Tech expert: Jacksonville should make internet a public utility like electricity or water
Soon after the new administration of Mayor Donna Deegan took office, seven transition committees began meeting to help shape and prioritize Jacksonville’s policy directions. The areas of focus are infrastructure; health; economic development; public safety; arts, culture and entertainment; constituency and community outreach; and military and veterans.
JaxPublicInternet participated in the work of some of these committees and recently communicated its key findings to the administration as follows:
First, universal internet access is a fundamental requirement in our modern society and is materially relevant to achieving the goals of each of the transition committees.
Second, it is a stated goal at the federal, state and municipal levels to achieve a fully connected citizenry, as well as digital equity.
Third, sole reliance on existing service providers (Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, Cox, etc.) has not and will not achieve this universal internet access.
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Fourth, universal internet access is now the equivalent of a public utility, just as with electricity, water and sewer service.
Fifth, JEA’s existing dark-fiber optic cable network is a key infrastructure building block for establishing an open access municipal fiber network. This public/private partnership approach enables new and existing private-sector service providers, to deliver internet-based services in a virtual marketplace over fast, affordable JEA public-sector fiber infrastructure to every home, business and municipal facility in Jacksonville.
Sixth, JEA’s multi-year grid modernization project shares with municipal broadband the common requirement of connectivity to every home, business and municipal facility.
Seventh, historic levels of federal funding for broadband are not currently being pursued by the city of Jacksonville. This needs to change immediately by partnering with proven resources in the federal grant lifecycle. There are multiple buckets of funds with multiple timelines.
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Eighth, the mechanism for Jacksonville obtaining federal funding operates through the Florida State Office of Broadband, which in turn is reliant on input from the Local Technology Planning Team. The Jacksonville team’s May 2023 Draft Report concluded that “Based on information collected to date by the LTPT, Jacksonville does not have unserved areas and does not qualify for funding.” Further work needs to be done to reverse this conclusion and align the planning team’s conclusions with the actual and extensive needs of Jacksonville.
Ninth, the success of municipal broadband efforts rests on three pillars: access, affordability and adoption. Sustained effort is required in each area. The National Digital Inclusion Alliance is a leader here.
Tenth, JaxPublicInternet proposed several projects for the city of Jacksonville in our June 2023 newsletter that constitute a potential starting point that is best run in parallel with rapid creation of a digital inclusion strategy, project identification and aggressive pursuit of federal grant money.
Eric B. Geller has 35 years of technology industry leadership, a background in public policy and is the founder of JaxPublicInternet.org.
This guest column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Times-Union. We welcome a diversity of opinions.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Pandemic showed us the necessity for universal internet access in Jax
