For many localities across the United States, there is a desperate need for better internet infrastructure, but also the realization that BEAD has fallen short of their needs. “Benefit of the bargain” has removed the areas with the most challenging business cases. These are the areas that need broadband subsidies the most in order to build a case for broadband infrastructure investment. Satellite, although a practical solution for remote areas, is not a substitute for fiber connectivity.

In terms of long-term viability for a locality, broadband gaps can create a perilous situation because the need for high-speed internet continues to grow, as do the demands and opportunities in an increasingly online world. SNG’s recent research has shown that residents value access to robust and competitive broadband almost as much as they value proper community management of water and sanitation.

In addition, Q1 2026 data also shows that users are paying more than ever for high-speed internet service, while not getting the reliability or speed they need.

In today’s economy, small businesses are trying to compete in a world that requires 24/7 connectivity. School students are being assigned homework that requires broadband. Healthcare providers are continuing to advance telehealth, but adoption in many places has flattened because people either don’t trust the connection or simply don’t have the bandwidth at home to use it properly.

The need is real. Everybody can feel it. It’s the world we live in. Broadband is no longer a technology discussion.

It is a healthcare discussion.

It is an education discussion.

It is an economic development discussion.

It is a civic pride discussion.

Most importantly, it is a long-term economic survival discussion.

So what comes next?

For communities left outside of BEAD funding opportunities, waiting is unlikely to be a winning strategy. The communities that ultimately give themselves the best chance to bridge their broadband gaps will be those that continue planning, building partnerships, documenting need, exploring alternative funding and leveraging community infrastructure deployment models.

For more than 20 years, SNG has partnered with localities across North America to help assess broadband needs, engage stakeholders, evaluate opportunities and develop strategies for building a case for investing in broadband infrastructure.

The path to creating community broadband infrastructure can be different for each locality, however the process typically includes local investment, public-private partnerships, community anchor institution-driven demand or wholesale / open-access networks.

None of these steps are easy, but neither is standing still or waiting for the next funding while connectivity needs continue to grow. Leaving broadband gaps and needs unaddressed will grow increasingly costly for the local economy and quality of life.

Building an Economic Case for Community Broadband Infrastructure

To begin, we’ll break down financing because that is the biggest hurdle for community broadband projects. When the business case does not work, broadband will not get financed. Broadband gaps will continue until localities and investors find a viable solution that better aligns community needs with investors’ returns on their investments. The critical first step is to pivot to a broadband infrastructure approach in which the longer-term economic benefits to community growth and business success, which grows the addressable market for service providers and leads to a virtuous cycle that increases network revenue opportunities and returns on investment.

Community initiatives need to take an infrastructure investment approach in order to realize the full economic and community benefits from digital infrastructure over the long term. This can be operationally achieved by partnering with digital infrastructure investors (public and private) in which ownership and operations are structurally separated from retail service delivery. This enables competitive service offerings without becoming a direct competitor to incumbent providers.

Broadband that connects all in a community is digital infrastructure. Like roads and electrical grids, digital infrastructure enables benefits to local economic vitality, competitiveness, resilience and quality of life. However, most of these benefits from digital infrastructure investments do not accrue to private sector internet service providers. This results in underinvestment in broadband as providers only target areas they assess to be profitable.

Broadband infrastructure is more than simply fast broadband access. Community broadband infrastructure connects all anchor institutions, residents and businesses in the community (like roads) so that all can effectively participate in an increasingly online economy, rather than only serving the most profitable areas. Ubiquitous, affordable broadband increases local innovation and grows the local economy, which, in turn, grows the local market for broadband and value-added services. There is an attendant upswing in demand for broadband and the value-added services it delivers. These spillover effects (sustainable local economic growth, enhanced quality of life) are indirect benefits to communities and a primary driver for public investment in infrastructure (roads, water and sewer systems, electric utilities).

Ubiquitous, competitive broadband is a goal that is often best (or only) realized through a model driven by public-private partnership in the investment in broadband infrastructure. This model builds on principles established in the public funding of roads, water and sewer systems, and electric utilities because the indirect benefits to communities are a primary driver for public investment in infrastructure, whereas indirect benefits are off-balance sheet to private investors.

As with roads, or airport authorities, broadband infrastructure is critical to ensuring long-term future economic sustainability and community resilience. Assessing these ‘off-balance sheet’ benefits from digital infrastructure helps localities better understand the scope and scale of necessary investments – and possible partnerships.

Financing Options for Community Broadband Investments

Based on expected ‘off-balance sheet’ community benefits, there are a number of options for localities that include Full Faith and Credit, Revenue Bonds, Operator Investors, USDA loans, co-financing with the local electric utility, zero interest loans, etc. The best fit for the locality needs to take into account the following factors:

Strategic Networks Group, Advancing Economies in a Digital World, our LinkedIn page, will examine some of the opportunities and challenges of each model and why each may or may not be a fit for your community.

Coming next in this series – the Path to building an economic case for Community Broadband Infrastructure.

We’ll explore the practical realities of building an economic case for community broadband infrastructure, including financing options, risk assessment, demand forecasting, community engagement, and strategies for long-term sustainability.

Working with SNG – that’s the kind of diligence and know-how that helps communities take ownership of their digital future.

Ready to see what smart broadband strategy can unlock for your community? Visit SNGroup.com to learn how SNG delivers practical, results-driven broadband solutions.

For a closer look at what that impact looks like on the ground, explore our success stories and see how SNG’s broadband strategy drives local economies forward.

Broadband is often discussed as a technology upgrade. In reality, it is something far more consequential for communities – a public infrastructure investment.

When localities consider investing in broadband networks to bridge gaps or to ensure competitive services, they are making decisions that will shape their local economy and public finances for years, sometimes even decades. Funding can involve public grants, local bonds, partnerships with private providers – or combinations of these.

Whatever the model, the stakes are real for both politicians and the future of the community.

For community leaders, the question should go beyond simply asking whether ubiquitous broadband is needed. In areas that are underserved or lack competitive services, the answer to that question is an obvious yes. The harder – and fundamental question is whether there is enough of an economic case to invest in a broadband network,  i.e., does the business case make sense and would the community benefits outweigh the public investment. If yes, the proposed network could be sustainable financially.

That is where evidence becomes essential.

Communities that ground their planning in verified local demand data can dramatically reduce uncertainty and secure better financing rates.

With that information in hand, forecasts become more credible and financial projections become easier to endorse. Just as importantly, the planning process itself becomes more transparent.

Residents and business owners are far more likely to support broadband initiatives when they can see that their feedback helped shape the strategy. When communities move forward without that engagement, skepticism tends to follow. Over time, that skepticism can be just as damaging as financial miscalculations.

Below you’ll see an example of SNG’s Broadband eCheckup, where city leaders, stakeholders and residents see feedback on what is important to the community.

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Residents and Business owners get a much greater understanding of Broadband inititiatives when they can see detailed feedback.

At SNG, our work with communities begins with understanding demand (current and potential) and modelling different scenarios before major capital decisions are made. The goal is to identify potential risks early, align funding strategies with realistic adoption expectations, and build plans that stand up to both financial scrutiny and community expectations.

In teh exampe below, residents and buinesses provided valuable feedback – in this case, they showed a very high willingness to change their internet service provider.

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SNG’s Broadband eCheckup provides data that is vitail to community decision making.

In the end – and as evidenced throught feedback examples – broadband success depends less on optimism and more on evidence.

Communities that treat planning as a form of protection – for their taxpayers, their local economy and their future – are far more likely to build networks that succeed and that last.

Working with SNG – that’s the kind of diligence that helps communities take ownership of their digital future.

Ready to see what smart broadband strategy can unlock for your community? Visit SNGroup.com to learn how SNG delivers practical, results-driven broadband solutions.

For a closer look at what that impact looks like on the ground, explore our success stories and see how SNG’s broadband strategy drives local economies forward.

On Wednesday, Feb. 4, Columbia County (Oregon) was approved for $9.5 million in BEAD funding, making it one of only four public entities in Oregon to receive broadband funding. This represents an important step toward closing longstanding service gaps and fostering equitable access to digital infrastructure.

Columbia County took steps to position itself to improve service availability and pursue federal broadband funding opportunities. Their process started by identifying underserved areas and developing a regional broadband plan. Columbia County engaged SNG to support this work, helping to make the economic case for investing in broadband and conducting a comprehensive Broadband Economic Feasibility Assessment.

This detailed assessment demonstrated how a County-owned fiber network could be financed through a combination of residential subscriptions and community anchor institutions (CAIs) connectivity. It also provided crucial evidence that the network could achieve financial sustainability by serving both high-cost rural and commercially viable areas, which is a key component in making the business case for public investment.

SNG values our longstanding partnership with Columbia County and applauds this milestone as part of Oregon’s historic broadband expansion. We stand ready to support the County, and others like Columbia County, as they move forward with the implementation and delivery of broadband solutions that will have immediate and lasting impact on their community.

Ready to see what smart broadband strategy can unlock for your own community? Learn more about digital infrastructure strategy for localities here.

For a closer look at what that impact looks like on the ground, explore our success stories and see how SNG’s broadband strategy drives local economies forward.

Five Years of Partnership. One Principle: Communities Deserve to Secure Their Digital Future. 

Broadband and digital infrastructure decisions are among the most complex choices local governments can face. They touch economic development, education, healthcare, public safety, housing and long-term fiscal sustainability – often all at once. 

For almost five years, SNG has worked with the City of Hermiston (Oregon) on identifying broadband gaps, assessing needs and planning the future of broadband infrastructure because the city understands a fundamental truth: ensuring that broadband infrastructure connects everyone requires consensus, credible data and a long-term view. 

SNG’s role in this process has been to help local leaders, elected officials, staff, anchor institutions and stakeholders build a shared vision about why broadband matters and how communities can move forward responsibly. That includes identifying ways to aggregating existing telecommunications budgets, developing public-private partnerships, and if needed self-funding broadband, rather than trying to create new budget through taxation, applying for grants (none seen forthcoming) or risk defaulting from unsustainable debt. 

Over time, the partnership with SNG has allowed Hermiston to build institutional knowledge, helping them to understanding that it is not just the technology, but the economics, the demand drivers and the community impacts behind these digital infrastructure decisions. 

In the here and now, SNG’s partnership continues to define the path by which the cities of Hermiston and Umatilla can pursue to deliver robust, competitive broadband to all city residents and businesses.  

That’s exactly why the Cities of Hermiston and Umatilla recently launched a Broadband eCheckup, a structured broadband market assessment study collecting granular data about connectivity, usage, gaps and priorities from households, organizations and businesses 

The eCheckup study is part of the ongoing effort by these cities to assess the current and potential demand for broadband, while they work to ensure broadband infrastructure is available for the benefit of all residents and businesses in the community.  

With close to five years of building a trusted working relationship and such an important community decision to make, continuity matters. Digital infrastructure is not a one-cycle or one-term issue. Communities that succeed are those that treat broadband as a long-term asset tied to local priorities, not something that is outside their mandate. 

At its core, this SNG partnership reflects a shared belief: communities cannot afford to expect outside parties to ensure their future. With the right data, planning and guidance, they can take ownership of their digital future – confidently, efficiently and based on their individual needs.