How evidence enables municipalities, electric co-ops, utilities and broadband partners to build actionable, more investable broadband strategies.

Broadband planning often starts with a map and financial modeling of costs per passing versus expected revenues. It cannot end there for areas that remain unserved or underserved, or overcharged with broadband that needs to be future-proof.

Comprehensive broadband planning needs to connect user-reported evidence to the services and institutions that communities depend on. Community anchor institutions, such as schools, colleges, healthcare providers, libraries, public safety organizations and local governments, can help define what community broadband infrastructure needs to accomplish and where access and utilization barriers remain.

We need to start by broadening the measures of success of broadband outcomes.

Miles of fiber, premises passed and advertised speeds still matter, but they are not the full measure of broadband value.

Communities receive the full value of broadband when households, businesses, anchor institutions and public services use connectivity to expand access to care, strengthen learning opportunities, support workforce participation, grow local businesses and improve public services.

That value can be seen in community outcomes: students completing homework and online courses, patients accessing telehealth, residents searching and training for work, families managing finances and benefits, entrepreneurs operating home businesses and reaching new customers, residents accessing government services and public-safety information and households using broadband to improve their quality of life and make life easier.

---

Build an economic case that includes community value

Where a business case for critical community infrastructure falls short and is not investable by the private sector, we need to look at community investment cases, like when we build roads, electrical grids, etc. For community broadband infrastructure, we need to look at costs against both economic and community benefits and develop public-private partnerships. Such partnerships enable community benefits, which include operating efficiencies for anchor institutions, stronger service delivery, local retention and growth, smart-community applications and broader economic resilience.

That is why building evidence around broadband gaps, barriers and needs must be designed to build an economic case that is investable. SNG’s Broadband eCheckup measures resident experience and demand. Our Digital Needs and Readiness Assessment examines whether people and institutions can adopt and benefit from digital services. GIS and market-demand analysis show where needs are concentrated. Community anchor institution and sector-impact reporting connect broadband to healthcare, education, workforce and economic benefits. Managers and elected officials using these tools get board-ready reporting and a clear path forward with evidence-based decision making.

• For municipalities, the evidence can support council decisions, public engagement, grant applications and infrastructure planning.

• For electric co-ops and utilities, it can clarify member demand, priority service areas and utilization opportunities.

• For builders and operators, it can identify where demand is real and where adoption barriers may weaken take rates.

• For community anchor institutions, it can connect infrastructure to better service delivery.

• For funding partners, it provides a clearer picture of need, readiness and expected benefits.

The question is no longer simply whether broadband matters. The question is whether a community can prove where, why and how broadband investment will deliver value. SNG helps communities do exactly that.

SNG combines resident-level research, market-demand analysis, speed testing, GIS mapping and sector-specific reporting to move broadband conversations from assumptions to evidence.

The objective is not simply to identify where infrastructure may be missing, it is to help local leaders answer a more important question: where, why and how will community broadband infrastructure investment deliver value?

Broadband planning needs to start with what residents are actually experiencing

The Broadband eCheckup documents cost, performance, reliability, satisfaction, service barriers and willingness to change providers. It gives municipalities, electric co-ops and utilities a local evidence base that complements provider filings and coverage maps.

In a recent SNG study in Oregon (conducted with a client who agreed to share selected results), more than 1,100 residents participated in the Broadband eCheckup. That represented a 15.3 per cent participation rate and more than 400 collective hours of engagement. The scale of that response was itself meaningful: residents clearly saw broadband as an issue worth their time.

SNG uses proprietary software tools to help both analyze and display data to clients and end users. Our SNG dashboard (example below) can display information and analysis differently for each of three groups (project partners, project stakeholders and public) – who can then review data online and in real-time, via customized charts and dashboards.

SNG Digital Economy Database Online Dashboard

Determine whether broadband is a community priority

Local leaders need to know whether broadband concerns are isolated complaints or part of a broader community priority. In the same study, robust and competitive broadband ranked second only to water and sanitation among long-term community priorities. More than 91 per cent of respondents rated broadband as a high or medium priority.

That distinction matters. A project supported by broad community evidence is easier to explain to councils, boards, funding partners and potential network partners than one built mainly on anecdotes.

Residents ranked robust and competitive broadband among the community’s highest long-term priorities.

Measure satisfaction with speed, affordability and value together

A community can look served on paper while households still face rising costs, uneven reliability and service that does not support modern needs.

To more accurately assess broadband market demand and who is actually unserved or underserved, measure satisfaction with customer service, speed and value. This provides a more complete picture of residents’ actual internet experience. In this case, more than 40 per cent of respondents rated the value of their internet connection as either poor or below expectations.

Speed test data we collected added another layer. More than 55 per cent of the community was considered underserved on upload speeds below 25 Mbps, while more than 35 per cent was underserved on download speeds below 100 Mbps.

Speed-test results reveal service limitations that coverage data alone may not show.

From Broadband Gaps to Market Demand

How resident relocation risk and GIS analysis can turn a broadband problem into a clearer market opportunity.

Measure willingness to relocate

Relocation findings can reveal a broader economic issue. In a recent study, 40 per cent of households said they would definitely or very likely relocate based on the availability of internet connectivity, with higher-income households showing particularly strong relocation risk.

When broadband affects where people choose to live, work or operate a business, it becomes an issue of workforce retention, economic competitiveness and community growth, not simply infrastructure.

Provider switching and relocation findings help quantify market demand and community risk.

Use GIS to show who is affected and where

Community-wide averages can hide important differences. SNG’s GIS analysis turns study findings into geographic evidence, showing where broadband needs intersect with affordability, telework, home business, seniors, students, telehealth users and other priority groups.

This matters because different groups require different responses. A low-income household may need affordability support, equipment and digital navigation. A home business may need stronger reliability and upload capacity. A senior may need both telehealth connectivity and technical support. A family with school-aged children may need dependable service for homework, online learning and school communication.

GIS analysis can identify where low-income households face broadband and digital-use barriers.

Connect demand to the right intervention

The purpose of SNG’s geographic analysis is not simply to produce a better map. It is to help communities target network design, public engagement, provider partnerships and adoption programs more effectively.

For example, clusters of teleworkers and home businesses can strengthen the case for higher-capacity service and more reliable uploads. Concentrations of affordability barriers may indicate that infrastructure alone will not solve the problem. Areas with school-aged families may require coordination with schools, libraries and other community anchor institutions.

Telework and home-business analysis shows where high-capacity, reliable service supports local economic activity.

Turn data into a practical market case

SNG brings data on broadband demand, gaps, barriers and opportunities into dashboards and reporting tools that can be customized for councils, boards, partners and funding organizations. The result is a more complete market picture: who needs better service, where they are located, what barriers they face and how likely they are to adopt improved service or switch providers.

Data on broadband demand, gaps, and opportunities helps reduce uncertainty and explains why a broadband problem matters. It can inform service-area priorities, partnership models, outreach plans, adoption strategies and the financial assumptions behind a proposed network.

Assessing current and potential demand enables communities and service providers to better plan for broadband, with a clear understanding of what residents, organizations and businesses are experiencing, what they need, where demand is concentrated, which barriers remain and what outcomes the community expects.

When that evidence guides network design, partnerships and financing, community broadband infrastructure becomes more than a construction project. It becomes a practical, investable strategy that can strengthen service delivery, drive new economic opportunities and better ensure long-term community vitality.

Building this evidence base helps communities more quickly and efficiently develop investable broadband projects.