Telecommunications, KPUD, and economic development have become, if not the center, a big chunk of my life recently. As a member of the telecommunications committee of the Kitsap Regional Economic Development Council I am party to ongoing discussions about the future of this county with regards to telecommunications.
The committee just had its latest foray into an attempt to provide recommendations for policy efforts. On July 30 and 31, the Kitsap PUD held a “lighting ceremony” at the Admiral Theatre in Bremerton to launch its fiber optic backbone. This ceremony provided a clarifying moment for the telecommunications future of Kitsap County.
As one small voice I’ll attempt to wedge in some clarifying thoughts the came between the last committee meeting and the lighting ceremony.
Telecommunications is an all-encompassing word but most of the committee’s dialog has centered on the Internet and data connectivity. Unfortunately, the concept of the Internet for most is that it is out there, not here in the county. The reality is that the technological basis of the Internet can be applied within the county and can provide a seamless communications capability from one end to the other.
Another reality is that the Internet is a communications medium distinctly different than telephone or cable TV. Although we currently use either telephone or cable TV to reach the Internet it is not necessary to do so in the long run. Connecting to the Internet with a more appropriate technology can have profound beneficial effects for all of us.
Economic development is another all encompassing term. There is a tendency to use it in a fairly narrow way, mostly with a focus on business. There is a deeper tendency to increase that focus — as in attracting new businesses or improving services to existing ones. The tendency also blurs the distinction between “business” and “businesses.”
Businesses are the entities that do business. Business involves both businesses and their relationship with customers. If economic development is meant to improve the conditions for business it does so for the sake of both businesses and customers.
The Kitsap PUD has built a fiber optic backbone through most of the county and will eventually expand its reach to all the county. This backbone, when operational, will provide communications capability utilizing the underlying technology of the Internet. The backbone, however, is nothing but a backbone and the ultimate reach of the system will rely on all of us, both businesses and customers.
What is commonly known as the “last mile” problem is the connection between the backbone and the end user. The method for solving this problem is uncommonly called the “first mile” solution. That solution is the end user owning the infrastructure, the physical connection to the backbone. The mechanism for doing this is through the financial technique of a Local Utility or Improvement District, better know as LUDs or LIDs.
This, in essence, converts telecommunications, mostly the Internet, into a utility, a public utility. It also puts the end user, whether a business or an individual, into the powerful position of owner and in control of the network and its use, creating choice and competition and lowering costs.
Economic development usually takes the form of marketing, trying to show that Kitsap has much to offer. Unfortunately, what Kitsap has to offer in telecommunications is pretty much the same as everyone else — almost. The KPUD backbone offers the opportunity to leapfrog the hope of sameness by providing a service 80 percent better than what is currently available. Adding our individual and business effort to see this come to fruition will provide the biggest marketing advantage to economic development, something no else has.
We can enjoy the ability to communicate from one end of the county to the other. We could also listen to other counties and areas of the country tout that they have adopted the Kitsap model.
697-2252.)
