By STAN MADDUX
Indiana Correspondent WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A new study reveals Indiana would reap a nearly 400 percent return on the cost of extending broadband to rural areas of the state. Higher farm incomes and consumer savings would be part of a $12 billion economic impact for Indiana over a 20-year period, according to the analysis from the Purdue University Center for Regional Development. The potential costs and benefits were based on findings inside the service territories of seven Indiana electric cooperatives, then estimating the impact statewide. According to the study, there would be an almost $4 return to the state’s economy for every dollar invested in broadband. “It’s unusual to see returns that significant. The finding of a 4-to-1 return validates the opportunity that could be created by full broadband deployment in Indiana,” said Wally Tyner, a professor of agricultural economics at the West Lafayette campus, and one of the researchers. The electric cooperatives in the study represent nearly 93,000 residents without access to reliable, high-speed internet. He said providing such access would do what running electricity to rural areas did generations ago in terms of not just economic, but social, benefits. “When high-speed internet is unavailable, too slow or too expensive, the impacts can be profound,” said Tom VanParis, CEO of Indiana Electric Cooperatives (IEC). IEC, along with Tipmont REMC, commissioned the study with financial support from CoBank. The findings also showed $3.24 billion of the projected economic impact would be from increased income and sales tax revenue, along with health care savings. Medicaid and Medicare, for example, would have fewer costs from people without a hospital or doctor nearby gaining broadband quick access to telemedicine for care. “Broadband would provide benefit in a wide range of areas, many of which have tax revenue and savings implications for government,” said Larry DeBoer, another professor of agricultural economics at Purdue involved in the research. According to the study, farmers would see productivity and profitability enhanced from being able to communicate easier with suppliers and market outlets, and having quicker access to information like weather forecasts and best management practices. Students would also be in a better position to succeed from the electronic and distance learning options made possible by access to broadband, according to the study. Another study by the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network of 10 rural counties in the northwestern part of the study produced similar results. That report showed 23.4 percent of the 88,142 households in Benton, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Fountain, Montgomery, Pulaski, Tippecanoe, Warren and White counties lack access to residential broadband. There would be a projected $27 million annual savings in all of those households combined, if they had access and subscribed to broadband. Beck’s Hybrids, the largest family-owned seed company in the United States, is among the examples of success from gaining sufficient access to high-speed internet. In 2008, the company headquartered in rural central Indiana needed more fiber optic capabilities to expand at 10 locations across Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky and Iowa. However, there was no additional broadband capacity at its headquarters north of Carmel, Ind., and access to sufficient levels of fiber was difficult where the company wanted to establish a presence. The cost of fiber optic extensions and not enough customers to produce a sufficient return on the investment is often cited as the major reason many rural areas don’t have access to broadband. But, the Intelligent Fiber Network (IFN) out of Indianapolis came up with a solution for Beck’s. Madisen Petrosky, an IFN spokesperson, said there were no public funds involved. She said Beck’s is financing the cost, spread out long enough through a service agreement with IFN to make it affordable. A service fee paid at each location by the company was also nominal. She said the fiber optic connections for Beck’s were made with other fiber-equipped companies “down the road” from them and with data centers the IFN services. “We were able to tie Beck’s into IFN’s broadband infrastructure very quickly in a few months,” she explained. IFN has provided state-of-the-art technology services in the best and most cost-effective method possible to businesses since 2002, when the group formed to serve independent telephone company member/owners. These companies, which own IFN, have an average existence of more than 100 years, making it “financially sound and technologically stable,” Petrosky said. She said the first step is to have a conversation with a business about its needs to help develop a connectivity design, which can easily differ for each client. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution,’’ she said. IFN can be reached for more information at 317-280-3636 or at info.intelligentfiber.com |
