Rural broadband access not a problem in region

South Dakota farmer Tom Young uses a broadband internet connection to help him in his duties as a certified crop advisor and in many aspects of sunflower, wheat and corn production on his farm.

Even though Young lives in the rural community of Onida, SD, approximately 30 miles northeast of Pierre, SD, he has broadband access.

“Transferring data is much faster with the internet than writing it down and mailing it,” Young says.

Despite nationwide concerns about rural telecommunications access, the Northern Great Plains remains well connected. Expansive fiber optic networks exist in North Dakota and South Dakota to connect businesses in most areas with broadband services. Residential use of broadband varies widely throughout North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota, but the region appears to be better off than many parts of the country.

A study released in February by the U.S. Department of Agriculture indicates that fewer than one in three farms nationwide have broadband connections.

But some isolated areas in the region fare much better. Remote Harding County in northwestern South Dakota reported 44 percent of agricultural producers using high-speed internet services.

Young also uses the internet to research insects and weeds. The certified crop advisor was able to assist a fellow farmer identify an unusual insect in a sorghum field and obtain information about its potential for damage as well as measures to control it.

“I really enjoy using chat rooms to visit with other farmers and exchange ideas,” Young says. “It’s helpful to find out what farmers are doing across the country or around the world. You can obtain information about a lot of things, including agricultural opportunities.”

STRONG RURAL REGIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACCESS

A broadband report released in July by the Economic Development Administration Center at the University of Minnesota, Crookston found that 89.7 percent of rural Minnesota businesses have internet connections, a significant increase from the 65.5 percent reported five years ago in an earlier version of the same study.

The 2004 report found that 38.6 percent of rural Minnesota businesses surveyed used a dial-up connection. That number dropped to just 4.3 percent in the 2009 report, with 96 percent now using broadband services. The 2009 report also indicates that 56.3 percent of Minnesota’s rural businesses use broadband connections to sell goods, while 69.8 percent use broadband to interact with government agencies.

The Pierre-based South Dakota Telecommunications Association is comprised of 29 community-based cooperative, privately-owned, municipal and tribal telecommunications companies that collectively serve approximately 80 percent of South Dakota’s land mass and roughly two thirds of the state’s incorporated communities.

“In South Dakota, none of the communities being served by SDTA member companies lack access to broadband services,” says Richard Coit, the organization’s executive director. “There are differences in the speed of the broadband service that is offered and lack of sufficient speed can sometimes pose problems to businesses and individuals.”

Sioux Falls-based Midcontinent Communications and SDN Communications have strong telecommunications networks in South Dakota and throughout the region.

Fargo-based Dakota Carrier Network encompasses 15 independent rural telecommunications companies and represents 85 percent of the all the telephone exchanges in North Dakota and covers more than 90 percent of the state’s total surface area. The company’s network of broadband and Ethernet high-speed internet access is available to every community in North Dakota through interconnections with local exchange carriers and national service providers.

SDN Communications recently gained a connection to Dakota Carrier Network in Bismarck — the first in a series of planned expansions that will increase the company’s footprint to eight states. SDN Communications, which serves areas in South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska and has worked with Dakota Carrier Network for years, plans to reach into Minnesota and Wyoming this year and eventually extend its network to Montana and Colorado.

Carriers like Verizon Wireless have also continued to build towers throughout the region. Verizon has added nine new cell sites in North Dakota and five new sites in South Dakota this year alone.

“From January 2001 through June 30, 2009, Verizon invested more than $160 million in North Dakota and $211 million in South Dakota to enhance our network,” says Karen Smith, Verizon’s public relations manager for its Great Plains Region, which includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. “We deployed our 3G broadband network throughout both states and offer customers the largest, most reliable 3G network nationwide.”

Verizon customers download at an average of 600 kilobits per second and up to 1.4 megabits per second, the equivalent of a small PowerPoint presentation or large PDF file in about 8 seconds and upload the same file in less than 13 seconds, according to Smith.

“Verizon launched 10 LTE 4G cell sites in (eastern states) this year,” Smith says. “We expect to offer the LTE 4G nationwide in 2013.”

MORE GROWTH ON THE HORIZON

The stimulus bill that was passed by Congress earlier this year included $2.5 billion to expand access to broadband technology in rural communities, which should significantly impact businesses and residents in rural areas of the region.

An increased focus on connectivity in rural areas should also lead to a better understanding of the broadband access in specific rural communities, making it easier to target where improvements should be made.

Coit of the South Dakota Telecommunications Association says the federal government is gathering more data about broadband availability and use in the nation’s rural areas.

“Past broadband reports for rural areas were related to zip codes,” Coit says. “Reporting that one provider serviced one customer within a designated zip code was interpreted to mean broadband was commonly available to and being used by residents and businesses in that area, which wasn’t necessarily accurate. The FCC now collects data relative to census tracking and will eventually release a report on their findings to provide more accurate data about how broadband is used in rural areas.”

Installation costs for Digital Subscriber Line units (DSL) or cable modem technology and other broadband technologies in rural areas becomes cost prohibitive if too few subscribers are scattered across too many miles. However, federal universal service support has helped make broadband service available in rural areas. Coit believes that often residents and businesses don’t realize the benefit of broadband services, resulting in low subscription rates in rural areas.

“To some extent, I believe that low subscription to broadband services is a generational issue,” Coit says. “Younger generations tend to see more value in broadband services. One federal government goal is to promote use of broadband and understanding of its value.”

Evan Hass, Dakota Carrier Network’s general manager, says the company is working to establish wide area networks for businesses throughout North Dakota and the surrounding region.

Dakota Carrier Network works on projects like connecting all of North Dakota’s schools and political subdivisions. The company also assists businesses like Gate City Bank with the development of a mobile phone system and use of other communications technology that enables businesses to save money on communications and enhance mobile access to company networks and software.

“There’s a trend for companies to migrate to Wide Area Ethernet Networks with a significant increase in bandwidth,” Hass says. “Ethernet services are more scalable and economical for companies who find that customer applications require faster connectivity.”

Sorensen is a Yankton, SD-based freelance writer. She can be reached at sorensenlms@gmail.com.

Tags: economic development