Tulsa County Board of County Commissioners

PROJECT PURPOSE

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) strongly encourages local governments to invest in broadband infrastructure in areas that are underserved with insufficient broadband options or capacity. The guidance from the treasury recommends investments in fiber optic networks that are owned, operated by, or affiliated with local governments or non-profits. Tulsa County has developed a project plan collaboratively with the City of Tulsa, Tulsa Health Department, and OneNet to provide faster and more reliable Internet options in areas that have been identified as underserved or unserved within Tulsa County.

EVIDENCE

Tulsa County has followed the guidance from the U.S. Treasury and utilized two key resources to help determine areas in need of fiber infrastructure. The Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) has published maps illustrating areas where 50% of households have income below 60% of the Area Median Gross Income (AMGI) or that have a poverty rate of 25% or more. The United States Department of Commerce has a branch named the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) that publishes and maintains an interactive map that illustrates where broadband infrastructure is lacking across the entire nation.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

Covid 19 impacted communities worldwide forcing society to move online to function safely from home. Stay-at-home orders, school closures and remote work requirements highlighted a digital divide that soon became a challenge everywhere, especially for k-12 students. According to Pew Research, the demands placed on home internet connections and the nation?s internet infrastructure during the pandemic became a focus, with users experiencing problems with access, speed, reliability, and affordability. Some public schools, such as Sand Springs Oklahoma, quickly innovated by outfitting school buses with Wi-Fi kits to serve rural and underserved census tracks with mobile hot-spots. However, this does not solve the lack of affordable broadband infrastructure available to populations that need it on a permanent basis. Tina Moses, director of technology for Sand Springs Public Schools said, ?It?s really about closing technology gaps and increasing equity of access. Long-term, my hope is that we can park those buses in neighborhoods overnight so kids can do homework and parents can do job applications.? Tulsa County would like to expand on that hope and work with partners to install broadband infrastructure across our county to help citizens gain the access they need to operate virtually while keeping the cost affordable.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

Tulsa County will develop an application process for Internet Service Providers (ISP?s) to formally request access to the middle mile conduit installed and maintained by Tulsa County within or nearby underserved locations throughout the area. Tulsa County will also create an application process for ISP?s to request funding to help facilitate last mile fiber work to be performed within census tract locations. Within this application, there will be terms and conditions that each ISP will agree to that will require them to provide Tulsa County with regular detailed reports on their services being provided within the underserved locations.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma