How millions in federal funds could improve broadband internet access on Aquidneck Island

Zane Wolfang, Newport Daily News
·4 min read

MIDDLETOWN – Board chair Stephen Johnson acknowledged the last few years have been slow for the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission, with the COVID-19 pandemic coming hard on the heels of former executive director John Shea’s decision to take a job in Maine.

The future, however, is going to be fast – fiber optic fast. The AIPC has honed in on island-wide broadband internet infrastructure as a key priority in 2024, and is positioning itself to play a pivotal role in the implementation of over $100 million in federal funding for broadband internet in underserved areas which will be administered by RI Commerce as part of the $65 billion federal BEAD program.

The commission does still need to hire an interim executive director, and is actively engaging in a recruiting process to do so, but Johnson told The Daily News in an interview at Middletown Town Hall after the most recent AIPC meeting that his board is “ready and able to move forward proactively supporting our primary stakeholders: the three municipal planning departments, the municipal administrators and councils, and Naval Station Newport.”

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2024 Priorities

AIPC established its priorities in consultation with the three municipal planners:

  • Affordable and reliable fiber broadband internet for every home and business on Aquidneck Island

  • Regional water quality and climate resiliency planning

  • Update of the 2005 West Side Master Plan, potentially incorporating Navy funding for a compatible use study

  • Island-wide transportation planning, integrating the separate municipal plans

  • More and more affordable housing opportunities, especially for low-to-moderate income families and the local workforce

Ted Pietz, who represents Portsmouth on the AIPC and works as a computer scientist at NUWC, said in an email to The Daily News, “The AIPC has an exciting future ahead of effecting long lasting and thoughtful progress in critical areas such as fiber broadband development, stormwater management and climate resiliency, and the development of the West Side.”

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A role to play in developing broadband internet infrastructure on Aquidneck Island

Pietz is also a strong advocate for improving broadband internet infrastructure and increasing access to it, not only through his work on the AIPC board but also as the principal at Aquidneck Light, an entity he founded to help promote the installation of Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) broadband internet on Aquidneck Island.

“In terms of broadband,” he explained, “at least $104 million (RI's share of the $65 billion BEAD program administered by NTIA, created via IIJA) then another $25 million in matching ARPA CPF funds will be coming from Washington, D.C. to RI Commerce.”

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“The rulemaking to implement these unprecedented programs awards…proposals which demonstrate a collaborative approach by numerous community-focused stakeholders,” he continued.

“As Aquidneck Island's communities undertake planning large multi-year efforts, the AIPC is best positioned to lead the broadband efforts,” he said. “As a non-profit entity working on behalf of the communities it serves, the AIPC can ensure these one-time federal dollars build the broadband assets which will remain held in the public's trust for perpetuity with local ownership and oversight.”

Pietz has helped the AIPC develop a plan called Island Gig: Community Broadband for Aquidneck Island)). Essentially, the commission wants to develop a public-private partnership with the three municipalities to build, operate and administer a community-based broadband network.

Newport to host Internet for All: ConnectRI Broadband Summit on June 1

The event, which is being organized by Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, is free to register, and will be held at CCRI Newport.

The day-long workshop will see stakeholders from the federal, state, and local governments, tribes, industry, and other key collaborators discuss broadband efforts as the state prepares to receive broadband funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

There is no fee to attend this event. Registration for virtual participation will open on May 11. Lunch will be provided to in-person participants. If you have any special dietary needs, please contact Julia Pulidindi at (202) 748-7878 or jpulidindi@ntia.gov by Friday, May 19, 2023.

Upon request, accommodations for individuals with dietary needs, voice interpretation needs or disabilities can be provided by calling (202) 748-7878 or emailing jpulidindi@ntia.gov by Friday, May 19, 2023.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Broadband internet access on Aquidneck Island could get boost