Trying to stay connected in rural Iowa

Dave Helman sometimes browses the web to do historical research at 3 a.m. It isn't because he can't sleep or because he wants to get an early start to his day. It's because it's a time that others in the area aren't using the internet.

Helman, the board president of the Lewelling Quaker Museum, lives in rural Henry County and must rely on his cellphone provider's service. The idea of being able to stream a movie or show on Netflix without it buffering is currently a distant dream.

'I live on the last gravel road in southern Henry County, bordering Lee County. One of the more remote areas,” he said.

But even at 3 a.m., speeds can be slow and unreliable.

18% of Iowans are underserved when it comes to broadband access and the state is the 31st most connected. 90.4% of Henry County has access to 25 megabits per second (mbps) service while 79.2% of Jefferson County has access to 25 mbps service. 88.5% of Washington County has access to 25 mbps service according to data collected by BroadbandNow,

'I've lost my temper because of it a couple times now,” Helman said. 'It's a nuisance for us but for businesses in rural Iowa who need to do marketing or be selling product, it's a real inhibitor.”

Because Helman and his wife, both retirees, live so far out in the country, local broadband providers often have difficulty finding ways to get Helman connected. Living in southern Henry County, where the terrain is less flat, Helman said trees and high ground are a serious hurdle.

Helman explained that local provider, NATEL, based out of Fairfield, sent a technician to his house to see if a connection was possible. However, because of trees and a high ridge, a line-of-sight could not be established with the company's nearby tower.

Mike Schill, founder of NATEL, said his company uses wireless and fiber-optic methods to provide service to local rural residents in and around Mt. Pleasant, Centerville and Fairfield. Because providing internet access in rural areas is not profitable to bigger companies due to low population density, the onus to provide coverage lies heavily on smaller companies like NATEL.

In several instances, Schill's company has even erected 50-foot towers to provide connection. But in instances like Helman's, where a line-of-sight cannot be established with a connecting tower, providing connection is difficult.

'We really don't like not being able to provide service to clients … as far as getting into rural markets where there are a ton of trees or a river valley, frequencies don't penetrate trees or water,” Schill said.

Schil said his company's first priority is to 'build out fiber,” of which only 29% of Iowans have access to currently. Fiber optics allows for higher speeds and is at the technological forefront of broadband access.

'The challenges with fiber optics is with cost,” Schill said. He said providing access would be easier if NATEL were able to hang fiber-optic wires on poles without having to erect their own. Having poles already would be easier for the company to reach more rural residents.

Schil said political leaders have 'paid good lip service” to helping expand access to rural America.

'You hear about all this money being made available, but it's not designed for small companies like us. To meet all the requirements to get [federally funded grants], a lot of bigger players have staff and money to put into getting their grants, which is not really providing a real solution to the rural marketplace,” Schill said.

In Iowa, Gov. Reynolds proposed the Empower Rural Iowa Broadband Grant, that was passed by the legislature in early 2019. The grant would provide $5 million per year over the span of two years to support the expansion of broadband in rural areas.

As the new legislative session begins, state senator Rich Taylor, who represents District 42, has drafted and proposed a new bill that would provide $10 million in grant money for rural broadband over the span of a year, with funds set aside for the Chief Information Officer of Iowa to help smaller broadband companies apply for the grant. Taylor said the bill is targeted specifically at start-ups and smaller companies.

'Because these companies are small and don't have the personnel or the expertise to apply for the grant, my bill provides an extra $100,000 to the Information Officer to help these companies qualify for the grant,” Taylor said.

The state senator said rural broadband is an important issue that needs to be tackled because it is an economic development issue.

'The businesses need workers and the kids aren't going to stay where they can't get broadband. They're just not going to stay out there in our communities. If they can't get it here in our communities, then they're going to go where they can. It's an economic growth tool - anything we can do to help keep the kids in rural Iowa, or even attract them here has gotta help any business that's in the rural community. Farmers also need the internet just for business,” Taylor said.

Joel Garretson, who runs East Grove Mead in Salem with his family, is an example of how restricted broadband access has limited the expansion of business. Garretson, who uses a satellite provider, said essential business systems like Square, rely on functional internet.

'It's just not consistent … we're limited in what we can do as a company because we don't have that,” Garretson said, 'It affects advertising. A lot of companies use video promotion and it would be fairly difficult for us to do that. We keep everything simple because of that.”

Because his business is location-based and starting over in another area isn't quite an option, Garretson said he and his family 'can survive.”

'Our brand is associated with the farm, but if we were a brand-new company that didn't have any ties to anything and just starting up, moving to a different location would be a major consideration. Most everybody wants broadband,” Garretson said.