Anchors Away

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation knows how to get things done.

On October 5, the Foundation met with FCC broadband coordinator Blair Levin. The purpose of that meeting was to provide a cost estimate for one of the Foundation's ideas: running fiber optic cables to every "anchor institution" in the US—libraries, hospitals, community colleges, public schools. By October 8, the FCC was asking for public comment (PDF) on the plan and the viability of its cost estimates, which say the entire project could be completed for $5-$10 billion.

The Gates Foundation has identified 123,000 "anchor institutions" in local communities that could make good use of fiber Internet connections. In addition to serving the community that comes to each institution, the idea is also to run fiber into the center of every community in the country, with the goal of making it easier to then expand Internet access to homes and businesses in the community.

A rural hospital, for instance, could stick a white spaces broadband antenna on its roof, link the antenna to its fiber connection, and suddenly bring at least basic wireless connectivity to the surrounding area at minimal cost.

The Foundation admits that the cost estimate is not a complete one; it doesn't include costs for network management and upkeep, and additional backhaul costs might be needed in some areas to feed these fiber links. In addition, the group estimates that 13 percent of libraries and 20 percent of other anchor institutions already have fiber connections. Wiring up the rest would cost between $4.9 billion and $10.1 billion, with much the variability linked to the amount of trenching that might be involved in running the fiber.

In putting together its national broadband plan, due in February 2010, the FCC is considering numerous ideas like this—but the quick public request for comment indicates that it is specially intrigued by the Gates Foundation proposal. The agency wants to know by October 28 whether the cost estimates are reasonable, whether other sorts of buildings should count as "anchor institutions," and to what extent "will providing fiber to these institutions directly assist last-mile build-out economics in currently un- or under-served areas."