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.

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:

• Have broadband gaps, needs and potential community benefits been assessed?
• Is there political will to bridge these broadband gaps and address these needs?
• To what extent can these gaps be addressed by reallocating existing budgets?
• Are community anchor institutions willing to advocate and support community broadband investment?
• What is the status of pre-signups and securing market demand?
• What is the community’s appetite for risk and reward?

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.

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. 

Columbia County, Oregon, has been recommended for $9.5 million in funding through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, which is particularly significant because Columbia County is one of only four public entities in Oregon to receive such an award. For a county that has long faced challenges in making high-speed broadband available to all businesses and residents, this represents an important step toward closing longstanding service gaps

Preparing for County Broadband Opportunity

Broadband infrastructure gaps have an increasing economic cost. Recognizing the importance of reliable broadband for economic development, education, and healthcare, Columbia County took steps to position itself to improve service availability and pursue federal broadband funding opportunities.

Columbia County started the process by identifying underserved areas and developing a regional broadband plan. Next, Columbia County engaged Strategic Networks Group to support this work, by helping the County make the economic case for 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.

Columbia County also facilitated critical partnerships with local Public Utility Districts, putting together infrastructure agreements that provided in-kind asset valuation to  offset cash contributions needed for BEAD’s 25% matching requirement. Beyond the matching funds, those partnerships enhanced the overall broadband project by demonstrating how utilities could benefit from fiber access for their own operations while supporting expanded connectivity throughout the region. Other project stakeholders included local business organizations, port authority officials, and municipal jurisdictions within the county who participated in a coalition of local partners that support the project and advocate for long-term viability.

In preparation for BEAD, the County established a contracting framework that brought in a qualified operating entity. Through a competitive process, an open access network operator was selected. This partnership was central to the County’s BEAD application, focusing on network sustainability and operational capacity to ensure the project aligned with BEAD funding goals. The network operator, in turn, benefited from the established  County-wide support for the broadband initiative.

Navigating Program Changes and Award Summary

The journey to receiving the BEAD award recognition has not been straightforward. Midway through the BEAD application process, new federal guidance required states to adjust their programs to incorporate what became known as the “Benefit of the Bargain” round. This new phase required states to select the lowest-cost applicants for BEAD-eligible locations, regardless of technology. By adapting quickly and working closely together, the County and network operator were able to keep their application strong and secure awards for the County.

The state of Oregon awarded a total of $620,732,751 to broadband projects through the BEAD program, with only $15,032,943 of awards to public entities (less than 3%). Columbia County received nearly two-thirds of those public entity BEAD award monies across three school districts. The award for Columbia County includes over $9.5 million in broadband funding to bring service to more than 2019 unserved and underserved locations across the Rainier, Scappoose, and Vernonia District Grant areas. These investments will directly benefit households, small businesses, and community anchor institutions that currently lack adequate access to reliable, high-speed internet.

The awards are pending review and final approval by the NTIA, with a decision expected for the beginning of December 2025.

Looking Beyond BEAD

While the BEAD awards are an important milestone, they are not the end goal. Columbia County has faced persistent broadband challenges, with large portions of the county still lacking reliable service. Building on the BEAD-funded projects, the network operator is looking to use this as an opportunity to expand its network and extend service more broadly across Columbia County. By doing so, the County aims to create a sustainable broadband infrastructure that can meet community needs for decades to come.

“What began with a recognition that county residents lacked sufficient broadband access, has grown into a multi-year project to provide a solution, that recently reached a major milestone – our preliminary BEAD award. This effort has required a great deal of problem-solving, multi-agency collaboration, and resilience, but I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished so far. Reliable broadband unlocks opportunities—remote work, home-based businesses, telehealth, education, and economic growth. I’m committed to bringing these opportunities to every part of our community and thankful for the partnership with SNG, a steady and crucial source of support throughout this journey.”

Holly Miller, Columbia County IT Director

Building a Stronger Future

This award recognition highlights the progress Columbia County is making toward improving broadband access. Reliable internet is increasingly essential for tele-workers, students, businesses, and residents alike. By moving these projects forward, the County is laying the groundwork for stronger communities, new opportunities, and improved quality of life for its residents.

Strategic Networks Group is proud to support Columbia County in reaching this milestone. We look forward to continuing our work as these projects take shape and building towards a more connected future.

Contact SNG to learn more about SNG’s projects and how we help communities achieve their broadband goals.

Camp Sherman, Oregon: A Community in Need of Broadband

While it may not face the same economic barriers as many other rural areas underserved with broadband – with household incomes approximately 20% higher than the Oregon average – Camp Sherman, Oregon, has broadband gaps and is now stuck in broadband limbo.

Camp Sherman is a small, unincorporated community nestled in the Deschutes National Forest of Central Oregon. The community has clear goals to improve connectivity. Local leaders and residents formed a broadband task force, engaged stakeholders, and launched CampShermanFiber.com to share updates and rally community interest. While these important steps have shown the community has demand and a pressing need for broadband, there has been difficulty in achieving results.

Even though the area was selected as a Federal broadband RDOF grant award recipient in 2020, the project never came to fruition. Like many other communities facing similar hurdles, the program that provided a brief period of hope for residents to get broadband service, ended up as a default on commitments, leaving the goal of achieving high-speed internet back to square one.

Today, Camp Sherman remains unserved by fiber. Residents rely on satellite or fixed wireless connections which have proven inadequate for work-from-home professionals, students, and local small businesses. Additionally, Camp Sherman is under the canopy of conifers, obscuring the sky view of satellites and many residences and businesses simply cannot connect to satellite providers, leaving them with no option at all to connect to the internet.

Camp Sherman also highlights the unique challenges of rural broadband planning:

• Seasonal residency patterns can complicate demand forecasting and network return on investment.
• Low housing density and forested terrain make construction costly.
• Despite higher incomes, the community lacks the scale to attract traditional private investment on its own.

Camp Sherman shows that even relatively affluent communities, the so-called “haves”, can still lack broadband access and thus ‘have-not’.

When it comes to building digital infrastructure, there is no substitute for working closely with a community to address its specific needs. There is no a one-size-fits-all solution to providing internet service in places that struggle to attract traditional market driven investment.

An individualized case must be developed to show that utilization of broadband from a community’s residents and businesses can support an investment in digital infrastructure. Building an economic case for investing in broadband needs to breakdown traditional silos and bring together many factors including the need to support online services such as telehealth, online education, and public safety communications. In addition, the support of community leaders is paramount to supporting the long-term vision and the benefits that internet connectivity can enable for a community. There are also other considerations such as, an area’s relative vicinity to other regional municipalities, which can increase the scale of broadband planning and develop the market viability to support digital infrastructure investment.

“Black Butte School District has been leading the charge in Camp Sherman towards fiber, for over 10 years. We have experienced one devastating set back after another, leaving us now in a state of limbo. We are wondering if anyone will believe us when we say that satellite and fixed wireless internet do not work under the canopy of pines. Fiber is our only option for our community to enter into the 21st Century. Without it we will simply be limping along patching together solutions that do not actually fix the problem. We live at least an hour away from most doctors, and would love to choose to video conference with them, but with satellite providers, these calls drop, skip, or become garbled. Many people choose not to invest in our community because of our lack of internet, so the long-term sustainability of our community is in the balance.” Jennie Sharp, Special Projects Manager, Black Butte School District 

What Can Communities Do Now?

With delays and uncertainty in government broadband funding (e.g. BEAD and RDOF) , communities need a new strategy—one that’s locally driven, financially sustainable, and less dependent on government subsidies.

Plan for Action, Not Just on Paper

Communities need to go beyond high-level strategies and feasibility studies that are not actionable. They need to produce investment-ready, technically and financially viable broadband plans that align with market opportunities. Broadband planning and technical feasibility assessments need to aggregate demand and build a sustainable business case that will attract internet service providers (ISPs) and infrastructure investors.

Bring Funding Options to the Table

Consider options such as revenue bond financing and public–private joint ventures, which are powerful tools that exist for communities to leverage municipal and stable market conditions in order to help clients structure broadband projects that do not rely solely on slow-moving federal programs. Communities that are ready to take steps to address broadband should determine the best approach that suits their current status and aims (see Options to Bridge Broadband Gaps). 

Engage Local Partners who are Stakeholders

Some of the most valuable partners in the broadband space, are local organizations that are already or could/should be using the internet as a part of their everyday operations. These can include local education and health institutions, as well as non-profit and government organizations that are directly engaged with the local community. Understanding the needs of these organizations can help shape the best approach to solving broadband challenges and improving utilization.

Use Data to Build Support and Reduce Risk

By conducting granular market assessments and financial modeling tools help communities delineate and define underserved areas, quantify demand, and evaluate the economic impacts of broadband investments, communities can provide validation for return on investment that is critical for securing stakeholder buy-in and minimizing risk for investors.

The Bottom Line

We’re in a moment where the broadband future feels uncertain. But that does not mean communities should wait. It means they should act.

Taking action on your broadband future includes:

• Developing an economic case for broadband by showing how high-speed internet access drives jobs, education, healthcare, and community growth to help secure funding and investment
• Building consensus to help elected officials and key stakeholders make informed decisions on why broadband is critical
• Identifying opportunities for budgets to use existing allocations to self-finance digital infrastructure
• Conducting broadband market demand analysis and financial modeling for funding and private investment (including bond and grant opportunities)
• Hiring an owner’s representative so networks are designed, built, and operated to address community needs – and drive network uptake and utilization of online practices for network sustainability, local economic impacts, and community benefits

Contact SNG for more information about how we help communities overcome these challenges, avoid common pitfalls, and deliver results in broadband planning and deployment. Let’s build broadband infrastructure that gets funded, built, and drives community benefits by starting with two questions:

1. Are your community leaders ready to move forward on a broadband initiative? Use the Digital Needs and Readiness Assessment to find out
2. To what extent could existing telecommunications budgets finance your digital infrastructure? Take the Broadband Economic Feasibility Assessment

How Jefferson County, Oregon Secured $19M for Broadband — With a Plan Built on Local Insight and Hard Data

In rural communities like Jefferson County, Oregon, broadband isn’t just about speed — it’s about access to opportunity. Whether it’s farming operations relying on remote sensors, local students trying to do homework and access remote learning, or small businesses needing to reach customers online, reliable internet is essential infrastructure.

That’s why in 2021, Jefferson County partnered with Strategic Networks Group (SNG) to take a hard look at their broadband challenges — and opportunities. The result? A detailed, data-driven plan that helped the County successfully secure $19 million in broadband funding from the state’s Broadband Deployment Program.

Understanding Local Needs

SNG started by working closely with County officials, local stakeholders, and tribal representatives to understand the full picture. Broadband gaps in Jefferson County weren’t just about geography — they were tied to how people lived, worked, and accessed services across the region.

Through interviews, planning sessions, and our Digital Needs & Readiness Assessment, we helped surface the community’s broadband priorities:

• Stimulating local business growth and expanding local workforce skills
• Remote learning and online education support for students
• Connectivity for agricultural businesses and water management
• Faster emergency response across a large rural service area

This kind of listening and understanding local needs was essential — it laid the groundwork for a plan that reflected the realities on the ground and incorporated direct input from local leaders who emphasized the need for equitable access, resilient infrastructure, and long-overdue investment in rural connectivity.

Filling in the Data Gaps

 SNG then got to work collecting the data needed to make the case for investment, including:

• Deploying eCheckup assessments to local businesses and residents to assess current internet utilization, satisfaction levels, and conduct verified internet speed tests
• Mapping unserved and underserved areas, as well as critical infrastructure locations
• Estimating demand and identifying areas where private providers had little incentive to expand

One of the most striking findings? Nearly 80% of residents said they’d switch providers if better service were available — clear evidence of unmet demand.

Turning Insight into Strategy

With strong local input and a solid dataset in hand, SNG worked with County leaders to develop a broadband strategy. This wasn’t a generic plan — it was tailored to Jefferson County’s geography, economic goals, and technical realities.

The strategy included:

• Cost estimates for building middle-mile and last-mile infrastructure
• Partnership models for working with ISPs and utilities
• Governance options for overseeing the network long-term
• Action steps to improve online adoption and utilization programs

The goal was to equip the County with a clear, actionable roadmap to guide decisions, attract investment, and take meaningful steps toward a more connected and resilient broadband future.

A Plan that Delivered Results

Following Jefferson County Commissioners’ official adoption of the Broadband Assessment and Strategic Plan, the County had a clear picture of the approach and infrastructure improvements required to achieve results.

Working with SNG to develop a funding application grounded in local priorities and backed by strong data, the County successfully secured nearly $19 million through Oregon’s Broadband Deployment Program. This funding will support the expansion of fiber broadband to over 1,800 unserved and underserved locations, in partnership with a local private internet service provider.

It’s a big win — and one that didn’t happen by accident. It happened because the County had a clear, data-backed plan and could show how investment would translate into real benefits for residents, businesses, and institutions.

What This Means Going Forward

Now, Jefferson County is moving into the build-out phase. But the work doesn’t stop with construction. The County is continuing to draw on the guidance provided in SNG’s strategic plan as it explores ways to support adoption and ensure the network reaches those who need it most — including through digital navigator programs and ongoing coordination with tribal and regional partners.

For more information about this project, visit SNG’s webpage for Jefferson County

More information about the Broadband Deployment Program Oregon Awards

With more and more funding for broadband – for example, the US’s $100 billion through the American Jobs Plan, or Canada’s Universal Broadband Fund – unserved and underserved localities should be encouraged by these positive and significant steps. However, there are a number of uncertainties:

• Will the broadband funding legislation actually pass? – intact? – and when?
• Government investment in broadband will not cover all the unserved and underserved areas – so who will get the funding?
• How long will the application process take to define? – what will be the terms and conditions? – and when will funds actually be available to localities?
• Will localities be able to over-build existing incumbent networks – even if they are not future-proof? – if no, to what extent will digital infrastructure fully cover the locality? Will all have access to online health, education, workforce development, smart community services, etc.?
• Do local leaders understand why some individuals and businesses do not take advantage of what broadband is already available? Does the locality have strategies and eligible funding to bridge digital divides, to bring everyone online, and to maximize community benefits from broadband investments?

SNG recommends that localities proceed with their own and/or private investment to build digital infrastructure and to not lose any additional time in bridging broadband gaps. No locality can wait to catch the next wave of broadband funding. COVID-19 has accelerated the urgency that digital infrastructure be available to all – now.

In parallel to developing their own broadband investment solutions, localities should apply for broadband funding once the application process is available. If their application is funded, great – then use public funds to support and expand a healthy competitive broadband marketplace that connects all local premises with digital infrastructure that can provide needed redundancy by being available to multiple providers.

For those localities that know they have broadband problems, but struggle to find a path forward – especially when potentially large investments are needed … there is an alternative strategy. Localities need to answer key questions on how to solve their broadband needs:

• Where are the broadband gaps and where are the greatest needs in our locality?
• How is the lack of broadband affecting our businesses and residents?
• What technologies make sense to address our broadband gaps? Are we committed to solutions that meet current and long term needs? What investments are needed?
• Will our broadband problem be solved by the private sector service providers? Are there areas of interest and opportunity for private sector providers for accelerating network build-out to our unserved and underserved areas?
• Based on identified broadband gaps and needs, potential for accelerating private sector build-out – what is the roadmap for potential broadband projects?

SNG can help in this process with our Broadband Technical Opportunities Roadmap to answer these questions and empower localities to develop their own strategies so they can effectively engage with service providers and other partners to take action. Broadband is too important to your community’s prospects not to own your digital future.

As a local leader or elected official, you may need to decide whether or not you need a survey, or a study for your broadband initiative. If the value isn’t clear, or if it doesn’t get you closer to your goal, why spend time and money on a ‘survey’ or another ‘study’? Don’t do it just because another community has.

Understand which communities have achieved their broadband goals and how they got there.

If you have areas that are unserved or underserved with broadband, private sector providers have not seen enough of a business case for them to invest. Low density, tough terrain, insufficient take rates to make a business case, etc. are realities that must be overcome and will require more than re-packaging of your market, or expounding on ‘we have a great community’. If service providers have a better return on their investment elsewhere, that is where they will invest.

To get broadband deployed to your unserved or underserved areas there are generally three options going forward – 1) entice a provider to deploy in your area by subsidizing their business case; 2) build your own network to compete directly with other incumbent providers; or, 3) build your own digital infrastructure which multiple providers can then use to provide services (like municipal roads which are built, owned and maintained by the municipality, but anyone can use them).

Regardless of which option communities choose, elected officials would want to be in the best position to negotiate and to decide the best path forward for their community by understanding the broadband investment options, the market potential, and the community returns on investment (ROI).

As a builder of broadband networks explained, ‘take rates’ and ‘revenue generation’ are really the opposite of what a community wants to achieve. A community needs to focus on the development of a sustainable model that does not restrict, but enables sustainable future growth. What communities nor providers don’t know is what broadband can do to sustain and grow what the community already has, as well as how that growth has been suppressed by lack of or slow broadband investment

For these reasons assessing broadband demand is not a survey, but necessary due diligence on the market potential and choosing your broadband strategy (bringing providers to serve your areas, or building your own) while ensuring the best return for your community.

We know that providers already have their expected take rates and will use their spreadsheets in developing their own business case. However from SNG’s extensive research, the majority of the community benefits from broadband are off-balance sheet to providers – which means providers under-value their return on investment as compared to community returns on investment (i.e. community benefits). We call this an economic case for investing in broadband – some people call it a government business case. It’s the same reason we have public investment in roads.

For those considering a public-private partnership, if you know that you have a strong market potential (current and future demand) for broadband and value-added services, this will strengthen your position on negotiating how much your community needs invest to make a successful business case. On the other side, if your unserved and underserved areas do not show a strong demand then you may want to limit your risk, or take actions to build up demand. It is also possible that some areas have higher demand than others, which can allow you to be more tactical with the timing and prioritization of broadband deployments.

Data points on market potential inform your investment case for whether you choose to negotiate with an ISP by developing an RFQ or RFI for a public-private partnership, or if you decide to build your own digital infrastructure. We’ve written about this issue in our recent post: Where do we put our efforts to get connected with broadband?

SNG has recently launched the Digital Economy Demand Checkup offering with a regional ISP (who were the ones that requested we do this) and we think it will be of interest to communities everywhere because it:

• Gives local residents and businesses a vehicle to express their need and willingness to sign-up for better connectivity – contact lists for those who want to sign-up can be shared with the provider, finance last mile deployment, inform broadband deployment priorities, etc.
• Provides elected officials with proven tools to collect needed data points to answer the following questions:
  • What is the current broadband demand as compared to expected demand from provider’s spreadsheets?
  • What is the potential demand that can drive additional revenues for providers, as well as community benefits?
  • What are the issues or barriers that need to be overcome to drive demand and meaningful use so that local businesses and residents fully leverage technology?

We are able to address these fundamental investment case issues in a cost effective way with our Digital Economy Demand Checkup. Not only do we identify current demand, but also potential demand and market potential. We don’t know of anyone else that can benchmark demand to increase service provider revenues and maximize local economic impacts. For example, with a municipal service provider we identified a 64% increase in revenues for no additional capital investment. This represents an increase of 47% in Average Revenue Per User (ARPU).