Rural Interstate Corridor Communications Study

3.0 Potential Benefits of High-Speed Telecommunications in Rural Areas and Study Corridors

This section discusses the potential benefits of expanded access to HST in rural areas in general, and the study corridors in particular. The discussion is based in part on a review of national studies of HST benefits, especially to rural communities. It is further augmented with information obtained from corridor-level interviews, including State and regional planners, economic development officials, representatives of health care and educational institutions, and people involved with HST deployment initiatives. The following types of benefits are discussed:

• Quality of life;
• Economic development;
• Public safety and homeland security;
• Health care and telemedicine;
• Education and access to knowledge; and
• Transportation.

3.a. Quality of Life

A number of studies suggest the possibility that access to broadband for all Americans will improve the quality of life, provide for economic growth, and educational opportunities. For decades, the policy of the U.S. Government has been to extend basic voice telecommunications services to all its citizens, in all areas of the Nation, at comparable levels of service and at a reasonable cost. This “universal service” policy is articulated in Section 254 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which establishes six principles for “the preservation and advancement of universal service”:

• Quality services should be available at “just, reasonable, and affordable rates.”
• Access to “advanced” telecommunications services should be provided “in all regions of the Nation.”
• “Low-income consumers” and those in “rural, insular, and high-cost areas,” should have access to telecommunications services, including “interexchange and advanced services that are reasonably comparable” to those provided in urban areas, at rates “reasonably comparable” to rates in urban areas.
• All providers of telecommunications services should make “equitable and non-discriminatory” contributions to universal service goals.
• Mechanisms for Federal and State “advancement” (funding) of universal service should be “specific, predictable, and sufficient.”
• Schools, health care institutions, and libraries should be eligible for special rates and other concessions to ensure that they have affordable access to advanced telecommunications and information services.

Millions of Americans use the Internet every day for everything from e-commerce to telework, for entertainment, and for keeping in contact with relatives and friends. According to Nielsen/NetRatings, “Web sites for on-line gaming, instant messaging, e-mail, and social networking all made the top 10 list when ranked by average time per person among broadband users at home...The Web has become an integral part of everyday social life, particularly among kids and teens.” (Over Three-Fourths of U.S. Active Internet Users Connect Via Broadband At Home in November, According To Nielsen//NetRatings, December 12, 2006. URL: http://www.netratings.com/pr/pr_061212.pdf (accessed August 30, 2007).) The Internet can break down the barriers of distance and geography, making the same services available to people in remote rural areas as those in more densely settled urban and suburban neighborhoods. High-speed telecommunications also has the potential to reduce the isolation of the elderly and people with disabilities by connecting them with the larger community.

Access to broadband is not uniform, however. Policy-makers and public interest groups have expressed concern about a “digital divide” that offers advantages to people with access to the Internet and other computer and telecommunications services, leaving those without such resources behind in the competition for jobs and a better quality of life. This perspective was expressed in a 2005 report published by the Free Press, in which the author argues that “the United States is falling dramatically behind the rest of the industrialized world in broadband deployment. The digital divide seriously burdens economic growth and educational opportunity.” (Turner, S.D., Broadband Reality Check: The FCC Ignores America’s Digital Divide; Free Press with Consumers Union and Consumer Federation of America, August 2005.) The same report points out that “Almost 60 percent of households with incomes above $150,000 have a broadband connection, while less than 10 percent of households with incomes below $25,000 have a connection.”

Concerns over a “digital divide” may be overblown in some respects, according to other analysts. One such study suggested that the OECD analysis of broadband penetration on which these concerns are based (OECD Broadband Statistics – latest report (to December 2006) available at http://www.oecd.org/sti/ict/broadband (accessed August 24, 2007)) overlooks factors such as income, income inequality, education, population age, and population density, which have significant impacts on broadband adoption rates. From this perspective, “broadband adoption is not a race – broadband is instead a service purchased by households and businesses, and it is reasonable to expect that households and businesses in different societies with different conditions will make different purchasing decisions,” the paper’s authors argue. (Ford, George S., Thomas M. Koutsky, Lawrence J. Spiwak, The Broadband Performance Index: A Policy-Relevant Method of Assessing Broadband Adoption Among Countries, Phoenix Center Policy Paper No. 29, Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies, http://www.phoenix-center.org/pcpp/PCPP29Final.pdf (accessed August 24, 2007).)

The U.S. Department of State, in an April 24, 2007, letter to the Secretary-General of the OECD, pointed out that the methodology used to prepare the report on broadband penetration overlooks the fact that many Americans have broadband access available through the workplace or at access points such as libraries, schools, and wireless hotspots. The United States has more broadband users and more wireless Wi-Fi hotspots than any other country in the world, and many Americans gain access to the Internet through other than the subscriber lines accounted for in the OECD report. (Letter, Ambassador David A. Gross, United States Coordinator, International Communications and Information Policy, U.S. Department of State, to Mr. Angel Gurria, Secretary General, Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, April 24, 2007 http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/2007/State_OECD_042407.pdf (Accessed August 24, 2007).)

A May 2006 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that “about 30 million American households – or 28 percent – subscribed to broadband, although households in rural areas were less likely to subscribe to broadband service than were households in urban and suburban areas.” (“Broadband Deployment Is Extensive throughout the United States, but It Is Difficult to Assess the Extent of Deployment Gaps in Rural Areas.” GAO-06-426, United States Government Accountability Office, Washington, D.C., May 2006.) The report goes on to note that “households with high incomes were 39 percentage points more likely to adopt broadband than lower-income households, and those with a college-educated head of household were 12 percentage points more likely to purchase broadband than households headed by someone who did not graduate from college. While rural households are less likely to adopt broadband, our findings indicate that this difference may be related in part to the lower availability of broadband in rural areas.”

3.b. Economic Development

The adoption of HST can support economic development in a variety of ways. Studies at a regional and national level have shown that HST can increase business productivity and reduce costs by increasing the efficiency of intrabusiness, business-to-business, and business-to-consumer interactions, and by facilitating expanded interaction among businesses, suppliers, and consumers. Furthermore, the availability of HST in specific geographic areas is increasingly becoming a critical factor in business location decisions. As HST becomes the norm, areas without affordable access to HST service will increasingly find it difficult to attract or retain businesses. The same holds true for residential populations, as consumers become more and more accustomed to having broadband connections available at the household level for work and/or personal use.

A Department of Commerce report on “Measuring Economic Impact of Broadband Deployment” (Sharon E. Gillett, Lehr, W.H., Osorio, C.A. Sirbu, M.A. Measuring the Economic Impact of Broadband Deployment, Final Report. National Technical Assistance, Training, Research, and Evaluation Project #99-07-13829, Submitted to the Economic Development Administration, U.S Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C.; February 28, 2006) and its access in communities “supports the view that broadband access does enhance economic growth and performance, and that the assumed economic impacts of broadband are real and measurable.” This report uses total employment in each community as its proxy for economic development. Total employment, when controlled for other possible factors such as overall employment growth nationwide during the study period, population density, or education levels, increased by 1 to 1.5 percent in communities with broadband access when compared to similar communities without high-speed telecommunications. Other possible measures of economic development, such as wages, did not show a significant impact for broadband availability when control factors were taken into consideration. The statistical analysis performed by the researchers also indicated a positive impact for broadband availability on measures such as number of business establishments and industry structure and mix; availability of broadband telecommunications contributed to an increase of about one-half a percentage point for information-technology intensive sectors, as well as a modest increase in the number of business establishments.

A follow-on investigation of the impacts of broadband access in the Appalachian Region showed that communities in which broadband became available by December 1999 experienced more rapid growth in employment and the overall number of businesses than otherwise-similar communities in the region, and also enjoyed higher market rates for rental housing.

An econometric study of the impact of municipal broadband in Florida used gross sales data from a panel of comparable counties to estimate the impact of improved broadband access on economic growth. Lake County, Florida and the City of Leesburg implemented a municipal broadband network in 2001, offering high-speed access to businesses and government institutions in hopes of stimulating economic activity. The analysis indicated that Lake County experienced a monthly growth rate in gross sales of 0.843 percent, against the matched set of counties that had not implemented municipal broadband access, which grew at an average of 0.419 percent. When results for a similar panel of counties are compared, per capita growth in gross sales showed a similar result, with “per-capita economic activity in Lake County [growing] at more than twice the rate (0.507 percent per month) of the control group of Florida counties (0.222 percent per month).” (Ford, George S. and Koutsky, T.M., “Broadband and Economic Development: A Municipal Case Study from Florida.” Applied Economic Studies, April 2005. URL: http://www.freepress.net/docs/broadband_and_economic_development_aes.pdf (accessed August 30, 2007).)

For the three rural corridors examined in this study, interviews with local officials (including regional planners, State and regional economic development officials, and others involved with broadband deployment initiatives) provided insights into the specific economic development benefits that might be realized through expanded HST deployment. Interviewees noted that while HST services – especially DSL and/or cable modem – are generally available in the urban population centers in each corridor, their availability in rural areas with low population densities is often limited to nonexistent. Even where HST services are available, they tend to be more expensive as a result of the higher cost of serving these areas and lack of competition. This is especially true for the high-speed services (e.g., T-1 and T-3 connections) increasingly required by businesses. The availability of wireless services is increasing, but lags well behind the traditional wireline services and is hampered by issues such as topography and permitting requirements for tower siting, as well as investment costs.

Interviewees further confirmed that the lack of affordable HST services is increasingly a barrier to retaining and attracting business activity as well as residential population. Many parts of the corridors have suffered from stagnant or declining population over the past few decades as younger residents in particular move to urban areas for educational, employment, and social opportunities, and as traditional employment bases such as agriculture and manufacturing have declined. On the other hand, these areas also have inherent positive attributes such as a more relaxed quality of life and lower housing costs. As a result, some areas – especially those relatively close to urban centers and major educational and health care institutions, and those with especially noteworthy scenic and natural characteristics – are experiencing a renewed population influx.

Interviewees noted that if the proposed rural interstate highway corridor communications study could influence the availability and/or affordability of HST services, it would generally have benefits for local economic development. In contrast to traditional economic development initiatives, which focus on attracting larger businesses such as manufacturers, the benefits would especially accrue through strengthening the “new economy” – high-technology industries, especially start-ups and small business. These benefits would primarily occur for three reasons:

• Attracting new population, especially of “knowledge workers,” who can work remotely while enjoying a rural lifestyle;
• Supporting local entrepreneurs and small businesses, who rely on the Internet for connection to suppliers, consumers, and other business partners; and
• Expanding the geographic areas that already are benefiting from proximity to knowledge-based growth centers in the major metropolitan areas, while providing lower-cost housing and business options.

These themes were generally common across all three study corridors. However, each corridor also has its own unique economic conditions and needs.

“Interviewees further confirmed that the lack of affordable HST services is increasingly a barrier to retaining and attracting business activity as well as residential population.”

The I-20 Corridor is rich in mineral resources and has historically been economically focused on agriculture and mining. The development of oil resources and processing facilities in the corridor has resulted in high production levels of crude petroleum, natural gas, and natural gas liquid. In recent years, manufacturing and tourism have become an important part of the economies in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Various economic development initiatives have been undertaken in the corridor, many of them technology focused. Examples include the Consortium for Education, Research, and Technology of North Louisiana (CERT), formed in 1996 in Shreveport, Louisiana, and the Central Louisiana Business Incubator (CLBI) in Alexandria, Louisiana. CERT organizes and delivers a variety of programs and services to support the growth and success of the region’s industry, in particular, providing training and other development programs to the workforce of northern Louisiana. (http://www.certla.org/vision.asp (accessed August 30, 2007).) CLBI is a not-for-profit corporation created as an economic tool designed to accelerate the growth and success of entrepreneurial companies through a business support resources and services. (http://www.clbi.org (accessed August 30, 2007).)

The I-90 Corridor is rich in natural resources and has historically been economically focused on agriculture, mining, and manufacturing. In recent years, however, tourism has become an important part of the economies in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota. Popular attractions such as Mount Rushmore, Badlands National Park (South Dakota), and Wisconsin Dells, bring thousands of visitors to the corridor each year. In South Dakota, manufacturing, food processing, technology, back office, and financial services sectors are all experiencing growth along the corridor. South Dakota also is targeting and expects additional growth opportunities in the energy, biotechnology, and advanced manufacturing industries.

In the I-91 Corridor, particular areas of economic opportunity include emerging high-technology, service, and specialty manufacturing sectors – such as biomedical devices, information technology, alternative energy, artisan/specialty product manufacture, and tourism. Two portions of the corridor – the “Five-College” region of Central Massachusetts (including Amherst, Northampton, and vicinity) and the “Upper Valley” region of New Hampshire and Vermont (including Hanover, Lebanon, and White River Junction) are uniquely influenced by the presence of major universities and research institutions, which have not only created a stable population base but also led to spin-off businesses, especially in the health care and information technology areas. Regional economic development councils exist in all three corridor states to promote economic development, and some have focused on expanding HST access as a key component of their strategy. For example, the Pioneer Valley Connect project is working to bring broadband to the rural communities in Franklin County, Massachusetts, one-third of which have no cable or DSL broadband service. In northern Vermont, the North Link project is an initiative to expand the fiber optic telecommunications backbone across the State from New York to New Hampshire, through public-private partnerships. The project is being coordinated with Vermont’s I-91 fiber project and would strongly benefit from the development of a fiber or wireless backbone along I-91.

Interviewees did understand that simply deploying a fiber optics or wireless HST along I-91 was no guarantee that economic benefits would be realized. Many areas already have sufficient backbone – instead, they suffer from a lack of “last mile” connections due to the high costs of serving low-density areas and the resulting lack of private sector interest. Stakeholders noted that the project must not only provide for local access but also sufficiently reduce costs to private providers to make provision of middle and last-mile services economically feasible. Furthermore, many of the rural areas continue to suffer from other, more traditional challenges to economic development, such as lack of an educated workforce and distance from urban centers. Portions of each corridor that are particularly remote and do not have other major attributes of significance (e.g., a tourism or natural resource base) are therefore less likely to experience economic development benefits as a result of improved HST access. Nevertheless, affordable HST service will become increasingly important simply for supporting economic activity in these areas.

3.c. Public Safety and Homeland Security

HST and broadband connectivity can significantly enhance homeland security applications. Public safety and security officials at all levels of government can benefit from the ready availability of sophisticated data in more usable forms (e.g., geospatial data). Robust communications infrastructure can facilitate the availability of such information directly to service providers and first responders, wherever and whenever they need it. Virtually every aspect of homeland security involves information sharing among local, State, and Federal Government officials, including border security, emergency response capacity, biological, chemical, and radiological threat assessment and monitoring, and physical infrastructure management. Broadband will greatly enhance the capacity to share vast quantities of data across government agencies and all levels of government. (Report on Building Out Broadband, Findings and Recommendations, The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, December 4, 2002. URL: http://www.ostp.gov/PCAST/FINAL%20Broadband%20Report%20With%20Letters.pdf (accessed August 30, 2007).)

In the post-9/11 environment, the effectiveness of public safety partly depends on the ability of government agencies and public officials to collect and assess information about potential threats, and to disseminate critical information quickly and reliably to Federal, State, and local authorities and, in certain cases, to the public at large. Additionally, if civil defense or other information needs to be communicated directly to the public, broadband connectivity to the home would enable individual citizens to receive information quickly and with appropriate graphical, media, and other enhancements. Broadband availability and adoption also will enable the Department of Homeland Security and other Federal Government entities to share information on existing homeland security projects, “best practices,” and other useful information. (Ibid.)

Transportation agencies play a critical role in the response to catastrophic events. In the period running up to a foreseeable natural disaster such as a hurricane, highway and transit agencies facilitate emergency evacuation procedures, and may play a role in the prepositioning of personnel and supplies. While operations may be suspended during an actual disaster event, transit and highway operators also provide vital services in the immediate response efforts by enabling the evacuation of disaster victims and moving first responders to the scene. Over the long term, while operators may themselves face challenges in restoring infrastructure and services, transportation agencies continue to assist in emergency support activities relating to logistics in conjunction with other responders.
In emergencies, local authorities could benefit from a high-speed broadband network and the software tools that enable authorities to immediately access, combine, and visualize critical infrastructure and public safety data without needing to engage in time-consuming and risky data conversion exercises. Fully realized, these systems can quickly draw on and visualize a wide variety of interrelated data, such as building floor plans and other architectural details, location of physical assets, demographic information, evacuation routes, hazardous material threats, and wind direction, among other information. Thus, with a broadband network and sophisticated software deployed among government entities, public safety, and homeland defense can be enhanced in a variety of ways that directly benefit citizens.

The following are examples of homeland security applications where HST is increasingly critical:

• Remote surveillance at border crossings and rural airports;
• Monitoring of critical infrastructure, including bridges, tunnels, railroad facilities, key transfer points, and critical installations (e.g., power plants, water treatment centers);
• Communications during emergencies (public, emergency response/coordination, video conferencing), including information sharing between operations centers (e.g., Traffic Management Center (TMC) to statewide Emergency Operations Center);
• Transfer of data and image files (e.g., photos of suspected terrorists), location photos and video (e.g., information retrieval, risk assessment);
• Remote medical emergency consultation and treatment by first responders on scene;
• Remote control of robotics in dangerous situations; and
• Position location technology to assist in rescue.

Within the study corridors, improved HST availability and reliability can support the mission of first responders and agencies playing a role in public safety and homeland security. Furthermore, all of the study corridor States also are potentially subject to natural disasters (caused by hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and winter storms) or man-made disasters. Statewide emergency response coordination increasingly depends on high-reliability, high-speed telecommunications for interoperability among transportation operations centers and emergency operations centers.

States in each of the three study corridors have undertaken a variety of initiatives to protect the security of critical transportation systems and infrastructure throughout the State, and to develop transportation and telecommunications systems to respond to acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and other emergency events. States typically have Emergency Operations Centers (EOC) which are linked to other agencies and emergency responders through a variety of wired and wireless technologies such as traditional radio, telephone, and telefax data systems, which may be supported by virtual private networks, high-frequency phones and radios, satellite networks, and other advanced communications technologies. EOCs may be linked to traffic operations centers (TOCs), as they are in Massachusetts and Mississippi. State DOTs may have access to other agencies’ communications networks; for example, the Minnesota State DOT has access to a wireless communications network operated by State Patrol.

“Communications and Emergency Management are Synonymous”

The State of Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness points out that “Communications and Emergency Management are synonymous.” (http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov/commo/commoindex.htm (accessed August 30, 2007).) The Office “must be able to pass critical information to all of the parishes, State agencies, and other partner organizations located within Louisiana as well as communicate with the surrounding States and Federal agencies.” In addition to traditional methods such as telephone, fax, and basic radio, Louisiana makes use of an 800 MHz trunked radio system maintained by the Louisiana State Police. This system provides both voice messaging and transmission of images. A satellite communications system provides access from all parishes in the State, and utilizes satellite information feeds from the Data Transmission Network (DTN) weather and satellite television, which supplements traditional wired feeds. The Alabama Department of Homeland Security has placed a priority on improving interoperable telecommunications and on expanding critical infrastructure protection.

All of these information sharing strategies depend on highly reliable, high-speed telecommunications access. Continued, and in some cases expanded, availability of such capacity is a critical element of emergency response and preparedness throughout the corridors. In Vermont, for example, there currently is no system that will permit immediate and secure communications to police, fire, and emergency medical personnel simultaneously. The Vermont Homeland Security Unit proposes to build an enhanced two-way radio system and mobile data network that will meet the communications needs of a variety of State, local, and county emergency service providers (ESP). The exchange of critical information among emergency first responders, whether by voice over a radio handset, via computer systems or face-to-face communications is crucial to the effectiveness of response operations.

Border crossing surveillance at the Canadian border in Vermont represents a potential benefit of HST backbone along the I-91 Corridor. Local officials in northern Vermont note that existing telecommunications capacity in the region is quite limited. Communications along the border currently are run by digital microwave, which is sufficient for transmitting still photos but not much else. As a result, border crossing operations are unable to take advantage of advanced technologies such as linked surveillance cameras and high-speed database access. These technological limitations are leading not only to potential breaches of security at the border but also to long traffic delays at major crossing points, including I-91, due to the lengthy time it takes customs officials to send and receive data over existing Internet connections. Customs processing typically takes 15 to 45 minutes per commercial vehicle, relying on old computer equipment and hampered by slow data connections, and there are occasional border shutdowns due to connectivity issues.

3.d. Health Care and Telemedicine

High-speed telecommunications can make a significant contribution to improvements in rural health care through “telemedicine.” Telemedicine encompasses a variety of techniques to bring specialized medical knowledge to remote locations through the sharing of images, health data, and real-time interaction between doctors and patients. HST can further support medical cost savings and improvements in the efficiency and quality of health care service delivery by facilitating the use of electronic health information systems (EHIS) and other administrative systems. As described in Section

1.C of this report, funding to improve telecommunications for health care is available under the Universal Service Fund.

In addition to reviewing national investigations into the benefits of HST for rural communities, the study team conducted interviews with State health officials as well as private and nonprofit health care providers in each corridor to identify specific local needs as well as the benefits of HST backbone deployment. The findings of national studies and corridor interviews are largely consistent. The potential health care benefits of expanded HST availability in the study corridors can be summarized as follows:

• Facilitating high-speed connections to community hospitals and treatment centers, to support the provision of telemedicine services offered through major network affiliates, expanded use of other videoconferencing services, and large data/image file transfer;
• Facilitating adoption of HST by primary care practices and local clinics and treatment centers, thereby encouraging the adoption of practices, including electronic medical records, electronic billing, telemedicine, and distance education; and
• Supporting the introduction of home health care monitoring systems to reduce travel needs and medical costs associated with in-person visits, as well as improve the quality and use of home care.

Case Study: Telemedicine Working for Massachusetts Martha’s Vineyard, the Massachusetts resort destination off Cape Cod, had a problem. The island, with a year-round population of 15,000 and a summer population peak of 120,000, could expect to see about 25 stroke patients a year, but cost considerations limited the kinds of immediate therapy that Martha’s Vineyard Hospital could offer. Administering tissue palsminogen activator (tPA), the only drug shown to be effective, was not an option; emergency room doctors would ideally have an opportunity to confer with a neurologist to determine whether a patient was having a stroke and whether administering tPA was the right response. The problem is the small but significant percentage of patients who suffer bleeding in the brain with tPA, which could be fatal. Emergency room physicians wanted to avoid the risk of giving tPA to patients with stroke-like symptoms who did not actually suffer a stroke. With only one neurologist practicing on the island, and facing an annual cost of half a million dollars to make a neurologist always available on staff, hospital executives could not justify the cost for the limited number of cases they could expect. In addition, access to MRI images would make diagnosis and treatment easier, but the hospital could not afford the $1.5 million cost to acquire and install an MRI scanner. Enter telemedicine via TeleStroke, a program managed by two Harvard teaching hospitals, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Martha’s Vineyard Hospital signed up with TeleStroke. This gave emergency room physicians access to stroke neurologists at the Boston-area hospitals through videoconferencing and image-sharing technology, enabled by broadband telecommunications. At $10,000 per year, TeleStroke let the attending physicians consult with experienced neurologists, who could examine the patient remotely and help make the decision on whether to give tPA. “A Vital Link: Cost Put a Stroke Treatment Out of Reach, Then Technology Made It Possible,” The New York Times, May 28, 2007. URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/28/health/28strokehosp.html (accessed 08/30/2007).

Most major medical facilities in the study corridors already are linked into regional and national high-speed telecommunications networks, and therefore may not directly benefit from additional HST backbone infrastructure. They will benefit indirectly, however, to the extent that the HST backbone improves their ability to connect with local clinics, private practices, and home users. Similar to economic development, the primary HST needs in each corridor appear to be for making broadband available at affordable rates to end users outside of the major cities and towns. Some community hospitals and local clinics are still not linked into high-speed networks, limiting their ability to participate in telemedicine programs or to transmit large images or data files in real-time. Many smaller practices do not have broadband access. Furthermore, some interviewees noted that given the potentially huge bandwidth needs of many telemedicine applications – especially those requiring two-way video and audio – more HST backbone capacity may be required in the future in some areas.

HST availability is not the only limiting factor to deployment of telemedicine and other HST-reliant health care technologies. A number of other institutional, technological, and cost barriers need to be overcome before widespread benefits can be achieved. Telemedicine programs must be developed and offered, and capabilities developed at smaller clinics and practices to make use of these programs. States and the major medical networks must establish electronic health information system architecture. In addition, start-up costs and the learning curve for adopting Internet technology can prove a challenging barrier for small, private practices and community health centers. Finally, the same barriers to broadband use – cost and technology – exist at a home level for many potential users. This may be especially true among the elderly populations who are the primary beneficiary of home-based telemedicine applications.

Telemedicine and EHIS initiatives are being led in each of the study corridors by major health care institutions as well as State agencies. Examples of telemedicine programs include the Sanford Health Telemedicine Program in South Dakota in the I-90 corridor, Louisiana State University’s Health Sciences Center Medical Informatics and Telemedicine Program in the I-20 corridor, and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire in the I-91 corridor. Most states also have undertaken initiatives to develop electronic health information systems. While these programs are in their nascent stages, they have been growing rapidly just in the past few years. To reduce health care costs, Massachusetts is considering requiring the use of electronic accounting systems by all medical practices – meaning that broadband access will be a virtual requirement throughout the State. As these programs further develop and as HST becomes more widely available, their application in rural areas could increase greatly if HST is available in rural areas.

3.e. Education and Access to Knowledge

Information and communications technology has great power to enhance education. Today’s students have grown up with technology and expect to be able to use it. There has been explosive growth in the availability of on-line instruction and virtual schools, complementing traditional instruction with high-quality courses tailored to the needs of individual students. Students can access abundant, accessible, and up-to-date subject information on the Internet. Tests now can be taken on-line, giving students, teachers, and parents almost instant feedback. The U.S. Department of Education suggests, in fact, that information and communications technology could support significant, measurable improvements in the educational performance of the Nation’s students over the next several decades. (U.S. Department of Education. “Toward A New Golden Age In American Education: How the Internet, the Law, and Today’s Students are Revolutionizing Expectations.” National Education Technology Plan 2004, http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/plan/2004/plan.pdf (accessed August 30, 2007).)

The potential benefits of the Internet for education extend especially to rural areas. Smaller primary and secondary schools serving dispersed rural populations can share teaching resources and offer access to specialized instruction that would not be possible through face-to-face interaction. At a college and university level, the Internet can make library resources at other universities and in larger cities accessible and on-line course offerings can support home-based learning and reduce travel needs. The Internet also facilitates collaboration among different research institutions. HST is increasingly a necessity for all of these applications due to the growing bandwidth requirements of transmitting graphics-intensive material, as well as audio and video.

As previously noted, the Federal Government has undertaken initiatives to ensure that all schools have access to the Internet through the Universal Service Fund and E-Rate Program. States within the study corridors also have undertaken various initiatives to support K-12 connectivity. For example, South Dakota’s Office of Curriculum, Technology, and Assessment provides some form of HST – including a minimum of a T-1 circuit – to every K-12 public school, public higher educational institution, and government office. Iowa’s statewide fiber optic network, the Iowa Communications Network, connects 402 K-12 schools, 148 public community colleges and universities, 17 private colleges or universities, 8 hospitals, and 50 public libraries across the State. The Mississippi Department of Education is presently building a statewide K-12 telecommunications network. Vermont’s K12net initiative to provide network access to K-12 schools has linked nearly 300 of the 400 public and independent K-12 schools as well as more than 100 public libraries, although most are connected through one or more dial-in connections rather than dedicated high-speed lines.

America’s colleges and universities, while not eligible for the E-Rate Program, make extensive use of high-speed telecommunications to link research laboratories across different campuses and institutions, and to provide their students with access to course materials, university libraries, and administrative resources. Several university consortia have been established to connect research institutions through the use of leased lines or dedicated facilities. Within the study corridors, for example, all public higher educational institutions in Minnesota belong to one of six Learning Network of Minnesota regions. The Learning Network works with the campuses to ensure that they have HST access to support academic and administrative programs. The University of Alabama System Intercampus Interactive Telecommunications System provides a networked system of conference rooms at 20 sites across the State. In the I-91 Corridor, the Five-College Consortium in western Massachusetts is undertaking its own effort to link its college campuses with a fiber optic loop.

Interviews with education interests in the three study corridors suggest that the primary short-term education-related HST needs appear to be for more universal availability of affordable broadband services to end users, including households, primary and secondary schools, and libraries. For postsecondary institutions, HST capacity is generally adequate for existing needs, but costs are often a significant concern. Some of the more remote campuses, especially, lack affordable bandwidth. In the long run, even the major institutions of higher education are likely to require increased telecommunications backbone capacity, as data transmission volumes for research, administrative, and distance learning applications continue to increase.

3.f. Rural Telecommunications and Transportation

The Nation’s interstate highway system has contributed greatly to improvements in safety, mobility, and economic development. Although interstate highways comprise only 1.2 percent of the Nation’s roadways, they carry 24.4 percent of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per year. (FHWA Highway Statistics, 2005.) Travel on the interstate highway system also is safer than on any other part of the national highway network; the fatality rate of 1.18 per 100 million VMT on rural interstate highways is a rate of between 50 and 60 percent lower than other types of roads in the Nation’s road system. 9AASHTO and Transportation Construction Coalition, The Interstate Highway System Fifty Years and Looking Forward, June 28-29, 2006.) The interstate highway system enables the safe and efficient movement of people and goods from city to city and from State to State. The recent celebration of 50 years of the interstate highway system underscored the tremendous contribution made by the partnership between the State and Federal Governments that produced this phenomenal engineering achievement.

In May 2006 the U.S. DOT announced a major initiative to reduce transportation system congestion. This plan, the National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America’s Transportation Network (often referred to as the “Congestion Initiative”), provides a blueprint for Federal, State, and local officials in their efforts to respond to the growing challenge of congestion. It includes six major components: 1) Relieve urban congestion; 2) Unleash private sector investment resources; 3) Promote operational and technological improvements; 4) Establish corridors of the future; 5) Target major freight bottlenecks and expand freight policy outreach; and 6) Accelerate major aviation capacity projects and provide a future funding framework. Congestion in U.S. transportation systems has a substantial adverse impact on the U.S. economy and on quality of life for millions of Americans. According to the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), in 2003, congestion in the top 85 U.S. urban areas caused 3.7 billion hours of travel delay and 2.3 billions gallons of wasted fuel, for a total cost of $63 billion. Beyond lost time and fuel, transportation congestion imposes significant additional costs on U.S. businesses. Congestion affects the cost of shipping, and forces manufacturers and retailers to keep additional material on hand to hedge against late deliveries. International trade also suffers; in 2005, congestion at the Otay Mesa and Tecate crossings along the California-Mexico border was estimated by the San Diego Association of Governments to cost the U.S. economy $3.7 billion in output and almost 40,000 jobs. Aside from the congestion triggered by the rapidly growing demand for travel in comparison with a relatively static supply of highway capacity, congestion is caused by a number of additional factors, including traffic incidents, special events, weather, work zones, and poor signal timing. According to FHWA, approximately half of all congestion can be traced to “recurring” causes such as physical bottlenecks and poor signal timing, and the other half to “non-recurring” causes such as crashes, work zones, and weather. While congestion is primarily a problem in larger urban areas, it is increasingly occurring in small urban as well as rural areas. Causes of rural congestion include seasonal traffic to major weekend and tourist destinations, as well as events such as work zones, severe weather, and traffic incidents.

As the Nation’s transportation system operators deploy more advanced ITS technology for traffic management and traveler information, the ability to communicate in real-time, or near real-time, becomes critically important. Intelligent transportation systems contribute to improved transportation safety and mobility and enhance productivity through the use of advanced communications and transportation management technologies. ITS uses a broad range of wireless and wireline communications-based information and electronics technologies. When integrated into the transportation system’s infrastructure, and into vehicles themselves, these technologies relieve congestion, improve safety, and enhance American productivity. (What is ITS? United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), Joint Program Office (JPO). URL: http://www.its.dot.gov/its_overview.htm (accessed August 30, 2007).)

Reliable, high-speed communications and appropriate interfaces and data processing technology are vital to any ITS deployment. A high-speed telecommunications backbone along the three corridors will not only enhance existing ITS services, but also will facilitate and accelerate the deployment of new ITS technologies and services. A telecommunications network supports ITS which in turn supports improved mobility, safety, and efficiency in the transportation network.

From a rural corridor perspective, the following are the major ITS strategies that could be relevant and useful:

• Crash prevention and safety – e.g., ramp rollover systems, advanced curve warning systems, downhill speed detection systems, highway-rail intersection safety systems, intersection collision avoidance and warning systems, road hazard detection and management systems. As an example of benefits, a ramp rollover warning system for trucks was installed at three curved exit ramps on the I-495 beltway around Washington, D.C. in 1993. Prior to deployment there were 10 truck rollover accidents at these sites between 1985 and 1990. After deployment, no accidents were recorded between 1993 and 1997. (ITS Benefits Database, “Evaluation Results of Three Prototype Automatic Truck Rollover Warning Systems,” Strickland, R.R. and H.W. McGee. URL: http://www.itsbenefits.its.dot.gov/its/benecost.nsf/ID/22D73F749A104372852569610051E2DF?OpenDocument&Query=BApp (accessed August 30, 2007).)
• Roadway operations and maintenance – e.g., winter weather management systems such as fog detection and warning systems, road weather information systems, bridge de-icing systems, and automated ramp and road closure systems; and work zone safety and management systems. As an example of benefits, the Minnesota DOT uses mainline and ramp closure gates to close segments of freeways during severe weather. During a 1998 storm, closure allowed Interstate 90 to be cleared four hours earlier than nearby Highway 75, with I-90 clearance costs being 18 percent lower than those for Highway 75. (“Documentation and Assessment of Mn/DOT Gate Operations” Prepared for the Minnesota Department of Transportation by BRW, Inc. October 1999. URL: http://www.dot.state.mn.us/guidestar/pdf/gatereport.pdf (accessed August 30, 2007).)
• Regional and interstate traveler information dissemination and coordination – e.g., traveler information provision at rest areas, dedicated traveler information for long-haul truck traffic, coordination of information across State lines. For example, 75 to 85 percent of travelers in rural tourist areas in Missouri and Arizona expressed satisfaction with overall travel conditions as a result of advanced traveler information systems. (USDOT, ITS JPO, ITS Benefits-Costs Database. URL: http://www.itsbenefits.its.dot.gov/its/benecost.nsf/ID/A92C72A81C4C0D6185256B96004D63ED?OpenDocument&Query=BMeasure (accessed August 30, 2007).)
• Emergency management – e.g., severe weather-related traveler and traffic information provision, hurricane evacuation and warning, AMBER alert systems.
• Paratransit management – e.g., automated scheduling and dispatch systems for transportation of disabled and elderly persons in remote locations.
• Intermodal freight management and commercial vehicle operations – e.g., automated weigh-in-motion systems, oversize/overweight load permitting systems, specialized traveler information provision for long-haul truck traffic, commercial vehicle onboard safety and inspection, commercial vehicle information systems and networks, hazardous materials management, intermodal asset terminal and shipment security systems. As an example of benefits, a study in Montana indicated that using automated weigh-in-motion (WIM) data instead of weigh station data for freeway pavement design could lead to savings of about $4.1 million each year in construction costs. (Stephens, J. and J. Carson, “Follow-On Evaluation of the Montana Department of Transportation’s State Truck Activities Reporting System,” Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. URL: http://www.mdt.mt.gov/publications/docs/brochures/mcs_stars_final_report.pdf (accessed August 30, 2007).)

Strategies such as arterial management, freeway management, transit management, incident management, and special event management also apply to rural corridors, but to a lesser extent; these strategies already may be in use in some of the urbanized areas within the corridors, where greater availability of high-speed telecommunications would contribute to more widespread deployment.
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) apply advanced technologies, particularly telecommunications, to the field of transportation in order to improve the safety and efficiency of travel. One well-known example is electronic toll collection, whereby motorists can pay roadway tolls using special transponders without the need to stop and pay at a conventional tollbooth.

Figure 13: Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII)

3.F.i. Vehicle Infrastructure Integration

Despite the progress that has been made with ITS and other transportation initiatives, each year over 42,000 fatalities occur on U.S. roadways and billions of hours are lost to traffic congestion. The Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) initiative is an ambitious ITS concept that seeks to enable substantial improvements in safety and reduction in delays via a nationwide, coordinated network of communications between vehicles and the roads they are traveling on, as well as among vehicles themselves as shown in Figure 13. These communication capabilities would be used to exchange safety messages and improve traffic flow. For example, a vehicle that is braking sharply could send a warning message (wirelessly and instantaneously) to the vehicles behind it, allowing those drivers to take action to avoid a rear-end collision.

VII is a Federal initiative, with research and planning sponsored by the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office. A public-private partnership, bringing together the DOT, State, and local governments, the automobile manufacturers, and other private partners such as technology and telecommunications providers and consultants, has been established to investigate the feasibility and advisability of creating such a network.

VII communications are based on a protocol called Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), operating at 5.9 gigahertz, a frequency designated for this purpose by the Federal Communications Commission. (Further technical details can be obtained from the VII program.) The VII initiative envisions that at some point in the future all vehicles sold in the United States would be equipped with compatible communications equipment – that is, a DSRC radio, along with a Global Positioning System to pinpoint the vehicle’s location. Likewise, DSRC units would be installed at regular intervals along the sides of all major roadways to provide communications links between vehicles and the roadways.

With this basic infrastructure in place, any number of specific applications could be enabled. Since the primary goal of VII is to improve the safety of travel, many of its envisioned uses are safety-related warnings and driver assistance programs. A secondary aim is to reduce delays and congestion, and the associated air pollution and wasted fuel, through applications such as improved traffic signal timing patterns and information for travelers. For transportation agencies, an additional benefit of VII is that it would capture an enormous store of real-time data on traffic volumes, vehicle speeds, and roadway weather conditions, which could be used to improve traffic management, incident management, maintenance, and local transportation planning. Successful implementation of VII would require high speed communications links between roadside equipment and a national network of servers to accommodate back office functions that would support safety- and mobility-related functions, as well as other lower-priority applications that would be permitted by rule.

3.g. Economic Value of Potential Benefits

While some national studies have been conducted on the potential monetary economic benefits of HST improvements, these studies are by necessity incomplete and speculative. As a result, a full analysis of the potential value of improved HST access in each of the study corridors could not be conducted. Nevertheless, some sketch-level estimates were made to examine the order of magnitude of potential benefits, based on national studies of monetary benefits per household scaled to corridor populations and characteristics.

Previous studies have quantified three general types of benefits:

• Benefits to households adopting broadband, as measured through either consumer welfare (surplus) or through direct cost savings;
• Producer surplus benefits from increased output of telecommunications equipment and services; and
• Medical cost savings and increased labor force participation specifically for the elderly and disabled.

Estimates of corridor-level household benefits are based on a well-publicized study for Verizon by Criterion Economics (Crandall and Jackson, 2002), which claimed that a $500 billion cumulative nationwide impact from broadband would be possible. The authors take two independent approaches to estimating the potential annual nationwide benefits resulting from increased broadband adoption at a household level – one based on consumer surplus (peoples’ willingness to pay for service), and one based on direct cost savings for shopping, entertainment, telecommuting, home health care, and telephone services. For purposes of this study, these national benefits were scaled to a corridor level based on the total number of households in the rural portions of each study corridor. It was further assumed that the impact of the Rural Interstate Corridor Communications Study would be to increase the adoption of broadband from the current adoption rate in rural areas (17 percent) to the current adoption rate in urban areas (29 percent). This assumption implies that the HST backbone would be paired with private and/or public sector investments to bring “last mile” broadband service from the backbone to individual households in the corridor, at rates comparable to those offered in urban areas. The estimates further assume 10 years of benefits – i.e., the project would accelerate adoption by 10 years compared to the rate at which broadband would have been adopted without public sector intervention to provide HST backbone in the study corridors.

The results suggest total annual benefits in all three study corridors ranging from a conservative estimate of $146 million to an optimistic estimate of $1,591 million. These translate into cumulative total benefits (discounted over time) ranging from $1.7 to $19 billion in 2005 dollars.

The estimates of producer surplus are based on the same study as the household benefits (Crandall and Jackson, 2002). The authors begin with estimates of the increase in total sales to consumers of broadband services, computer equipment, general consumer goods, and new services that are developed because of widespread diffusion of broadband access. They then calculate the share of such revenues that could be reasonably assumed to accrue to suppliers as producer surplus. To apply these results to the study corridors, similar assumptions were made as for the household benefits calculations. The results suggest that $306 million annually could be realized nationwide in additional producer surplus, as a result of increased broadband adoption in the corridors. This translates into a cumulative benefit across all three corridors of $3.7 billion in 2005 dollars, assuming a 10-year accelerated deployment period.

Estimates of benefits specifically to the elderly and disabled are based on Litan (2005). This study estimates three categories of benefits: medical cost savings, including savings for chronic care for the elderly through home monitoring as well as savings for care to the non-elderly disabled; cost savings from more independent living as an alternative to institutionalized care; and output gains from increased labor force participation. These benefits estimates were applied to the study corridors based on elderly and disabled study area populations, and assuming the same increase in broadband adoption levels assumed above. Cumulative benefits through the year 2030 are estimated to include $2.27 billion in medical cost savings and $2.88 billion in increased labor force participation by the elderly. Additional benefits would be realized from increased labor force participation by the disabled, which could not be estimated due to a lack of available data.

The estimates are based on a range of gross assumptions and therefore should be considered “order-of-magnitude” estimates only. Nevertheless, they serve to illustrate the potentially significant value of the benefits that could be obtained through policy initiatives to increase HST deployment and adoption in rural communities.

A nationwide review of State-level programs yields two initiatives designed to expand the availability of broadband in rural communities specifically for the potential economic development and quality of life benefits to rural citizens. Both programs are quasi-governmental coalitions involving government backed programs and private sector participation. These programs showcase the progress made in bringing broadband to rural communities through collaborative efforts: The Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA) is a consortium of Utah cities engaged in deploying and operating a fiber to the premises network to every business and household (about 140,000) in its member communities. UTOPIA is a coalition of 14 cities using an active Ethernet infrastructure to provide an open public network for private service providers to offer advanced telecommunications services to member cities’ residents. This approach is intended to promote economic development and improved quality of life. UTOPIA operates as a political subdivision of the State of Utah and has the same rights as other political entities (cities, towns, counties, etc.). As an organization, UTOPIA exists to represent the needs of its individual member cities and is dedicated to accelerating economic development and quality of life for its citizens and businesses by deploying a publicly owned advanced telecommunications network over the last mile to all homes and businesses within member communities. As of the end of June 2006, according to UTOPIA financial statements, 451 miles of duct had been placed along with 130 miles of aerial strand and 680 miles of fiber cable. Additionally, 63,500 fibers had been landed in community cabinets and approximately 54,000 splices had been completed. Within the 52 production footprints there are a total of 43,450 addresses. Phases II and III will complete the network in these cities and extend its reach into Brigham City, Centerville, Layton, Perry, and Tremonton. When completed, the network will pass in excess of 170,000 prospective subscribers. ConnectKentucky’s mission is to accelerate the growth of technology in support of community and economic development, improved healthcare, enhanced education, and more effective government. ConnectKentucky develops and implements effective strategies for technology deployment, use, and literacy in Kentucky, creating both the forum and the incentive for interaction among a variety of people and entities that would not otherwise unite behind common goals and a shared vision. A recent progress report highlights the Commonwealth’s efforts to accelerate the availability and adoption of broadband. Since its launch the availability of broadband across Kentucky has increased more than 50 percent. Approximately 532,000 previously un-served Kentucky households can now access broadband as private investment in telecommunications infrastructure has reached unprecedented levels. This represents an increase of more than 1.4 million additional Kentucky residents gaining broadband service since January 2004. Currently, 94 percent of Kentucky homes can access broadband, and ConnectKentucky expects every household to be capable of accessing high-speed Internet by the end of 2007.