Improve Internet Access in Rural CommunitiesState law should be amended to give individuals, businesses, and governments in rural areas improved access to the Internet.
Background
The Internet is a vast collection of more than 2 million interconnected computer networks around the world.[1] The Internet offers computer users access to e-mail as well as a variety of information sources such as those found on the World Wide Web, which contains many thousands of individual "websites" covering a dizzying array of topics.
To access the Internet, individuals need a modem--a device that allows one computer to "talk" to another--and a telephone line. Most must subscribe to an Internet service provider (ISP). Their computer calls the ISP through the modem and the ISP connects them to the Internet. The ISP has a "server" computer running software that provides Internet service to subscribers. Typically, an ISP charges a monthly fee for its service in addition to the cost of the call charged by the telephone company. If the call to an ISP is a long-distance call, the person accessing the Internet will be charged the applicable per-minute rate.
More sophisticated information, such as graphics and sound, requires much more phone-line capacity, or "bandwidth." For example, transmitting a page of text over a phone line requires a capacity of about 16,000 bits of information per second. A full motion, full-screen video would require bandwidth of roughly 10 million bits per second.[2] Different types of telephone lines have different capacities. The typical residential phone line can handle 56,000 bits per second; this is commonly called a 56K line. Such a line is adequate for a single user, but inadequate to support an Internet server or several simultaneous Internet users. Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) lines can move data at 128,000 bits per second; a T-1 line can carry data at about 1.5 million bits per second. While a T-1 line cannot carry full-motion video, at present it is the fastest line commonly used to connect networks to the Internet.[3]
In Texas, the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF) provides grants to public schools, public libraries, public colleges and universities, and nonprofit health care providers for the purchase of equipment needed to network facilities and connect them to the Internet. TIF has established equipment standards and requires grant recipients to adhere to them in purchases made with grant funds. One of these standards requires grant recipients to gain access to a T-1 line. Local-exchange telephone companies, in turn, are required by law to run these high-capacity lines to any eligible facility that requests them. For instance, 740 Texas schools and 82 school districts receiving TIF grants are equipped or in the process of becoming equipped with T-1 lines. These lines have considerable unused capacity, especially when the facilities are closed.
Unfortunately, no comprehensive data exist on the number of Texas communities that lack local dial-up Internet access. Nevertheless, while there are at least 350 ISPs in Texas, many citizens in rural areas still lack reasonably priced access to the Internet.[4] Some national and statewide ISPs offer a toll-free access number but charge a premium monthly rate along with metered connection time. Local ISPs in rural areas often run 56K lines, which limit the number of simultaneous users to a handful of slow connections.
Hard-to-serve rural areas could benefit from access to the unused capacity of the T-1 lines connected to schools, libraries, and hospitals in their communities. Because T-1 lines cost several thousand dollars a month, an ISP needs at least 200 customers just to pay for a T-1. The Texas Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA) prohibits schools, libraries, and hospitals from reselling access to their T-1 lines; therefore, their communities cannot tap this unused capacity, even if they are unable to support an ISP.[5]
Recommendation
The Texas Public Utility Regulatory Act should be amended to allow schools, libraries, and public hospitals in rural areas to lease unused T-1 capacity to improve access of area individuals, businesses, and local governments to the Internet.The Public Utility Commission (PUC) could define "rural" and set caps on the fees charged for unused capacity to assure consistency with PUC rules. PUC should be the arbiter of any conflicts between schools, libraries, or hospitals and telecommunications providers.
Allowing schools, libraries, and public hospitals to lease unused capacity on their lines would greatly improve Internet access for rural businesses and governments. Businesses could use the Internet for communicating with customers, conducting product and market research, staying current with economic trends, and procuring support goods and services. Local governments could use the Internet for communicating with citizens, finding critical statistics for planning and problem solving, obtaining assistance with state and federal requirements, and communicating with other government agencies across the state, the nation, and the world.
Resale of unused capacity on T-1 lines would not cut into the phone companies' competitive position, because it normally is not profitable to expand the number of T-1 lines in rural markets. Moreover, quality Internet access at a reasonable cost could lead to increased demand for additional household phone lines in rural communities.
Fiscal Impact
This recommendation would have no fiscal impact on the state. Local governments would realize revenue from the leases, but the amount cannot be determined.
Endnotes
[1] Imperative! Information, "Internet Statistics" (http://www.internet.org/cgibin/genobject/BROWSE/stats/tigUPuPTvkw). (Internet document.)[2] ILC Glossary of Internet Terms, "Bandwidth" (http://www.matisse.net/files/glossary.html). (Internet document.)
[3] ILC Glossary of Internet Terms, "ISDN; T-1" (http://www.matisse.net/files/glossary.html). (Internet document.)
[4] Office of the Governor, "Texas Multimedia Program" (http://192.203.11.149/multimedia/). (Internet document); and letter from Leland Beatty, general manager, Texas Rural Communities, regarding Internet Access in Rural Texas, April 24, 1998. (Electronic mail message.)
[5] V.T.C.A., Utilities Code SS58.266.