As a child, Frank Corbin enjoyed working with communications technology as he spent his time using two-way radios. Later, as an adult, Corbin built on his knowledge of technology and became a radioman in the U.S. Navy before getting his ham radio license.
Now, as chair of the Lewis County Broadband Action Team (LCBAT), Corbin is seeking to bring modern communications technology to all residents of Lewis County.
“I want to make sure everyone in Lewis County has access to fast, affordable and reliable connection to broadband,” Corbin said.
The LCBAT was created in December 2021 in part due to a broadband planning grant the Lewis County Public Utility District (PUD) was awarded in 2019 from the state. The team replaced the broadband champions group, which was created by the PUD and primarily composed of concerned citizens interested in the PUD’s activities related to broadband.
Corbin said the group provided a forum for citizens to voice their questions to the district. Prior to becoming the chair of LCBAT, Corbin was invited to join the broadband champions group by former Lewis County Commissioner Edna Fund, who now serves on the LCBAT with Corbin as the team’s vice chair.
After receiving the grant, the PUD determined there was a need to formalize the broadband champions group to qualify for additional funds. The LCBAT was then formed to work on local broadband issues.
“We have a lot of different partners in the county that are hoping for us to be successful,” Corbin said.
According to Corbin, LCBAT is now more engaged in the development of Lewis County’s digital equity plan, which the PUD is currently taking the lead role in drafting. After the county’s digital equity plan is developed, it will then be used to develop the overall state plan.
LCBAT works with a variety of officials at different levels to achieve its goal of expanding broadband access. The team recently proposed to U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez that an item be placed in an agricultural bill currently before Congress that would help local residents receive broadband fiber connection. Corbin said the proposal would help address what he called the “driveway mile piece” of expanding broadband from roadways to homes.
Corbin said the central challenge in developing rural broadband is the cost.
“From a business perspective it doesn’t make business sense. … It doesn’t pencil out,” Corbin said.
For Corbin, government investment in broadband infrastructure is necessary to ensure everyone has access to what he called the “new utility of the generation.”
“It should be universal, in my opinion,” Corbin said.
Using the example of the Tennessee Valley Authority, an entity created by the federal government to deliver electricity to rural areas in the south during the Great Depression, Corbin explained how government investment in broadband infrastructure can provide people living in rural areas with access to utilities the market would otherwise be unable to receive. Ideally for Corbin, private companies would be able to provide broadband services after the government has financed the construction of broadband infrastructure.
“We’re hoping for competition,” Corbin said. “My hope is every business and home in Lewis County can get a fiber connection that wants one.”
Corbin believes there are many ways to provide access for rural residents. He said broadband can be delivered through a wireless point to point system or an ethernet cable, but argued fiber is the best choice when considering accommodations for future technological changes.
“Fiber is definitely the most future-proof technology we have,” Corbin said, telling The Chronicle researchers still haven’t met the limit for fiber capacity.
Regardless of the method by which broadband is provided, Corbin said his main goal as chair of the LCBAT remains the same: to provide broadband equity to Lewis County.
“Nobody left behind. Everybody that wants to be connected can be connected,” Corbin said of his definition of equity. “We want to make sure everyone has the same access and there are no barriers to broadband.”
To reach its goal of expanding rural broadband access, LCBAT is currently conducting a survey to determine broadband needs.
For questions or support to complete the survey, contact Willie Painter at williep@lcpud.org.
More information can be found online to www.broadband.wsu.edu.
