#dig once

From the letter:

“Dig Once” conduits are as basic and uncontroversial as tech-related legislation gets. There is no reason why governments should dig up roads without installing broadband conduit for a miniscule fraction of the total cost of the dig. Failure to implement Dig Once means more construction, more disruption, and much higher costs for private providers — who may simply decide not to deploy in an area where the economics don’t work. The tiny cost of installing conduit (about 1% in added costs) pales in comparison to the taxpayer burden of unnecessary digs, traffic congestion, and the opportunity cost of not having high-speed networks that both help support public services and grow the economy.

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“Dig Once” is only part of the solution. The overall goal should be to make better use of federal and state rights of way for broadband deployment. Dig Once should not be limited to conduits installed under hard surfaces (like asphalt); it may be more useful and cheaper to install conduits in the rights of way alongside highways in the course of a road project. The rationale underlying Dig Once — it makes sense to coordinate among multiple users, and accommodating potential future users in a single conduit — also applies to publicly owned rights of way: it also makes sense to coordinate multiple parties when they want to put up new poles, or use existing poles, or to use currently “dumb” infrastructure like highway lamps to support new antennas.

“There is no silver bullet for deployment challenges,” said Tom Struble, TechFreedom Policy Counsel. “Promoting deployment requires coordination at all levels of government, and rural Kansas will always pose different obstacles than the hilly streets of San Francisco. Nonetheless, bills like the draft put forward by Rep. Eshoo, and Sen. John Thune’s MOBILE NOW Act, seek to create the right framework for boosting deployment by making smarter use of public assets and requiring states to play an active role in coordinating broadband infrastructure deployment on government lands.”

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We can be reached for comment at [email protected]. See our other work on promoting broadband deployment, including:

Our blog post on FCC Chair Ajit Pai’s proposed “Gigabit Opportunity Zones”

Faster, cheaper broadband everywhere: Private companies have already poured over $1.4 trillion into broadband deployment, but they’d invest even more if they got more bang for their buck. Today, Cable and telcos are vying to one-up each other, new companies like Google Fiber are installing a ‘third pipe’ to the home, and wireless services are upgrading their 4G networks. Dig Once conduits would help all these competitors, especially new entrants, by dramatically lowering the cost of deployment.

An affordable way to bridge the digital divide in rural America: Just as the Interstate Highway System once connected rural America, a 21st-century system of smart highways could transform the economics of rural broadband deployment. Cheaper ‘middle mile’ networks could carry traffic to small towns, dramatically boosting ‘last mile’ speeds. They’d also make it much cheaper to connect wireless towers, bringing better wireless broadband to rural areas where wired service is cost-prohibitive. This is especially important for farmers: smart machinery and drones are transforming agriculture, but need connectivity to be truly effective.

A better way to connect urban America than government-owned broadband networks: Cities around America have poured taxpayer dollars into ‘muni broadband networks’ that displace private providers and usually survive only with ongoing subsidies. Conduits offer a third way between the status quo and outright broadband socialism. They will provide the major arteries for conduit networks inside cities, since major feeder streets receive federal funding and will thus qualify for the bill’s requirements. It will be up to cities to states and cities to pass Dig Once laws of their own — so they can extend conduit networks to capillaries of the last mile.

“This bill could be the beginning of a reset on Washington’s paralyzed debate over broadband policy,” concluded Jon Henke, TechFreedom’s Strategic Director. “The conduit is the real commons that everybody should have access to. A new era of broadband competition will begin when deployment is as simple as running a wire, not digging up a road.”

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We can be reached for comment at [email protected]. See our other work on promoting broadband deployment, including:

Roadmap by which governments at all levels can promote broadband deployment

“The FCC’s Section 706 Power Grab is Dangerous, and Ignores Marketplace Realities,” a summary of our comments on the FCC’s annual report on broadband deployment

“Don’t Blame Big Cable. It’s Local Governments That Choke Broadband Competition,” Berin Szoka and Jon Henke in Wired.com

“But the Report stops short of saying what should be uncontroversial: Federal money shouldn’t fund government-owned broadband networks before the Dig Once approach has been tried,” continued Szoka. “Letting private providers bid to lease Dig Once conduits and deploy their own networks gives private companies an opportunity to upgrade their networks — or deploy new ones, as Google Fiber has started doing. If no private providers come forward, state and local governments can still deploy their own networks in that conduit. But at least they won’t have wasted taxpayer dollars building networks that private capital would have paid for. Smart policy would start with smart infrastructure, not unnecessarily displacing private enterprise. There’s good reason for caution: Government ownership of broadband networks inevitably means greater control, censorship and surveillance—and should be undertaken only as a last resort.”

Broadband Taxes Won’t Help Broadband Deployment

“It’s ironic that the report’s top recommendation appears to be taxing broadband,” said Tom Struble, TechFreedom Policy Counsel. “When the report talks about using ‘rulemakings or guidance to open financing resources for broadband investments,’ what it really means is that the FCC will soon force all broadband users to start paying Universal Service Fund ‘fees’ in order to fund programs that benefit only a small number of users. These undemocratic taxes, set by the FCC without even an annual budget, are the most regressive taxes in America, and have risen steadily to fund programs rife with waste, fraud, and abuse.”

About Dig Once Conduits

Dig Once conduits are empty tubes, usually installed under roads, through which multiple strands of broadband fiber can be installed later by any number of private or public network providers. Estimated to add 1% to the cost of a road project, they are also estimated to lower the cost of deploying that portion of a broadband network by 90% — without disruption to road users and nearby residents. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) proposed legislation in 2009 and 2011 would have required the Department of Transportation to install DIg Once conduits in certain highway projects. Eshoo abandoned her legislation, despite diverse support from Google as well as cable providers, after the Administration issued an Executive Order in 2012 promising that Federal Agencies would coordinate on Dig Once Conduits. That Order has largely proven toothless.

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We can be reached for comment at [email protected]. See our other work on promoting broadband deployment, including:

Roadmap by which governments at all levels can promote broadband deployment

“The FCC’s Section 706 Power Grab is Dangerous, and Ignores Marketplace Realities,” a summary of our comments on the FCC’s annual report on broadband deployment

“Don’t Blame Big Cable. It’s Local Governments That Choke Broadband Competition,” Berin Szoka and Jon Henke in Wired.com

A Third Way on Muni Broadband, TechFreedom & ICLE statement, summarizing comments opposing petitions asking the FCC to preempt state laws governing muni broadband

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