PDA wants to bring fiber optics to rural areas
CHENEY – The City Council met on May 14 to discuss the possibility of joining the Spokane Re gional Broadband Public Development Authority (PDA). The meeting featured a presentation by Arianne Schmidt, the executive director of Broadlinc, outlining the benefits and mission of the PDA.
Broadlinc was established in December 2022. It is governed by an in dependent board and includes towns, cities, and unincorporated areas of Spokane County.
Schmidt explained, “It was created to em body the three-pronged mission of the PDA – to remember we have unconnected communities outside of the city, our rural areas, often called digital deserts. It’s also meant to represent a spool of fiber-optic cable.”
“High-speed internet is not just a public works investment, there’s a human element,” Schmidt mentioned.
Broadlinc focuses on expanding public benefit infrastructure, providing digital equity and access, and fostering public-private partnerships. The PDA aims to offer affordable, sustainable, and competitive broad band services through Open Access Networks, making publicly funded digital highways acces sible similarly to regular highways.
Schmidt noted, “Right now, that does not exist. The private sector has not been able to realize the return on investment for really sparsely populated areas.”
Broadlinc’s achievements in its first year include adding 22,000 Spokane County addresses to the FCC Fabric Map, resulting in an additional $300 million NITA BEAD allocation for Washington state.
Spokane County is the fifth-highest county in the U.S. for the most unserved locations.
Schmidt highlighted several pilot projects and public benefit innovations, such as the semi fixed capacity expansion in South Spokane County, funded by a $4.6 million grant from the Washington broadband office.
This project aims to create an open access solution with local ISPs and partner entities. The PDA also played a role during the Gray Fire impact area by deploying Cellular on Wheels (COWS) to provide emergency medical connectivity and WiFi services to affected regions.
Councilman Paul Schmidt expressed his support, reflecting on past efforts to improve broadband access. “Twenty-two years ago, we were trying to do the same thing, and I couldn’t support it – but now I couldn’t be more pleased that we have local governments involved.”
Clare is an Eastern Washington University graduate and a reporter at Free Press Publishing.
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