Breaking
Down
Broadband
Understanding the Obstacles of Expansion
KATLIN SWISHER
It is no secret that one of the most significant challenges im-
peding West Virginia’s economic development is the lack of
high-speed internet across the state. After all, West Virginia
is ranked 44th in the nation by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) in terms of the percentage of population
with access to broadband.
West Virginians are not alone. According to the FCC, ap-
proximately 23 million Americans lack access to infrastruc-
ture capable of providing fixed broadband at a speed of 10-
to-1 megabits per second. But why is it so difficult to improve
and increase broadband accessibility in the Mountain State?
The state’s nickname offers a hint.
West Virginia’s mountainous terrain is not conducive to
widespread wireless broadband, the most cost-efficient type of
broadband service. The quiet zone near the Green Bank Ob-
servatory in Pocahontas County also eliminates the possibility
of wireless broadband in that region of the state.
“Some areas of the state are more mountainous than others,
so we have some topographical issues that make it difficult for
wireless,” says Robert Hinton, executive director of the Upshur
County Development Authority and chair of the West Virgin-
ia Broadband Enhancement Council. “The various radio fre-
quencies that deliver wireless broadband service function and
perform very differently.”
Exploring the Options
One type of wireless broadband transmission is line of sight
technology. It has a high level of performance in that it can
deliver very high bandwidth services of 200-300 megabits per
second in unlicensed bands up to ranges of 7-10 miles and giga-
bit capabilities in licensed bands with ranges of up to 20 miles.
Like the name, this type of technology requires a clear line of
sight from the receiver to the tower radio to receive broadband,
and tree foliage and hillsides will obstruct the connection.
The internet type that is most reliable in mountainous re-
gions is a wired, physical broadband network installed at the
location of the homes and businesses, such as cable or fiber.
Cable is the most common wired, physical broadband option.
56
WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE
It is more widely available and cheaper than fiber because it
is generally packaged with television and telephone offerings,
but it does not offer speeds as fast as fiber. Fiber, or a fiber
optic cable, requires a dense physical infrastructure. Because
it uses light instead of an electric voltage, fiber has a greater
capacity to send data, making it the fastest internet option.
However, fiber is not a cost-effective solution in scarcely
populated areas like rural West Virginia because it is expen-
sive to install the infrastructure. Many rural areas with low
population densities lack middle mile fiber access—the seg-
ments of hardware that link to an internet company’s core
network—that are necessary for fiber.
“Multiple carriers will use middle mile fiber like a major
route or interstate and exit into a neighborhood where that
service provider will deploy last mile service,” Hinton ex-
plains. “Some companies own and operate their own middle
mile and last mile network. Other companies own and operate
only their last mile network and buy transport or connectivity
off an open access middle mile. Last mile service is the service
that is directly connected to the end user or retail user while
middle mile networks connect last mile networks to other net-
work service providers.”
While there has been a lot of buzz around fiber-to-the-home
networks, the limitations have deterred many internet service
providers from bringing their business to West Virginia.
“Fiber is the most scalable and reliable level of service,”
says Hinton. “Your internet speeds can go from as little as
10 megabits per second to 10 gigabits per second if you have
fiber. The problem is that it’s expensive to install. The pop-
ulation density has to be such that the return on investment
is there. West Virginia has a low population density, which
makes it very difficult to make a business case to run fiber ev-
erywhere in the state.”
The Importance of Diversification
To navigate these geographic and population challenges,
Hinton recommends using a blend of technologies to extend
high-speed broadband services statewide.