Jasper County logs into broadband study

Enticed by the economic and community benefits of expanding high-speed internet into the mostly rural Jasper County, the board of supervisors on Tuesday offered its financial support and participation in a comprehensive study that would better identify the region’s broadband needs.

Coordinated by the Greater Des Moines Partnership, the Central Iowa Regional Broadband Study costs roughly $338,940, advocates said during a presentation at the Jasper County Board of Supervisors meeting. Prior to the meeting, the study had already collected about $120,000.

Ten Iowa counties — Adair, Dallas, Guthrie, Jasper, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Polk, Poweshiek and Warren — will be asked to provide contributions.

If all 10 participate, Jasper County will pay its per capita portion of $10,208 and have Jeff Davidson, executive director of JEDCO, serve as its regional representative on the study’s steering committee. Davidson said establishing good broadband in the county could drive further development.

“In the upcoming years, there’s probably not going to be anything more critical than high-speed internet service in terms of moving the economy of Jasper County forward — and, quite frankly, the economy of anywhere forward,” Davidson said.

David Maahs, executive vice president of economic development for the Greater Des Moines Partnership, echoed that same sentiment. He also said good broadband is important for people working from home, for educational purposes and other services like telehealth.

“It’s really a critical essential service these days,” Maahs said.

This study, in turn, would assess the county’s broadband needs with the help of citizen feedback, among other measures. Greater Des Moines Partnership formed a committee this summer to explore the possibilities of a multi-county study. The committee recommended HR Green, Inc. as its consultant.

Ken Demlow, project manager for HR Green, pointed out the COVID-19 pandemic has showed how incredibly important it is to have a quality high-speed internet infrastructure. HR Green is also excited to help improve broadband over 10 counties. As of Tuesday, Jasper was the fourth county approached.

All three supervisors were in favor of the study after extensive questioning.

The study will progress in phases. Once the steering committee is formed, Demlow said what comes next is data gathering, analysis of service gaps and then developing an action plan. Surveys will play a major part in gathering data and finding out what each county’s needs.

Jasper County Doug Cupples questioned if the study would require the county to pay for the broadband infrastructure. Demlow said it’s up to the individual counties to decide whether to invest in that type of infrastructure, but typically governments do not want to become the actual internet providers.

Demlow said the study will help the county understand where its gaps are, how to solve its broadband problems and know who it can partner with.

“Your decision will be: ‘Here’s our options, here’s some partners who would like to participate in those options, here’s some ways it can be funded. Do we want to fund it ourselves or our partners to do it?’ So you’ll have those pieces in front of you to decide what the best alternative is,” Demlow said.

Brandon Talsma, chair of the Jasper County Board of Supervisors, said that “is a pretty big deal” to know “all the partners and players.” Cupples said he’s not opposed to the concept, but still wanted to know what Jasper County will ultimately be responsible for when it comes to broadband.

Tanya Michener, the associate director of Newton Development Corporation and a member of the initial broadband committee, said the data gathering is going to be important. There are providers that “could be doing something, but they’re not,” she added. With that data, communities could better approach providers.

The timing of this study couldn’t be better, Demlow said, especially after West Des Moines moved forward with constructing an open-access broadband network with Google Fiber. Demlow said that is the national model and has helped “kicked some things in gear in Iowa and across the country.”

Talsma wanted to know why the state declined to contribute. Maahs explained the state money is available for grants to providers to install broadband infrastructure, and not for a study. Maahs also said the chief information office was contacted and reviewed the request for proposal.

“They’re supportive of what we’re doing, but their funding stream can’t go for studies,” Maahs said.

With cellular companies rolling out more 5G network cell towers as an alternative to broadband access, Talsma wondered what the trend would be. Demlow said there’s “an incredibly simple, basic answer” for that: 5G is fiber.

“You can’t have 5G without fiber,” Demlow said. “So 5G is an antenna, but that antenna has to be connected with fiber or the system doesn’t work. The whole concept is that there’s so much data that you’re putting out more cells to pull that into data.”

Talsma later said, “So, if anything, the broadband could build off the 5G fiber network.”

Demlow answered, “It will. That’s the way it works. I mean, that’s the only real way it works. So this actually is all just dominoes in the same path.”

Talsma wanted to know if the study’s data gathering will be a more comprehensive map so as to include the people living in unincorporated territories. Demlow confirmed the study will be comprehensive. Talsma said the study would be a good investment for Jasper County.

“It’s not that much money, and there’s obviously a broadband need,” Talsma said. “There was a broadband need before COVID ever hit. Ever since COVID hit, yeah, I would say it’s drastically increased. I think we are looking at some ways the business world is permanently changed.”

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com