The following transcript has been edited for length and readability. Listen to the entire discussion here on The Broadband Bunch. The Broadband Bunch is sponsored by ETI Software.
Joe Coldebella:
Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Broadband Bunch. I’m Joe Coldebella, and we are in Des Moines, Iowa, at the Community Broadband Action Network Event. Joining me is Brittany Morales, the Vice President of Biz Development at the Iowa Communications Alliance.
Brittany, welcome to The Broadband Bunch.
Brittany Morales:
Yeah. Thank you for having me, Joe. I’m excited to share more about ICA and our members and the great work they’re doing.
Joe Coldebella:
Yeah. I am really excited to share your story. Before we dig into that, I would love if you could give our listeners a little bit of background about yourself.
Brittany Morales:
Yeah. I actually joined this role in December of 2021. I’m VP of business development, but my background is actually not in telecom or broadband. My background is actually in rural economic development across Iowa. And so bringing my experience and actually serving the same membership that I was previously, my role here is really twofold. It’s to connect our members to opportunities to expand their business and, obviously, enhance connectivity across Iowa. But it’s also to promote their expertise, broadband capabilities, and community leadership.
So I grew up in rural Iowa. I’ve dedicated my career to rural vitality. And I’m passionate about making rural communities position themselves and helping them be more attractive places to live, work, and play. And so what our members are doing in this role really helps facilitate that because our members are playing a huge role in making places more connected and more attractive.
Joe Coldebella:
Awesome. Could you give the 30,000-foot view of the Iowa Communication Alliance?
Brittany Morales:
Yep. So the Iowa Communications Alliance is the state broadband association for about 120 locally owned community-based broadband providers across Iowa. Again, because of that local ownership and being locally based, there are actually 99 counties in Iowa. And our members have headquarters in 65 of those counties. So that really shows that they’re living and working in the communities that they serve. To also showcase who our members are not, we do not represent the large out-of-state providers. ICA members are primarily investing heavily in fiber for that long-term, future-proof solution. And about 40 of our members provide some fixed wireless service across the state.
Joe Coldebella:
That’s awesome. Can you tap into the history of your membership? You’re saying that it’s all local, so some of them have been around for quite a while, no?
Brittany Morales:
Yeah. So when you look at the 120 companies that we have, the average operational experience, how long they’ve been around, is about 105 years.
Joe Coldebella:
Wow.
Brittany Morales:
Yeah. So they’ve been anchor institutions in the communities that they’re in. A large majority of them were formed kind of in the early 1900s period. And really, how they kind of came to be is that our members were formed back in that time to provide rural telephone service. They’re still around today because they’ve been extremely innovative as technologies have changed. The industry has changed, and people’s habits have changed. Now, their primary focus is on broadband and primarily fiber broadband. They’re continuously investing in the latest technologies that have kept them current today.
Joe Coldebella:
That’s absolutely great. It is the true American spirit to adapt and be optimistic. And your group, they’ve been quite busy in terms of just laying down the fiber the last few years. I would love it if you could just share with us some of the work that they’ve been doing.
Brittany Morales:
Yeah. So our members, in total with transport fiber and connection to customers have about 75,000 miles of fiber laid in the ground, which is huge.
Joe Coldebella:
That’s massive.
Brittany Morales:
Yeah. So a lot of Iowa’s rural communities are actually more connected than a lot of our urban centers.
So when you look at how that’s come to be, the state broadband office in Iowa, OCIO, has released seven rounds of funding since 2019. ICA members have received about 79% of those awards because they’re quality companies that do what they say and have strong applications and are, a lot of times, the preferred provider in these areas, a lot of community support. So when you look at how much they’ve put in, the total investment has been $736 million since 2019 and four years that they’ve received. And about $391M of that has been from state and federal awards. So the remainder of that is actually their own investment. So they’re very committed to providing this service to Iowans.
Joe Coldebella:
That’s incredible that just in that short bit of time there has been so much investment. And one of those things that you often hear is about government waste. But it sounds like it is just the opposite here. You guys have done a phenomenal job of really delivering to the communities.
Brittany Morales:
Yes. Yes.
Joe Coldebella:
Discuss the communities that receive fiber both inside and outside the town.
Brittany Morales:
Yeah. So as I mentioned earlier, there are 99 counties in Iowa. ICA members provide service in 97 of those counties. When you break it down, there are about 900 communities in Iowa. Our members are providing fiber in 726 of them, which is very impressive, a large number. And of those 726 communities, 381 of them are providing fiber to every home, farm, and business, both inside and outside of town.
So what that means is that everyone is connected to fiber in that community in the incorporated areas, so city limits, but also in the rural areas, the less populated areas, the unincorporated areas. This is where precision agriculture is happening. And people are also working from home and needing access to quality-of-life amenities and healthcare. And so those communities, those 381, both in and outside of town, have this wonderful connectivity.
Joe Coldebella:
That’s great. Is precision agriculture an impetus to get folks to deploy fiber?
Brittany Morales:
Yeah, absolutely. Agriculture has gone has become highly technological. Equipment, and even down to livestock and the way that they handle medicines, everything is kind of being driven towards technology. So there’s a huge need for that farming community and those people living in those areas to have excellent connectivity.
Joe Coldebella:
Is telemedicine also something that the Iowa communities are sort of embracing?
Brittany Morales:
Yeah. So some of the networks around Iowa have the telemedicine option. COVID and the pandemic only enhanced that. In rural communities where a specialist is hours and hours and hours away, these residents because they can connect through this fiber connection, are able to interact with these specialists and providers in a way that they otherwise would not have been, which is huge for the elderly population.
Joe Coldebella:
Yeah. As a part of the community, it’s important to give back.
Brittany Morales:
Yeah. So our members really care about the communities they serve. That extends outside of just great broadband service. You have to keep in mind that our members are rural and local and everyone knows them. They’re anchor institutions and have been for over a hundred years. They’re supporting projects, causes, and events that help their communities become better places to live and enhance the quality of life.
So when you look at that, what our members have given, and this is outside of broadband, historically, but outside of just the money that they’re laying in the ground to connect these Iowans with great service, you’re looking at about $50 million that they’ve given to local rural communities to enhance various economic development programs, initiatives, and community events. This is through access through some private partnerships, but also some federal dollars that only they have access to as their entity, and also through their own operational funds. So they’re huge contributors to the vitality and health of these rural places.
Joe Coldebella:
True partnerships of the community. Awesome. You know what? It is great to learn about everything that your organization and your members are doing. If folks wanted to learn more, where could they go?
Brittany Morales:
Yeah. Absolutely. I would encourage folks to check us out on our website, www.iacommunicationsall.org. There you’ll find more about our members and some of the excellent things they’re doing in their communities and also in the broadband space.
Joe Coldebella:
Awesome. And that definitely is a mouthful, so I’ll definitely include a link when I do release the episode so folks will be able to just click and check out all the awesome things that your organization and member are doing.
Brittany, it’s been a fantastic visit. Thank you so much for joining us.
Brittany Morales:
Yeah. I appreciate you having me. Thank you.
Joe Coldebella:
That’s going to wrap up this episode of The Broadband Bunch. Until next time, we’ll see you later.
