and you don’t need fiber to get broadband internet. Broadband is available right now. The government wants you to wait so they can ride to your rescue, but the government can’t ride to your rescue if you don’t need their help. Help yourself.
Broadband Deserts Leave PA Farms Far Behind Neighbors
Gov. Shapiro shares plan to bring affordable high-speed internet at Union City visit
Rural Broadband Funding and Use Grow
Discover more from North East PA Online
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Kristen Currier says
You’d have to convince Elon to sign a government contract, which might be difficult, who knows. But if the satellite goes down and there is no contract, we are left with no high-speed which is our current situation. But on the hook for the monthly cost, plus start up. The start up fee for $600 might be easy to pay for some, but certainly not for all. There is no hard-wired high speed internet in certain areas; that is a fact. That leaves school children, families and businesses bereft of a way to complete work and daily responsibilities. This is 2023, not 1970. Every citizen needs access to reliable high speed internet. If Elon wants to offer it to everyone at the cost that other fiber optic options are available at to make an even playing field, great. Otherwise, still not feasible.
Paul Crowe says
SpaceX launch services puts government satellites in orbit, launched the Psyche mission to an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter for NASA just 4 days ago and ferries astronauts to the ISS so doing business with the government isn’t a new thing.
Your connection doesn’t depend on one satellite, it uses one as it passes overhead then switches to the next. If one fails, your connection may be out temporarily until the next satellite comes into view. Satellites do fail, sometimes they can be fixed remotely, sometimes their performance is reduced, but with around 5000 now in orbit and newer replacements being launched quite frequently, around 50 per launch, it isn’t a permanent problem.
No contracts. cancel anytime.
I absolutely agree, today, everyone needs high speed internet, but if the option is none or Starlink, then Starlink provides it now. If the government provides it then you wait until 2025. All of the “school children, families and businesses” you refer to get the benefits immediately until the government provided fiber gets run to their location, if it ever gets there. Fiber is great, but it takes a lot of time and money to cover all of the rural areas and for dramatically less money and far less time, you can get satellite broadband now.
I noted above, not everyone can afford it, but many can, those farms that were the focus of the article should be able to, especially if they calculate the business benefits of the connection. No solution is perfect, we can’t snap out fingers and make it happen, but getting some connected right away is better then doing nothing and then we figure out the best way to connect the rest.
Paul Crowe says
Another interesting update that reflects poorly on the government’s ability to get things done, is the current delay in approving the next launch of the SpaceX Starship which has been ready to go again for weeks.
The first launch resulted in damage to the launchpad and debris being scattered around the launch site. The FAA determined 63 corrective actions needed to be done and SpaceX has done them, plus redesigning and rebuilding the launchpad, but now the Fish and Wildlife Service is overseeing the last of the debris removal and after the FAA said approval would come in October, the Fish and Wildlife Service is now saying sometime in November. Plus the FAA said their resources are now so focused on Starship that the Falcon launches are being delayed because they don’t have the personnel to approve them.
The FAA and the Fish and Wildlife Service are approving Starship launches! Seriously?
Is this inept or intentional, or both?