For years, those in the real estate business say the lack of adequate broadband service is a deal-killer, especially for the entrepreneurs who could not only move here but bring jobs.
Likewise, county leaders understand that to remain competitive in a world that increasingly relies on technology, high-speed internet service is an absolute necessity.
The bottom line, said Mark Clasby, the economic development director for Haywood, is return on investment.
“The big problem has always been and still is the capital expense required to put in broadband and return on investment, which is long because of the lack of population density in rural areas,” Clasby said. “Urban areas get better service because companies can make a business plan.”
Many Haywood County residents have been struggling to get acceptable broadband service, a term defined by the Federal Communication Commission as a download speed of 25 megabits per second and an upload speed of 3 megabits per second. These speeds are required for videoconferencing, transferring large data files and live-streaming entertainment.
Such speeds are available for those who have cable television, for some who purchase the high-speed option available through AT&T or for the lucky ones where a wireless signal will work.
But there are pockets of the county that have none of the above. For business owners working remotely, students who must increasingly rely on internet-based study materials/communication or even individuals used to receiving emails, that’s a problem.
“It is essential,” Haywood’s Economic Development Director Mark Clasby said of high-speed internet service. “It is kind of like electricity was in the 1930s. I hear from people all the time who want to move here and work from home because they like the quality of life, but can’t because they won’t have internet access.”
Even if a buyer purchases a home in the county that has internet service, there’s no guarantee that service can continue. That’s because AT&T and Charter have waiting lists for service in certain areas, and if a home is sold, the service is lost because it goes to the next person on the waiting list.
Clasby said county leaders realize upgrading broadband service throughout the county is not only important in today’s economy, but is essential to its future, and not only for business purposes.
State funding for textbooks, for instance, is dwindling as school systems switch to online instructional materials. Even if students have internet access at school, those in remote areas will need access if they need to do homework after hours.
The Haywood library system, with branches in Waynesville, Canton, Maggie Valley and Fines Creek, is an internet access hub, but that still requires users to travel to reach the nearest hub, and that could be miles for those who live in areas such as Cruso or Crabtree.
“We’re all convinced that for our future is with technology,” Clasby said. “It is something you’ve got to have or you will be left behind, particularly in the rural areas.”
Long quest
Haywood formed a broadband committee in 2014 to focus on the issue, and conducted a 2015 survey completed by more than 800 showing a need for service beyond DSL, a service transmitted through a telephone line that typically provides a more limited capacity that makes it less than ideal for most business use, Clasby said.“We thought that would generate interest among providers,” Clasby said of the survey, “but it didn’t. Part of challenge in rural areas is we don’t have population density. Then we discovered the bigger challenge, which is the tremendous amount of capital needed to provide the last mile of service.”
By the end of 2016, the committee commissioned a $20,000 study through Magellan and Associates, a nationwide company with an office in Spruce Pine, was selected from a total of eight submissions to conduct the study. The results of that study still aren’t available.
There are currently two assessments underway in Haywood County regarding broadband availability and demand.
An effort through Land of Sky Regional Council called WestNGN Broadband is soliciting proposals to provide broadband networks in six towns in Western North Carolina, including Waynesville.
Clasby said he is anxiously waiting to see what type of offers companies will make to these communities to boost broadband.
Another effort is through the Southwest Regional Commission, a quasi-government agency in the midst of a broadband survey of the seven western counties. The survey is aimed at verifying availability of services and pinpointing the gaps. The information will be considered in broadband planning efforts.
Who can help
The “partners” for the nonprofit and government entities looking to augment broadband services are service providers, companies willing and able to invest in rural areas to make broadband possible.“We talk about rural broadband in North Carolina, but no funding is set aside for it,” Clasby said.
High-speed internet is already available in parts of Haywood along major corridors that are more densely populated.
The next layer of internet service is called the “middle mile,” Clasby explained, which acts somewhat like a garden hose to condense the fire hose scope of information available along the major corridor.
Haywood is lucky to have this piece in place, he said, explaining that several years ago, the county prevailed in a lawsuit against WinCom, which had a telecommunication grant to run underground broadband fiber from the Regional High Technology Center near Clyde through Waynesville and to the Sheriff’s office.
The line is available for government use, but other users. That's because current state law prohibits local governments from competing with private businesses, so the high-speed service is only available to county offices, the college and the hospital.
Charter Communications, Carolina Mountain Cable (which paid to use HEMC poles,) and AT&T installed underground fiber along a 20-mile stretch from Harris Regional Medical Center to Haywood Regional Medical Center — a $2 million project.
The solution to better broadband service across Haywood is probably a combination of different things, including wireless, aerial and underground service, Clasby said, but whatever the combination, it will cost a lot of money.
The problem is not only the slow return on investment, Clasby said, but the lack of any guarantee that all customers along a line will sign up for the service, something known as the “take rate.”
Wireless service, while the cheapest, doesn’t work everywhere as it requires an unhindered line of sight from the satellite to the home, something that’s not possible in many areas of the county due to mountains and trees.
Technology is improving, he said, and it is now possible to transmit a signal to one house or location in an area or subdivision, and then use that signal to serve other nearby homes and businesses.
Underground installation is the most costly, about $100,000 a mile, but a lot depends on terrain and ground conditions.
Rural electric distributors already have aerial lines to homes in remote areas, but piggybacking on the lines is not as simple as it sounds.
“The last mile is what we’re trying to get,” Clasby said. “It is essential — kind of like electricity was in the 1930s to let people have access.”
©2017 The Mountaineer (Waynesville, N.C.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
