The Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program is meant to ensure that every American has access to affordable, high-speed internet connectivity. One of the variables that will determine whether the program can meet that goal is the number of people who are still unconnected when states start making their awards. Private sector financing and regional ISPs are helping to reduce that number, as communities choose to move forward with broadband builds, instead of waiting for BEAD.
West Virginia’s Randolph County is one such community. Thanks to help from a local bank, government funding, and optical vendor Ciena, this mountainous rural area is getting a new high-speed fiber network even though West Virginia has not yet started accepting applications for BEAD grants and the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program is no longer subsidizing internet access.
“We want the highest and the best services that we can provide into our communities because these communities are our homes,” said Robert Hinton, President and CEO of regional ISP Micrologic. “There is no reason small rural communities can’t have the same services as those available in major metro markets.”
Hinton said Micrologic is currently West Virginia’s largest provider of fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband service, with about 20,000 homes passed. But only about 5,000 of those homes actually take the service, which starts at $49/month for 50 Mbps. Hinton knew it was time for a network upgrade, and he said the availability of funding for fiber made it possible.
Micrologic has leveraged funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, the Capital Projects Fund and the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. West Virginia’s Office of Broadband is also supporting its fiber project. A major provider of private sector funding is Citizens Bank of West Virginia, a publicly traded company headquartered in Elkins, West Virginia.
“It’s one of a few locally owned and operated community banks that has the ability to make significant financing investments,” said Hinton. He described the bank’s commitment to community broadband as “almost a mission-driven model” and said that instead of a typical loan the bank was able to craft a “creative financing package” for Micrologic.
The $20 million Randolph County FIber Project is expected to bring high-speed fiber to 12,000 locations. $1,666/passing is more than most private equity firms want to pay for fiber projects, but Citizens Bank was willing to get involved because the fiber network lays the groundwork for companies in the community to expand, which may represent future business for the bank. In a press release, Citizens Bank president Nathanial Bonnell described the fiber financing as “laying the foundation for a brighter future.”
Micrologic’s Hinton said that roughly 60 percent of the homes passed so far have signed up for the service, which offers up to 1 Gbps for $69/month. If that take rate continues, the fiber network will be on track to serve more subscribers than Micrologic’s FWA network, even though the FWA network passes more homes. Some homes will be served by both networks, and Hinton said those people typically abandon FWA in favor of fiber.
Some of the homes Micrologic is passing with fiber will have a choice between two ISPs, Micrologic and Frontier Communications. But for many people, Micrologic’s fiber crews are delivering their first reliable high-speed internet connection. “Folks come up to the truck and say ‘When are we going to have service, when are you going to be finished?’” said Hinton. “There’s definitely a pent-up demand.”
Hinton said Micrologic needed a partner “that could provide hands-on support throughout the turn-up process and beyond,” and found that partner in Ciena. “We have been really impressed and taken aback at the level of support Micrologic continues to receive from Ciena,” he said.
In addition to optical line terminals, Ciena supplies Micrologic’s optical network units at the customer homes. Calix GigaSpire routers are used inside the customer homes.
Hinton said a number of customers receive discounts on their Micrologic internet service, as the ISP is committed to keeping them onboard despite the end of the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program.
“We have to set our business models appropriately to be able to go to market with a quality service that is affordable based on the markets that we’re entering,” Hinton explained. He said there are definitely low income customers in Randolph County, but also enterprises and organizations that are planning expansions once they have access to fiber.
By Martha DeGrasse, Inside Towers Contributing Analyst
This article represents the opinions of veteran telecom industry editor and journalist Martha DeGrasse, an Inside Towers Contributing Analyst with features appearing monthly. DeGrasse owns Network Builder Reports and contributes regularly to several publications. She was formerly a writer and editor with RCR Wireless and a TV business news producer.
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