This could be – and perhaps should be -- another story about how the COVID-19 pandemic shone a glaring spotlight on the poor state of rural broadband, globally. 

But instead, it’s a story about North America-wide progress. Sort of.

In the U.S., the Biden administration has released a broadband mapping tool called “The Indicators of Broadband Need.” On this map, broadband deficit areas identified by public and private sources are marked in red…including most of rural America outside city centres.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo was pleased a tool was developed that clearly identified areas of need. But she was dismayed with what it revealed. “This paints a sobering view of the challenges facing far too many Americans as they try to connect to high-speed broadband and participate in our modern economy,” she said.  

Added Federal Communications Commission Acting Chair Jessica Rosenworcel: “Broadband is no longer nice to have. It’s need to have. To ensure that every household has the internet access necessary for success in the digital age, we need better ways to accurately measure where high-speed service has reached Americans and where it has not.” 

Percolating frustration with the snail’s pace of delivery is evident everywhere as maps, posturing and excuses run their course. It’s sparked a no-nonsense initiative in the U.S. called the American Connection Project, launched a year ago by Land O’Lakes which is now backed by more than 50 major companies and organizations. They’re advocating for a whopping $80 billion to be earmarked and spent across the country for border-to-border broadband. 

The project also calls for free wireless in some rural areas, and training young people to help rural communities establish broadband. That, says project organizers, will help farmers and others take advantage of the economic opportunities that broadband brings – among them, more reliable online sales and e-commerce, not to mention better Internet for precision farming purposes.

The most recent development from this effort is a program called the American Connection Corps. It vows to fund up to 50 lobbyists (it calls them fellowships) for two years to crowd boardroom tables and develop relationships for better connectivity. 

And it’s not just agri-food interests that have stepped up. Illinois Extension, Microsoft and the Mayo Clinic for example are also American Connection Corps sponsors and supporters, each recognizing how important broadband is to health and education, not to mention food production.

Canada could use such an initiative. On July 15, Canada’s Ministers of Agriculture met by video conference to discuss what they called several “key areas of interest” for the country’s ag sector. In the communique following their meeting, they said the topics discussed included the next Agricultural Policy Framework, preventing and preparing for the threat of African Swine Fever, and potential long-term improvements to the suite of Business Risk Management programs.

They also mentioned “setting the stage for a strong and sustainable future.” Surely, that includes investing in better broadband access. But they didn’t say.

At the provincial level, Ontario has an ambitious investment in broadband. In March 2021, it announced nearly $4 billion to connect every region across the province to high-speed internet by 2025. A Ministry of Infrastructure spokesperson told me this was a “bold commitment,” adding that it’s the largest single investment in high-speed Internet, in any province, by any government in Canadian history.

Investment is important, it says, because about 700,000 households and businesses still lack access to adequate broadband speeds…or have no access at all. Two publicly accessible map tools are available showing broadband service availability in Ontario. 

The first is managed by Industry, Science, and Economic Development Canada (ISED). It’s based on data provided by internet service providers across Canada on where and what type of services they provide.  You can download the base data used to for this map to create modified map images and shapes.

The second is a tool developed by the Ministry of Infrastructure to support the “Improving Connectivity for Ontario” program delivery. It uses the same data as the ISED map tool and presents it in a slightly different way. Data can’t be downloaded; instead, the tool can be used to draw shapes, and the data layers more accurately show the road level data points used to determine service availability at the street level.

Maps are good. Service is better. A lot of money is on the table and the need is huge. It’s way past time for adequate rural broadband.