Iowa: Leading The Way

This map of Iowa shows which communities have invested in municipal broadband networks. Many first generation copper networks have been upgraded to fiber.

Since the early 1990's, over two dozen Iowa communities have responded to the needs of their citizens by building and operating community-owned broadband networks, also known as municipal broadband utilities.

These communities vary in size from Primghar (pop. 909) to Cedar Falls (pop. 39,260), with the average population among Iowa municipal broadband communities of just under 6,000.

Regardless of size, these Iowa towns share a common commitment to providing fast, reliable, affordable, and universal broadband access to their citizens. They are governed locally, respond to local needs, and employ local citizens.

The first generation of municipal networks in Iowa were hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) networks that used a fiber backbone but used copper wire for the final few hundred feet. However, many of these first generation networks have now been upgraded to fiber-to-the-home as these communities realized the need for future-proof fiber technology to keep up with citizens' growing demands.

In addition to the communities on the map where networks have been built, a large number of Iowa towns have approved broadband utilities but have not built one. Several of those communities-including New Hampton, Charles City, Pella, Vinton, and Adair-are currently studying what it would take to build and operate their own fiber networks. It is likely that 2019-2020 will see several new community broadband networks being built in Iowa!

Adair, IA - Partnering for Better Broadband

Adair, Iowa is a small community just off Interstate 80 in western Iowa. Like many small towns, broadband access was becoming a big issue. With only one provider, Windstream, city leaders knew the community was falling behind its neighbors who were seeing upgrades to fiber networks.

Even the Adair water tower is excited about fiber!

So in 2017 the City conducted a Pre-Feasibility Study to measure citizen interest in a new provider. The City's goal was to build a city-owned network, then lease capacity to the independent communications company nearby, Casey Mutual Telephone.  The pre-feasibility study found strong community support for a city-owned utility, but the strongest indication of support came when a referendum to establish a city-owned telecommunications utility received 100% approval in March 2017.

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The next challenge was to come up with a business plan for a publicly-owned, privately-operated network that limited risk to both the City and Casey Mutual. Consultants worked closely with the City and Casey Mutual to develop a plan that made sense, explore funding options, etc. It took some time, but the business plan and agreement in principal was approved in May 2019. 

The City of Adair received a big boost for its project from the State of Iowa's Broadband Grant Program. Part of the "Future-Ready Iowa" initiative, Adair received a grant of $138,900 - approximately 15% of the construction project cost - from the program.  The City of Adair was the only municipality to receive funds from the first round of Iowa Broadband Grants.

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An engineering firm is currently designing a fiber-to-the-home network for Adair. If all goes well, construction can begin before the end of 2019 and Adair citizens will finally have access to state-of-the-art broadband services beginning in early 2020.

Vinton, IA - After Years of Talk, Progress

For more than 20 years, community activists in Vinton, Iowa were concerned about poor service from the legacy telephone and cable TV company. So concerned in fact that on two different occasions in the late 1990's and mid 2000's they tried to solve the problem by holding a municipal telecommunications referendum as required by Iowa law. Both attempts ended with voters rejecting the concept.

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But the problems - poor reliability and customer service - continued in Vinton despite the votes. And as access to fast, affordable, reliable internet became more and more important, activists decided to try one more time. iVinton, the community group promoting a municipal broadband utility, worked very hard during the months leading up to November 2017, and their efforts were rewarded when voters approved the referendum 88% to 12%.

The Vinton Municipal Communications Utility was formed and a feasibility study and business plan followed, showing that a city-owned fiber network would be viable. Vinton worked with consultants to identify possible partners that could help operate the network and lower costs through sharing equipment and expertise. Agreements were put in place for Vinton to become co-owner of a municipal cable TV facility in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and ImOn Communications was chosen as a partner for voice services, billing, internet bandwidth, and technical operations.

One of the biggest challenges in rolling out a new service of this type is identifying who the customers will be. Vinton chose an online platform for citizens to become "Fiber Ready", authorizing the utility to conduct a site survey and install a service drop at their premise. Within just a few weeks, over 1,000 homes and businesses signed up for a site survey, putting the new utility on track to exceed the financial projections in its business plan.

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Construction of a $9 million fiber-to-the-home network in Vinton, Iowa is now underway, with the first customer scheduled to be converted in late 2019.

The National Trend

The Institute for Local Self Reliance, which closely tracks community broadband developments across the nation, reports the following statistics:

• 55 municipal networks serving 108 communities with a publicly-owned FTTH citywide network
• 76 communities have a municipal fiber broadband network reaching all or most of the community
• 197 communities have some publicly owned fiber optic service available to parts of the community (often a business district)
• More than 130 communities in 27 states with a publicly owned network offering at least 1 gigabit services.

Why Are Community Broadband Networks Popular?

The number of community broadband networks across the nation is growing in large part because local citizens demand that their communities have access to the best broadband services possible.  Building a new broadband network today means building it using fiber optics, not copper wires. Fiber optics cables last decades with less maintenance and higher reliability than any other network technology.

Fiber optics is the future. And it is unlikely that incumbent providers will upgrade their networks to all fiber for a long time. So to bring the advantages that fiber offers, communities are choosing to do it themselves.

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Documents

"Broadband is Affordable Infrastructure", Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Spring 2019
"The Next Generation Network Connectivity Handbook", GigU: The Next Generation Network Innovation Project, July 2015
"Building The Gigabit City", Craig J. Settles, 2013
"Community Broadband Development Process", Blandin Foundation
"Fiber To The Home Primer", FTTH Council and Broadband Communities Magazine, Fall 2015

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Additional Online Resources

Community Broadband Action Network.   www.broadbandaction.com
Institute for Local Self Reliance.  www.muninetworks.org
CLIC-Coalition for Local Internet Choice.  www.localnetchoice.org
Fiber Broadband Association. www.fiberbroadband.org
Broadband Communities Magazine. www.bbcmag.com
Next Century Cities. https://nextcenturycities.org/