Partnering to Build Broadband Networks

Moving Communities to Action on Broadband

Lack of community action on broadband means lost opportunity for community growth and missed business opportunities for builders and providers.

With so many localities in dire need of more and better broadband, why aren’t more taking action to own their digital future?

In many cases, community leaders simply don’t think they can solve the problem due to lack of resources, strained budgets, political risk, and fear of the unknown. Those who have tried and failed are further discourage from finding a solution that works for them. The resulting inaction leaves many network build opportunities unfulfilled.

Breaking the “Log Jam”

At Strategic Networks Group we have a passion to help communities break the log jam so they can own their digital future. We know that the need and demand for broadband exists and we know the tremendous benefits communities can gain. We also know that communities need efficient and cost-effective solutions to implement networks and that network builders are eager to fulfill this need.

Collaborating to open up opportunities for network builders

SNG has developed a number of tools to aid in getting community leaders started and moving along a path toward solutions that work for them. In making these tools available to network builders we can collaborate together to take communities along this path and open up more business opportunities together.

Digital Needs and Readiness Assessment

To quickly and cost-effectively identify where each locality is in the process of addressing their broadband and smart community needs to enable more effective engagement, have them take the Digital Needs and Readiness Assessment. This is a 10 min online tool to help them identify their drivers, needs, along with a preliminary readiness assessment as they prepare to take action in identifying their broadband and smart community needs.

• Localities that complete the assessment demonstrate that their local leaders are motivated to take action – which helps you prioritize with whom to engage.
• The assessment password is “2018sng” and it can be accessed via our Community Vision page.

We can offer access to our Broadband Toolkit, which is a comprehensive accompanying guide to the process of getting better broadband.

Economic Feasibility Assessment

For those localities that are ready to move forward, they should develop a vision of their ‘future state’ by quantifying (and qualifying) up-front the community benefits from digital infrastructure investments. The Economic Feasibility Assessment focuses the community on expected outcomes, which helps prioritize goals and becomes a driver for engaging local stakeholders and organizations.

• By quantifying local benefits in terms of municipal / county cost reductions, economic growth, and smart community benefits, localities can identify what they are able to invest – which can be used to self-finance their digital infrastructure.
• The Economic Feasibility Assessment  has shown, for example, that just the municipal cost reductions pay for the core network 1.3 times over a 20 year period, providing community-wide broadband access that pays for itself.

Community Readiness Assessment

When a management team for the broadband initiative has been identified and are ready to start engaging local resources and stakeholders, we recommend they take the Community Readiness Assessment. This will help them determine whether they have what it takes and whether they are aligned as a group to address digital infrastructure and smart community needs, avoid pitfalls, and get their project across the finish line.

Market Demand Assessment

Unlike other demand studies that focus on subscription take rates, SNG’s Broadband Impact and Market Assessment uses our industry-leading assessments to uncover demand drivers and barriers for how households and business use and benefit from broadband. We turn this into a deeper understanding of demand as well as revealing the potential economic impacts for the community, often making the case for investment and funding.

For example, our study of Custer County, Colorado, showed what broadband means for their community in terms of economic growth and jobs, which enabled them to secure essential funding for their infrastructure build.

By working together we can break the log jam to help communities move forward toward network builds that fit their needs.

• SNG News

  • Press release – Joint White Paper on Options to Bridge Broadband Gaps in Unserved and Underserved Areas
  • Broadband funding is coming – but when and with what conditions? Can we wait for it?
  • It’s Time for Private investment in Community Digital Infrastructure
  • Unserved, underserved, or future ready – do your businesses and households have the broadband they need?
  • Choice for Localities – wait for broadband, or invest in your digital future
  • Do you need a “survey” or another “study” for your broadband initiative?
  • Where do we put our efforts to get connected with broadband?
  • Broadband and Household Income
  • Telework and Accessing the Workplace
  • SNG’s analysis featured in ISE Magazine

• @SNGroup

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• Research Findings

  

  Increasingly, broadband
  creates jobs.
  Over the last five years, job creation enabled by the Internet has doubled.

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