Committee considers broadband options for Norman needs

May 14—NORMAN — The Norman City Council Oversight Committee considered how to best support local broadband and high-speed internet needs Thursday night, weighing options that included local partnerships and funding from federal dollars.

Council members determined that while Norman residents have broadband options and accessibility, affordability and speed may be an issue for some.

Norman doesn't lack internet providers — all of Cleveland County can access at least two providers who can provide the minimum 25 mbps speed internet, City Attorney Kathryn Walker said. A 25 mbps download speed is the base level for what the FCC considers high-speed internet.

But as the internet speed goes up, the access in Cleveland County narrows. At 100 mbps speed, only 45.12% of county residents have access to two providers; by 1,000 mbps, 47.95% of residents have no access at all.

Ward 4 Lee Hall said that just because Norman residents can technically access the base level of high-speed internet doesn't mean high-speed internet is truly accessible.

"We can say that we have the accessibility, but I am really interested in understanding what that actually means, because I think one of the things that we really learned due to the pandemic is how important it is to be able to be connected virtually," Hall said, "and just having the minimum amount of service is not really going to cut it anymore ... what might have been formerly an acceptable speed is really not 'accessibility' anymore."

While the city has discussed providing broadband as a public utility for accessibility, the concept brought up more questions than answers Thursday.

Mayor Breea Clark and Ward 7 Stephen Holman had concerns about the idea. Since the proposal would have to go to a city-wide vote on rates, both said they had doubts the proposal would be a success with the public.

"I think some people are doing fine with what we've got, since access is not an issue for some people, so I don't know if it could pass," Clark said.

The city also would need to answer several questions about how and why it would provide broadband as a utility, said Walker, adding that the city should decide if it would provide free internet, using the program to raise revenues or fill existing infrastructure gaps.

Setting up the infrastructure to provide a service like broadband could be a large investment, Oklahoma Electric Cooperative CEO Patrick Grace told councilors.

The cooperative's OEC Fiber division has, for three years, been working on an extensive project to bring fiber internet services to cities and towns across Oklahoma, an initiative that's been a $175 million to $200 million investment for the company.

While a single city's fiber needs wouldn't take an investment that large, Grace said OEC doesn't expect to start reaching cash flow positive until the project is in its fifth or sixth year and doesn't expect to make a net profit until Year 9 or 10.

"The upfront infrastructure costs are really high," Walker said. "You're going to have to get a lot of customers in competition with other providers to be able to break even."

Councilors also discussed using one-time funding from the federal government — specifically the $22 million the city is set to receive from the American Rescue Plan — to support local internet needs in some way.

The money, for example, could be used to buy down and decrease broadband prices from a local provider like OEC, making the service more affordable for Norman residents, City Manager Darrel Pyle said.

Broadband affordability needs can be immediately supported by some federal programs, including the FCC's lifeline program and the newly-instituted Emergency Broadband Benefit.

But the lifeline program provides a less-than-$10 monthly discount on phone service for qualified households, and the broadband benefit, while providing a significant discount for families that qualify, will only be available until six months after the pandemic ends, Walker said.

Whether the city uses American Rescue Plan funding or promotes programs like the Emergency Broadband Benefit, Pyle emphasized the importance of looking beyond one-time funding infusions and short-term federal offerings.

"We could use one-time money and buy down everybody's bill for a period of time, and then when our money's gone, their bill goes back up and we're right back where we started from," Pyle said. "So, if there's an investment to make that always keeps the price down, that would be a solution. Otherwise, we're going to give somebody a breath of air, and then we're going to take it away from them again."

Emma Keith is the editor of The Transcript, where she covers Norman Public Schools and the University of Oklahoma. Reach her at ekeith@normantranscript.com or at @emma_ckeith.