[Senate Hearing 116-607]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                        S. Hrg. 116-607

                      TRANSFORMING RURAL AMERICA: 
                        A NEW ERA OF INNOVATION

=======================================================================

                             FIELD HEARING

                               before the

SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS, TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION AND THE INTERNET

                                 of the

                         COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
                      SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                     ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                           SEPTEMBER 5, 2019

                               __________

    Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation






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                Available online: http://www.govinfo.gov



 

                               ______
                                 

                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

52-749 PDF                WASHINGTON : 2023














       SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

                     ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                  ROGER WICKER, Mississippi, Chairman

JOHN THUNE, South Dakota             MARIA CANTWELL, Washington, 
ROY BLUNT, Missouri                      Ranking
TED CRUZ, Texas                      AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska                RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
JERRY MORAN, Kansas                  BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska                 EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts
CORY GARDNER, Colorado               TOM UDALL, New Mexico
MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee          GARY PETERS, Michigan
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia  TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
MIKE LEE, Utah                       TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin               JON TESTER, Montana
TODD YOUNG, Indiana                  KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona
RICK SCOTT, Florida                  JACKY ROSEN, Nevada

                       John Keast, Staff Director
                  Crystal Tully, Deputy Staff Director
                      Steven Wall, General Counsel
                 Kim Lipsky, Democratic Staff Director
              Chris Day, Democratic Deputy Staff Director
                      Renae Black, Senior Counsel

                                 ------                                

SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS, TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION AND THE INTERNET

JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman
ROY BLUNT, Missouri                  BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii, Ranking
TED CRUZ, Texas                      AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska                RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
JERRY MORAN, Kansas                  EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska                 TOM UDALL, New Mexico
CORY GARDNER, Colorado               GARY PETERS, Michigan
MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee          TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia  TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
MIKE LEE, Utah                       JON TESTER, Montana
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin               KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona
TODD YOUNG, Indiana                  JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
RICK SCOTT, Florida









                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page
Hearing held on September 5, 2019................................     1
Statement of Senator Thune.......................................     1
Statement of Senator Fischer.....................................     3

                               Witnesses

Hon. Brendan Carr, Commissioner, Federal Communications 
  Commission.....................................................     4
    Prepared statement...........................................     6
Dr. Jose-Marie Griffiths, President, Dakota State University.....    10
    Prepared statement...........................................    12
Deanna Larson, President, Avera eCARE............................    18
    Prepared statement...........................................    20
Mark Shlanta, Chief Executive Officer, SDN Communications........    22
    Prepared statement...........................................    23
Craig Snyder, Chief Executive Officer, VIKOR Teleconstruction....    29
    Prepared statement...........................................    31
Michael Adelaine, Vice President for Technology and Security, 
  South Dakota State University..................................    33
    Prepared statement...........................................    34

                                Appendix

Statement of Joseph RedCloud, Member, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine 
  Ridge Indian Reservation; Executive Director, Oceti Sakowin 
  Tribal Utility Authority; Acting Chairman, Oglala Sioux Tribe 
  Utilities Commission...........................................    53











 
                      TRANSFORMING RURAL AMERICA: 
                        A NEW ERA OF INNOVATION

                              ----------                              


                      THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2019

                               U.S. Senate,
       Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, 
                       Innovation and the Internet,
        Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
                                                   Sioux Falls, SD.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:30 p.m., 
Southeast Technical Institute Auditorium, Sioux Falls, South 
Dakota, Hon. John Thune, Chairman of the Subcommittee, 
presiding.
    Present: Senators Thune [presiding] and Fischer.

             OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN THUNE, 
                 U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA

    Senator Thune. Good afternoon, and welcome to today's field 
hearing. I want to say thank you to South East Technical 
Institute for hosting this field hearing, and thanks to all of 
you for coming. I have convened this hearing to both explore 
the bill out of high-speed broadband services and to examine 
the numerous benefits this broadband connectivity brings the 
South Dakota communities.
    After previously serving as the Chairman of the Senate 
Commerce Committee at the beginning of this year, I became 
Chairman of Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, 
Innovation and the Internet. While I've spent considerable time 
on this issue as Chairman of the Full Committee given its 
importance, the first subcommittee hearing I convened was on 
the State of Rural Broadband in America. Today, I am excited to 
discuss this important topic right here at home.
    Over the years as I have worked on this issue, I have heard 
from stakeholders who are on the ground building out 
communications networks, deploying infrastructure, and bring to 
market new technologies that are transforming our everyday 
lives. I have also heard from community and tribal leaders, 
small businesses, hospitals, schools, and everyday South 
Dakotans experiencing the benefits of reliable broadband 
connectivity. Unfortunately, access to the benefits of 
broadband delivered services are often determined by where you 
live, with rural areas trailing those who are more densely 
populated areas.
    The Federal Communications Commission plays an important 
role in helping to build out rural broadband services through a 
number of programs. I am very pleased that last December the 
FCC, as part of efforts led by Commissioner Carr, unanimously 
took action to enable the continued deployment of broadband in 
rural communities, both here in South Dakota and across the 
country, by ensuring adequate, predictable support to the high 
cost program. In fact, just last month the FCC authorized over 
$705 million in support of the South Dakota carriers serving 
some of the most rural areas of our state. I am confident these 
new dollars will be deployed in an efficient and effective 
manner.
    Rural telecommunications companies in South Dakota are 
leaders in providing quality communication services to their 
customers. They cover more than 76 percent of the geography of 
the state, and more than three-quarters of their customers have 
access to high-speed broadband services. Accurate broadband 
maps are also essential for these programs to effectively 
target truly underserved, or unserved areas, I should say. In 
July, the Commerce Committee advanced the bill I sponsored with 
Chairman Wicker called the Broadband Data Act to address the 
challenges with the current broadband availability maps.
    Additionally, the FCC recently took steps to update its 
maps consistent with the goals of the Broadband Data Act. As 
many of you know, having reliable connectivity and 
infrastructure in place throughout all parts of the country 
presents new opportunities beyond streaming your favorite TV 
show without buffering. For many businesses, access to reliable 
broadband services means tapping into markets that have been 
before unreachable. It means new educational opportunities for 
students and educators in rural areas and so much more.
    The use of Precision Agriculture encompasses the use of 
robotics, field sensors, remote monitoring, and the Internet of 
things, and other technologies that enable farmers to manage 
their fields, significantly increase their crop yields, 
eliminate overlap in operations, and reduce inputs such as 
seed, fertilizer, pesticides, water, and fuel.
    Telehealth services help reduce costs for both patients and 
healthcare providers. Mobile health applications allow patients 
to track their overall health and telemedicine helps overcome 
geographic barriers which are common in more rural areas. All 
of these applications are the result of having a reliable 
broadband network, and as we look ahead to next generation 
fixed broadband and wireless services, it is critical we have 
the workforce and proper infrastructure in place to bring 
communities further into the 21st century. That is why it is 
important to have forward-thinking individuals like Mayor Paul 
TenHaken here in Sioux Falls, who sees the opportunities that 
next generation services will bring. He has worked aggressively 
to lower barriers and impediments to ensure that companies will 
invest in Sioux Falls, and that type of mentality will help the 
United States, including more rural areas, ultimately see the 
full benefits of broadband capabilities today and in the 
future.
    It is encouraging that the FCC's recent broadband 
deployment report shows the number of Americans lacking access 
to a fixed broadband connection has continued to decline, but 
this issue will remain a priority for me until we have closed 
that gap entirely for everyone who wants access to broadband 
and the benefits that it brings. As folks here in South Dakota 
know, rural America has a lot to offer, and with the potential 
for new and more efficient broadband infrastructure, there will 
be even more meaningful opportunities for advancements in 
health care, agriculture, financial services, education, and 
economic development.
    Today we are joined by a panel of expert witnesses to 
discuss these benefits and the state of rural broadband 
deployment. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who as I mentioned, 
has had a very busy schedule meeting with a number of South 
Dakotans over the past 48 hours. And I will let him describe 
the amount of real estate that he has covered but he has 
climbed towers in South Dakota--wind towers. So, he has been 
high up in the sky, and this week he got a chance to go 
underground a mile, 5,000 feet at the research facility out in 
the Black Hills.
    I appreciate very much the interest that he has shown in 
closing the digital divide and his vision to make innovations 
that come with these services a reality. And he has worked hard 
to understand these issues from a South Dakota perspective, and 
we are grateful for that. Dr. Griffiths and Dakota State 
University are ensuring our advanced telecommunications 
networks and the services they offer are protected as we face 
new cyber challenges. And Ms. Deanna Larson, who is President 
of Avera eCare, is helping advance telehealth services across 
many areas in the Midwest.
    Dr. Michael Adelaine together with South Dakota State 
University is preparing young men and women for careers that 
bring agriculture and emerging technologies together. And Mr. 
Marl Shlanta, SDN Communications and Mr. Craig Snyder of VIKOR 
Teleconstruction are working to deploy broadband services and 
related infrastructure that will bring South Dakota the 
benefits and the innovations that we will be talking about here 
today. I am also delighted to be able to welcome my colleague 
and neighbor from down South, Senator Deb Fischer who is here 
today to hear from folks who work every day to bring these 
services to the people of rural America. Rural Nebraska faces 
many of the same challenges we have here in South Dakota when 
deploying these services.
    States like South Dakota and Nebraska can play a leading 
role in the technological revolution and I am eager to continue 
to do my part and to work with Senator Fischer and others as we 
make that a reality. Senator Fischer has a leading role on the 
Commerce Committee and her expertise comes from, I should say, 
the infrastructure world and the transportation world, where 
she was a leader on those issues in Nebraska and has continued 
to do that in the U.S. Senate on the Commerce Committee, but 
also very active, as I said, on these a technology issues and 
Internet issues and the many policy matters that come in front 
of our Committee so I am delighted to have her join us today, 
and I look forward to our discussion.
    I want to thank all of you who have come out for being 
here, and I am going to turn to Commissioner Carr in just a 
moment. Let him open this up. But I wanted to just acknowledge 
again, Senator Fischer, and any remarks that you want to make?

                STATEMENT OF HON. DEB FISCHER, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM NEBRASKA

    Senator Fischer. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good 
afternoon everyone. It is a pleasure to be here in South 
Dakota, our neighbors to the North, and share some information 
from a distinguished panel that we have here today about the 
importance of infrastructure.
    Now, usually when people say infrastructure, at least in my 
world, they think of roads and bridges, well, I think of 
broadband as well. I live South of Murdo, South Dakota. I am in 
the Sandhills in Cherry County. We have a cattle ranch. And 
yes, you can turn on your cell phone and not have service. So, 
we fully understand that if we are going to be competitive in 
rural America, we need to have that infrastructure. And it is 
not just roads and bridges, it is broadband that will keep our 
communities growing, keep our young people at home and to grow 
the strengths that we have in rural South Dakota and in rural 
Nebraska.
    Senator Thune has been a leader in all of these areas. It 
is a pleasure to continue to work with him on the Commerce 
Committee. He was a fabulous Chairman of the Committee in 
advancing the needs that we see all across the United States 
when it comes to these issues, and it is certainly a pleasure 
to be here with him today at this field hearing here in Sioux 
Falls.
    So, thank you very much. Thank you, Senator.
    Senator Thune. Thank you, Senator Fischer. And she does 
live straight South of Murdo. So that is way South of Murdo.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Thune. And I want you to know there are lots of 
Jackrabbit, Coyotes, and other fans in the audience who are 
probably some Huskers fans too, so.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Thune. I am going to start and we'll just give our 
panelists an opportunity to make some remarks on my left to 
your right with our Commissioner. As I said, Commissioner Carr 
has been in South Dakota now for a few days. He has been out 
here a number of times in the past. It is always a pleasure to 
welcome him to South Dakota. And I know many of you in this 
room have helped roll out the welcome mat for him and made his 
experience here a meaningful one. And I know that he has 
learned a lot from his visit.
    So, Commissioner Carr, it is always good to have you here. 
You are welcome. Look forward to what you have to say.

     STATEMENT OF HON. BRENDAN CARR, COMMISSIONER, FEDERAL 
                   COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

    Mr. Carr. Great, thank you. Thank you, Chairman Thune, for 
the invitation to testify. It is great to be back with you in 
South Dakota. I want to commend you and the Committee for 
holding this field hearing on rural broadband and the new era 
of innovation that it is bringing to rural communities. Your 
strong leadership on rural broadband has expanded economic 
opportunities for rural America. I also want to recognize and 
extend my thanks to Senator Fischer. I had the privilege of 
visiting Nebraska with Senator Fischer about a year ago and we 
learned there how fast Internet connections are able to just 
transform rural communities.
    Spending time like this outside of D.C.--hearing directly 
from community members impacted by our policies--is critical. 
There is no substitute for seeing firsthand the challenges that 
come with building broadband in some of the hardest-to-serve 
parts of the country. And there is nothing that underscores the 
importance of all of our efforts to solve that challenge--to 
close the digital divide--than seeing how so many in rural 
America are using a high-speed connection to innovate and 
create economic opportunity--whether it is in agriculture, in 
healthcare, or in education.
    And I will deviate a little bit from my testimony to 
highlight how this week it really underscored all of those 
points. We started out on the Western part of the State in 
Lead, South Dakota, an old 1800s gold mine that is now home to 
some of the most cutting-edge innovative, Nobel prize-winning 
science work. One reason is they have been able to run a fiber 
connection a mile straight down this mine shaft to connect 
those research labs. So, what was old back in the 1800s has 
been able to be reinvigorated, creating massive jobs in that 
part of the State thanks at least in part to a broadband 
connection. As we moved further East, we spent some time down 
in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
    As you know, it is vast, vast area along the border with 
Nebraska, about the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined, 
with about 100 times fewer people. Immense challenges with 
connecting that community in. I was there with Golden West and 
they were showing us how they were replacing the old copper 
lines, that they are on track now to connect nearly every 
customer location in that vast area with high-speed fiber. And 
we saw there the difference that it makes. We visited an IHS 
hospital and we connected through a fiber linked back to Sioux 
Falls to Avera eCARE, and they had some of the world's leading 
specialists located there. With that broadband HD video 
connection, they can video in and provide specialty care, 
including mental health and behavioral health that simply would 
be unavailable on the reservation without that broadband 
connection.
    Moving further East again, we stopped last night in 
Midland, South Dakota. There was a family there, the 
Hochstetlers. It is a third-generation farmer. His wife we met, 
Misty, she works in a high-tech IT field. And before she got 
broadband to her family home on the farm, she had to drive a 
thousand miles a week to commute to her job. That was probably 
going to be unsustainable in the long run, and now she can work 
remotely right from the field, right from the home on the farm. 
And her husband Brian took us up in one of those connected 
combines.
    And to really be a farmer today you have to understand not 
just agriculture but really be a tech expert, a science expert, 
and he showed us how these connected combines now when you get 
the connectivity to the farm, they can make precise inch by 
inch adjustments to seeing death pace of seeding and it is 
resulting--generally got a 30 percent boost in productivity on 
the farm. And so, it is a real-life example, I think, whether 
it is a high-tech field or farming when you get a broadband 
connection to your home the difference that it can make.
    And so, for communities around the country, broadband is 
giving families a chance to improve their lives, to innovate, 
and expand their opportunities, and we have been engaged in 
efforts with the FCC to help build on, expand. What we are 
seeing is, as Chairman Thune noted, we have been opening up 
millions of dollars for South Dakota and across the Great 
Plains to build out Internet infrastructure and it is making a 
difference.
    The digital divide closed by about 20 percent last year 
alone. Internet speeds are up about 40 percent in the country. 
New small cell builds went from 13,000 in 2017 to over 60,000 
last year. So, we are on track to lead the world in 5G now, 
which is this next generation of connectivity. For us, the 
finish line is not the time New York or San Francisco gets 
next-gen connectivity, it is when every single community gets a 
fair shot. And along the way it's creating jobs, and not just 
when you get the connection, but building on this Internet 
infrastructure, and Craig with VIKOR will tell us a bit about 
that. How industry could add about 20,000 new jobs today, good-
paying, solidly middle-class jobs building out this 
infrastructure of the future.
    And I was up 100 feet or so today with some of Craig's crew 
putting in a new wireless antenna above Mitchell, South Dakota 
that is beaming almost 100 megabits per second service--right 
in that area. And telehealth is another big opportunity that 
comes with it. We mentioned the very eCare demonstration that I 
saw. We are pursuing a pilot program at the FCC, the Connected 
Care Pilot Program is looking to open up $100 million to 
support, not just broadband to brick-and-mortar healthcare 
facilities, but there is a shift in healthcare billing. It is 
effectively the shift that we saw from Blockbuster video to 
Netflix, where high quality care can now be delivered directly 
to the home.
    So, we are looking to build on our existing support 
mechanisms by funding the connections needed directly to a 
patient, whether it is their smartphone or tablet, so they do 
not have to travel to a facility to get some of the qualifying 
care. So those are some of the interesting things we are seeing 
from Precision Agriculture to education, to healthcare where 
broadband makes a difference and there is so much grit and 
ingenuity and determination in rural communities. And when you 
give them a fighting chance with a broadband connection, it is 
so impressive what happens, and that is why we are going to 
keep fighting in D.C. with the leadership of Senator Thune and 
Senator Fischer to make sure that we get this fully across the 
finish line and close the digital divide.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Carr follows:]

        Prepared Statement of Hon. Brendan Carr, Commissioner, 
                   Federal Communications Commission
    Thank you, Chairman Thune, for the invitation to testify. It is 
great to be back with you in South Dakota. I want to commend you and 
the Committee for holding this field hearing on rural broadband and the 
new era of innovation it is enabling in communities across the country. 
Your strong leadership on rural broadband issues has expanded economic 
opportunities for rural America. I also want to recognize and extend my 
thanks to Senator Fischer. I had the privilege of visiting Nebraska 
with Senator Fischer and learning how fast Internet connections are 
able to transform rural communities.
    Spending time like this outside of D.C.--hearing directly from the 
community members impacted by our policies--is critical. There is no 
substitute for seeing firsthand the challenges that come with building 
broadband in some of the hardest-to-serve parts of the country. And 
there is nothing that underscores the importance of our efforts to 
solve those challenges--to close the digital divide--than seeing how so 
many in rural America are using a high-speed connection to innovate and 
create economic opportunity--whether in agriculture, healthcare, or 
education.
    I saw this last spring in West Michigan's farm country. That's 
where I met Jason. At 36 years old, Jason has worked on farms and 
ranches for 20 years. He was born only a few miles from the crop supply 
company where he now works. There's no paved road to his job. To get 
there, he crisscrosses railroad tracks that run through town, and when 
I visited, the drive took us past mounds of dry fertilizer and potash, 
ready to be spread in the adjacent fields.
    Jason's job is to collect silos worth of data: drone-based images 
detailed enough to track even small changes to a single leaf; real-time 
information about soil moisture and chemistry; LiDAR-based maps that 
identify the micro-climates within each plot of land; and bales of 
information gathered by sensors on his connected combines and sprayers.
    Jason has the tech expertise that would be in high demand 2,000 
miles away in Silicon Valley. But he's chosen to raise his family in 
Moline. He told me he's never been more optimistic about the future of 
farming.
    The challenge, Jason explained, is getting all this data up into 
the cloud where it can be analyzed and put to productive use. And that 
means a high-speed connection, which Moline now has. A broadband 
provider ran fiber along the railway bed--the same set of tracks that 
helped Moline get its start in the 1870s when the Grand Rapids and 
Indiana Railway passed through.
    Now Jason can upload the gigabytes of data he collects and leverage 
the horse-power of cloud-based artificial intelligence to put this 
information to work.
    The results are remarkable. Jason now sends real-time data to his 
connected combines. The combines make inch-by-inch adjustments, to the 
spacing, depth, and type of seeding, and they change the types and 
amounts of fertilizer, too. My favorite of Jason's smart ag inventions? 
He told me about an IoT device that traps pests, uploads their images, 
and then uses AI to identify them and recommend a solution.
    With these broadband-enabled, smart ag applications, Jason 
estimates that farmers are seeing at least a 30 percent increase in 
productivity and crop yields, not to mention a significant reduction in 
the use of fertilizer, pesticides, and water.
    Jason is a tech whiz. That is clear the second you meet him. And 
he's like so many other bright minds across rural America that have 
been able to innovate and realize their potential right in their 
hometowns because of the opportunity that broadband gives them. We want 
to close the digital divide so that even more Americans have that same 
opportunity. But building broadband in rural areas is tough. It 
requires grit, determination, and ingenuity. Thankfully, those are 
qualities that are abundant in rural America.
    You can see this skill set at work just south of here in 
Chancellor, South Dakota. That's where I met Tyler--a scrappy 
entrepreneur that runs a tech startup from his home. Tyler needed a 
better broadband connection, so he created one himself. He asked an ISP 
to run fiber to an old utility pole near his house. He then set up a 
high-speed, fixed wireless link to bridge the gap between his home and 
the fiber connection. Turns out, this setup worked well to bring 
broadband to Tyler's house. He looked around and realized that he could 
help bring more broadband to his neighbors around Chancellor by doing 
similar work. So Tyler decided to go into the broadband business. He 
now runs a small Wireless Internet Service Provider or WISP called Leap 
Communications. Tyler told me that connecting rural South Dakota is not 
easy work. And he showed me that you can't be afraid of heights to do 
it.
    Tyler guided me 180 feet above nearby Parker, on top of the town's 
water tower. Up there, he showed me the antenna he uses to beam 
broadband to his customers, including a farm located about nine miles 
away. We visited that farm later in the day, and we spoke with Duane, 
who runs the operation. Duane volunteered that he used to go to church 
regularly to improve his connection. You see, before he met Tyler, 
Duane did not have broadband at the farm. So he would go to the church 
parking lot almost every day to use its Wi-Fi and upload the massive 
data sets he collects on his connected tractors and combines. Duane was 
quick to point out that he still goes to church, but with a broadband 
connection provided by Tyler's company, he can now spend his time there 
focused on a higher purpose.
    I saw this same broadband-powered innovation on display with 
Senator Fischer in rural Nebraska. On that visit, I spent time in a 
feedlot in Milford, Nebraska with a startup called Quantified Ag that's 
built what they call ``Fitbit for Cattle.'' It's a small, connected tag 
that's attached to a cow's ear when they arrive at the feed lot. It 
measures the cow's temperature, tracks its head and body movement, and 
can pick up on issues that are tough for any human to spot. Every 
morning, data from the cows are uploaded and analyzed by the company. 
If the data show a cow that is outside the normal range of 
measurements, a small red light starts flashing on the cow's ear tag. 
The pen rider spots the light and can then move in for a more detailed 
analysis. The preliminary results indicate that the technology is 
helping to improve outcomes for the herd, saving time and money, and 
reducing the use of antibiotics and other treatments.
    For communities across the country, broadband is giving families a 
chance to improve their lives, to innovate, and to expand their 
economic opportunities. That is why the work of this Committee and the 
FCC is so important. And that is why our top priority is closing the 
digital divide--to ensure that every community in the country has a 
fair shot at next-generation connectivity. Following the leadership of 
Chairman Thune and his colleagues, the FCC has been taking bold action 
to accelerate the buildout of broadband infrastructure in rural 
America. I want to highlight a few of those steps today.
    First, we have moved quickly to modernize and update our wireless 
infrastructure rules. These are reforms that can flip the business case 
for entire communities--creating the incentives for providers to build 
out in areas that otherwise could get left behind. To start, we 
identified more than a billion dollars in ``upfront fees'' and other 
Federal regulatory charges that were needlessly increasing the cost and 
slowing down the build out of small cells and other next-gen 
infrastructure. We acted to rein in those excessive fees.
    For another, we addressed the state and local review process for 
new small cells, which are the building blocks for 5G. We did this by 
building on commonsense reforms already enacted by elected officials in 
their own communities--including by Mayor Paul TenHaken here in Sioux 
Falls. Chairman Thune has been a strong leader on many of these issues, 
including through his introduction of the STREAMLINE Small Cell 
Deployment Act, which would further accelerate the buildout of new 
wireless services.
    Second, the FCC has reformed our rules on wireline service. We have 
done so through a series of decisions that help support the buildout of 
Internet infrastructure in areas where vast distances, tough terrain, 
and sparse populations undermine the private sector business case to 
build.
    I want to highlight just one set of reforms today, which relates to 
our Universal Service Program. The program's new way of awarding 
funding gives broadband builders incentives to provide the most 
efficient service to the most customers. If they figure out a way to 
save the taxpayer money, they get to share in those gains. It's a win-
win, and it's the way our funding programs should work. We were pleased 
to see that even more South Dakota broadband builders joined this new 
market-based program. Offers we made in December could make available 
an additional $18 million to provide fast Internet to more than 40,000 
new locations in South Dakota. We also increased to $70 million per 
year the amount of funding available to broadband builders in South 
Dakota who already were a part of our market-based program. For those 
builders who are still in our old support program, we encouraged them 
to be more efficient, and as a result, they now have $20 million more 
available to them. And finally, for the most difficult to serve areas, 
we held an auction last year that will result in $5 million to build to 
another 1,000 locations in South Dakota.
    Just this morning, in fact, I visited a site in Mitchell, South 
Dakota, where one provider is turning on a new, high-speed service that 
will connect hundreds of previously unserved residents in Davison 
County.
    The FCC's reforms are already delivering results. The digital 
divide narrowed by almost 20 percent last year alone. Internet speeds 
across the country are up nearly 40 percent. More fiber was built out 
last year than ever before. And investment in broadband networks is 
back on the rise.
    Indeed, the U.S. now has the largest 5G deployment in the world. 
The private sector in the U.S. built out 5G in 14 communities last 
year. Those U.S. builds were driven by a significant increase in small 
cells--in fact, the number of small cells put up in the U.S. increased 
from 13,000 in 2017 to more than 60,000 in 2018. And we are on a 
trajectory to maintain this global leadership, with estimates 
predicting a total of 200,000 small cells in the U.S. by year end 2019, 
along with over 40 5G communities. And one carrier alone has recently 
announced plans to build out 5G to 99 percent of the U.S. population.
    All of that is good for consumers, but it's also good for workers. 
All of this broadband construction has created job openings, many of 
which remain unfilled. The industry tells me that it needs to hire 
20,000 more tower climbers and telecom techs to build 5G. These are 
good-paying jobs--the kind that you can raise a family on. They don't 
even require a four-year degree. With only a few months of training, 
the wireless infrastructure industry can provide 20,000 ladders up to 
the middle class.
    Some ladders are longer than others, and for some reason I agreed 
to climb 2,000 feet with some of South Dakota's finest tower hands. I 
was with Mike and Ammon of Vikor Teleconstruction. The tower was for 
KDLT-TV in Rowena, one of the largest broadcast towers in the world. 
Mike and Ammon were kind enough to pry the bureaucrat from the books 
and show me what connecting the Dakotas really takes.
    The truth is that Mike and Ammon are 5G workers. They switch out 
and repair equipment so that wireless broadband can reach kids at 
school, moms and dads can start home businesses, and cops and 
firefighters can keep us safe. And we need more Mikes and Ammons to do 
the job. So two months ago, I announced a 5G jobs initiative. Modeled 
on a program developed by Aiken Technical College in South Carolina, it 
looks to community colleges as a pipeline for these 5G jobs. In 12 
weeks, someone with no training can learn the skills needed to land a 
good-paying job in the tower industry.
    We need to expand this model program to community colleges across 
the country to ensure we have the skilled workforce in place to build 
and maintain next-gen networks. I have been working towards that goal, 
and that is why I am glad that Chairman Thune is holding this hearing 
here at Southeast Tech. Alongside Chairman Thune, I have been working 
with leadership here, and I am pleased that Southeast Tech is now 
looking to add a tower tech program right here at their Sioux Falls 
campus. Programs like this can help address our country's need for more 
5G workers and close the skills gap.
    More 5G workers will help us solve a related problem in rural 
America: the doctor divide. With a growing physician shortage, it's 
difficult to find specialists in many rural communities, and even basic 
care is often out of reach.
    Leaders here in South Dakota are using telehealth to meet this 
challenge. I saw their work last year when I spent time with the 
talented team at Avera eCare. This facility is home to world-leading 
specialists, and thanks to a broadband connection, these healthcare 
professionals are available to patients located throughout the state 
and across the Plains. A small, rural clinic that may only have the 
resources to keep a single person on staff can now pull up an entire 
team of professionals at Avera eCare through a video connection, thus 
bringing their expertise and specialization to bear in treating a 
patient. This type telehealth offering is saving lives and driving down 
the cost of care.
    And it is part of new trend in healthcare. The provision of high-
quality care is no longer limited to the confines of connected, brick-
and-mortar facilities. Indeed, technology that's available only inside 
a hospital or clinic does little to help communities or patients that 
are long miles and many hours away from those facilities. So I am 
pleased to be leading the FCC's effort to stand up a new $100 million 
Connected Care Pilot Program. And I am glad to share an update today on 
this FCC proceeding.
    The idea for the Connected Care Pilot Program is simple. We are 
seeing a shift in healthcare that's the equivalent of moving from 
Blockbuster to Netflix. With an app right on your smartphone or tablet, 
you can now access quality care wherever you are. I think the FCC 
should support this new trend in care.
    So I am pleased to report that my colleagues at the FCC voted just 
two months ago to support my proposal, and we are now taking public 
comment on the idea. We have proposed to support a limited number of 
telehealth projects over a multi-year period with controls in place to 
measure and verify the benefits, costs, and savings associated with 
connected care. It could take the results we've already seen in the 
limited trials to date and help replicate those results in communities 
across the country. This will allow remote patient monitoring and 
mobile health applications that can be accessed on smartphones and 
tablets, to lower the burdens on patients, and the health care system 
as a whole. I want to encourage the stakeholders here in South Dakota 
and across the country to participate in the FCC's proceeding.
    In closing, I want to thank you again, Chairman Thune, for holding 
this important hearing, and for your leadership on rural broadband. I 
welcome the chance to answer any questions.

    Senator Thune. Thank you, Commissioner Carr. Next up is Dr. 
Jose-Marie Griffiths, who as I said is the President of Dakota 
State University and has brought vast experience in the world 
of cyber and is doing some really wonderful things over there 
at DSU. So, we are delighted to have you here, and invite you 
to make some remarks.

STATEMENT OF DR. JOSE-MARIE GRIFFITHS, PRESIDENT, DAKOTA STATE 
                           UNIVERSITY

    Ms. Griffiths. Thank you, Senator Thune, Senator Fischer, 
for the opportunity to testify today on this important topic. 
In my longer written comments, I have some compelling real-life 
stories that illustrate the power and importance of broadband 
connectivity in education, healthcare, in the business 
community, development, etc. But my spoken comments today will 
focus on some stunning facts and figures that illustrate that 
we are at a crisis point in this country. Admittedly, we are 
making progress, but we have still a way to go.
    A crippling digital divide exists between rural and urban 
areas, and in some respects, it is growing. Rural areas that 
have secure reliable broadband connectivity have indeed been 
transformed by and are experiencing a new age of innovation. 
However, generally rural areas have been cutoff from life in 
the 21st century. Rural America that is experiencing the 
benefits of broadband connectivity like Dakota State 
University, and our host community of Madison and Lee County, 
here in South Dakota, are making sure that we have four 
components: reliable, fast, secure, adequate capacity broadband 
Internet service; reliable, fast, secure, adequate capacity 
cell phone service; technology services at costs we can 
sustainably afford; and a highly skilled tech workforce.
    Unfortunately, many rural communities do not have one or 
more of these components, and instead of innovation and hopeful 
futures, there are more and more being left behind attempting 
to access 21st century electronic resources with 20th century 
technology. A very important point here, this lack of 
connectivity doesn't just impact those living in rural areas, 
it impacts the economic success of the entire United States. 
According to a study by Deloitte for Facebook, every day that 
one person is not connected to the internet, America loses 
$2.30 of potential economic activity, and that means if we 
could solve the rural urban digital divide today, tomorrow we 
could have the potential to add $83 million per day or $30 
billion a year to the U.S. economy. According to a recent Pew 
Charitable Trust Study, almost 60 percent of rural Americans 
report that access to reliable, secure, high-speed Internet is 
a problem in their communities.
    In contrast, fewer than 20 percent of urban Americans 
report this as an issue. Reliable, secure broadband has indeed 
ushered in an area of innovation and transformation for those 
who have access. For example, students who have Internet 
connectivity at home are 10 percent more likely to earn a high 
school diploma and college degree and will earn more than $2 
million more over their lifetimes. 82 percent of U.S. 
households have Internet access, but only 65 percent of rural 
households with a computer can get high-speed Internet access.
    For Native Americans living on reservations or tribal 
lands, the percentage is even worse. Only 53 percent with a 
computer have any way of getting Internet access. So, getting 
broadband connectivity for that population would be a powerful 
way to raise the existing unacceptable 65 percent high school 
graduation rate and raise earned income. Advanced placement 
classes give bright, motivated high school students better 
preparation for college work and lowers their cost to degree. 
Hundreds of AP courses are available online, but only 47 
percent of rural school districts have no secondary schools 
involved in those courses. In comparison, fewer than 3 percent 
of urban districts and only 5 percent of suburban areas have no 
students taking AP courses. Technology in the classroom 
individualizes learning and engages students.
    However, approximately 41 percent of schools, almost all in 
rural areas representing 47 percent of U.S. K through 12 
students, do not yet have connectivity at even the FCC's short-
term bandwidth goal of 100 megabits per second per 1,000 
students. Educational technology makes it possible for one 
teacher to teach multiple subjects at multiple levels, engaging 
in motivating ways. Rural areas are facing a chronic shortage 
of teachers, and technology deserts make it worse. It's no 
wonder 39 percent of rural schools struggle to fill teaching 
positions in every subject, and over 60 percent of high school 
teachers in rural areas leave teaching after their first 3 
years, an additional 20 percent after five.
    An unemployed person who has Internet at home will be 
employed several weeks faster than one who doesn't and will 
earn more than $5,000 in additional income annually. Zip codes 
in the bottom 10 percent of population density pay up to 37 
percent more on average for residential wide broadband than 
those in the top 10 percent of density. IT professionals in a 
community transform that community. One IT person can support 
multiple small businesses in addition to training employees to 
promote digital adoption. At Dakota State, we've set a goal of 
doubling our enrollment in our Beacon College of Computer and 
Cyber Sciences to increase the number of tech professionals 
available in rural areas.
    We have also been strengthening the tech workforce 
pipeline. This fall, we launched a new Computer and Cyber 
Sciences Academy with the Sioux Falls School District that will 
enable high school students to take college-level cyber courses 
while still in high school, lowering the costs and shortening 
the time it will take them to earn a tech degree. This is part 
of another initiative that South Dakota Partnership for Student 
Success, a program with multiple educational pathways to get 
more people into the tech workforce.
    Another new endeavor, the Madison Cyber Labs, is focused on 
economic and workforce development by retaining our graduates 
in South Dakota, along with business and population recruitment 
to the State. Rural areas that can keep their talented high 
school and college graduates keep intellectual capital and 
leadership. Broadband connectivity opens doors for these young 
adults to take well-paying, telecommuting jobs and launch 
online entrepreneurial enterprises all from their home 
communities, but without it, the rural brain drain will only 
get worse. So broadband connectivity is critical to the United 
States continuing to lead in this era of innovation.
    As a country, we must decide whether we are going to make 
it possible for all to have equal access to high speed Internet 
or abandon rural users to slow smartphones, library parking 
lots, and unlimited reliable home connections. In this ever 
more competitive global market place, the United States needs 
$83 million more of economic activity a day, and we must make 
sure that every child in America, including those in rural 
areas, has an education that well prepares them to lead this 
country through this century and into the next. Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Griffiths follows:]

      Prepared Statement of Dr. Jose-Marie Griffiths, President, 
                        Dakota State University
    Good afternoon. I am Jose-Marie Griffiths, President of Dakota 
State University in Madison, South Dakota.
    Thank you, Senator Thune, and members of the Committee for the 
opportunity to testify today on this important topic. In this field 
hearing, I invite you to come with me as I take you on a field trip of 
sorts, illustrations of the power and importance of broadband 
connectivity.
    A classroom full of students, eager to learn how to program secure 
software for mobile devices, greet their professor as he rolls into the 
room. The professor is a quadriplegic who uses an electric wheelchair, 
and at this moment he is stranded in his home by a South Dakota 
snowstorm his wheelchair can't get through. However, a Plains snowstorm 
will not stop him from teaching his class. The professor confidently 
makes his way to the front of the Dakota State University campus 
classroom via a tall robot, nicknamed ``Cosmo'' after the professor's 
favorite Seinfeld character. Miles away in his home office, the 
professor uses his computer to move the iPad, positioned on the top of 
the robotic stand, to see and warmly greet the students. He begins 
teaching and the students intently listen, take notes, and periodically 
ask questions. The professor sees their raised hands through his 
computer screen at home, and immediately responds. He moves the robot 
in closer to the student to clearly hear and understand the question, 
then moves back to the front of the class so everyone can see and hear 
his answer. An hour later, 30 students walk out of the room knowing how 
to program certain security features into their software, a skill 
desperately needed by businesses and organizations across the country. 
The professor heads out of the classroom with the students via his 
robot. The students carry on animated conversations with him as they 
all make their way down the hall. The professor then heads to his 
office for individual meetings with students during his scheduled 
office hours.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ SiouxFalls.Business. (2019, February 5). Robotic assistant 
allows DSU professor to appear virtually on campus. Retrieved from 
https://siouxfalls.business/robotic-assistant-allows-dsu-pro
fessor-to-appear-virtually-on-campus/
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    A respiratory therapy student studies the numbers coming up on the 
computer monitor, quickly reviewing and analyzing the data to choose a 
treatment protocol. The instructor is sending multiple scenarios in 
succession for the student to address. In one hour, the student is 
confronted with more different cases than she would likely see in a 
week or more working full-time in a hospital. The student's confidence 
grows as she makes and corrects her mistakes with the instructor's 
assistance. By the end of the hour she is well-prepared to assist any 
patient experiencing the specific life-threatening condition that is 
the topic of this class session.
    A shrimp-farm engineer sits down in front of his computer and 
brings up the morning report giving him the status of the thousands of 
shrimp in the farm's water tanks. His business is located in a large 
building in the middle of a South Dakota prairie. He makes some 
adjustments to temperature and water flow for some of the tanks, then 
turns his attention to the morning updates from his supply chain. He 
notes that U.S. supply is running low on one of the types of shrimp his 
company farms. He sends a message to his staff to switch over 5 of 
their tanks to increase production of those shrimp, knowing the price 
on them is rapidly rising with the shortage in other parts of the 
industry.
    A high school senior walks into her AP biology class. The teacher 
hands her a virtual reality headset for the day's lesson. The entire 
senior class in this very small rural high school has only 7 students. 
It is one of the 50 percent of U.S. schools (or more than 70 percent of 
South Dakota Schools) located in a rural community. However, so far 
this school year these 7 students have visited the Great Hall at Ellis 
Island, walked on the moon, experienced trench warfare during World War 
I, and studied Van Gogh's ``Sunflower'' paintings in a museum in 
Amsterdam--all from the comfort of their classroom. The student with 
the headset begins exploring a 3-D virtual reality model of the heart 
through her headset, turning, expanding, and shrinking the beating 
object as she explores its various parts and sees how they function. 
When she is done, the teacher hands her the standardized test for the 
unit. The student scores 100 percent, and then has a conversation with 
the teacher about the student's newly sparked interest in becoming a 
cardiac surgeon.\2\
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    \2\ Stanford Children's Hospital. (2019, March). The Stanford 
Virtual Heart--Stanford Children's Health. Retrieved from https://
www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/innovation/virtual-reality
/stanford-virtual-heart
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    A mother frantically calls 911, her choking toddler turning blue in 
her arms. The operator, with one computer keystroke, sends to the mom's 
phone a text with a series of photos showing how to do the Heimlich 
maneuver on a child. With another few keystrokes the dispatcher sends 
the woman's location to the closest first responder's GPS system. The 
mother brings up the pictures on her phone, follows the directions, and 
one of big brother's Lego pieces flies out of little sister's mouth. 
The toddler coughs and begins to breathe again, as mom hugs her tight, 
happy tears streaming down her face.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ Government Technology Magazine. 911 Dispatchers Use New 
Technologies to Quickly Locate Cellphone Callers. Retrieved from 
https://www.govtech.com/dc/articles/911-Dispatchers-Use-
New-Technologies-to-Quickly-Locate-Cellphone-Callers.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    These situations might seem to be very different. But they all 
share one key dependency: they require robust secure reliable broadband 
connectivity.
    Without broadband, the classroom would be empty, the smart, eager 
students left without knowledge and skills our communities need to be 
safe, competitive, and thrive in this century.
    The respiratory therapy student would be following someone around 
the hospital, seeing a few cases a day, mostly watching rather than 
doing--no one should let an untrained student make life-threatening 
decisions on a real patient.
    The shrimp farm would totally disappear from our prairie, taking 
with it the $30 million impact it is expected to have on the local 
South Dakota economy.\4\
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    \4\ Askren, M. G., & Askren, M. G. (2019, January 4). Tru Shrimp to 
build in Madison; $30 million impact expected. Retrieved from http://
www.dailyleaderextra.com/news/top_stories
/article_6309dd88-106e-11e9-aa23-ff243e4ded54.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The company would be forced to relocate to one of the U.S. coasts 
to access industry supply chains and markets. The high school senior 
would have to sit through a class far below her AP-level passion for 
science, constrained by her less-interested classmates who require 
their teacher to deliver a basic-level biology class.
    And if the 911 system the mother called was one of the 911 systems 
hacked and taken off line--which includes over 50 in the last couple of 
years--that frantic mother would have been left alone and without the 
help she needed to save her child's life. For example, not long ago the 
911 system for the entire state of Washington crashed and was offline 
for 6 hours, leaving over 4,000 911 calls unanswered with no 
response.\5\ Presently, only 11 states and the District of Columbia 
have cyber protection programs in place for their 911 systems.\6\ The 
main reason for this? 911 systems report that they cannot find tech 
professionals who have the broad technological expertise necessary to 
regularly install new software patches, identify what parts of the 
systems are vulnerable and plug the holes, or quickly restore systems 
when they crash. And the vast majority of 911 systems have no backup 
system available if the main system is hacked.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ Bernton, H., & Fields, A. (2018, December 28). 911 outage in 
Washington and other states triggers federal, state investigations of 
CenturyLink. Retrieved from https://www.seattle
times.com/seattle-news/911-outage-in-washington-and-other-states-
triggers-federal-investigation-of-centurylink/
    \6\ Schuppe, J. (2018, April 3). Hackers have taken down dozens of 
911 centers. Why is it so hard to stop them? Retrieved from https://
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hackers-have
-taken-down-dozens-911-centers-why-it-so-n862206
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    Reliable, fast, secure, adequate capacity broadband connectivity 
enables individuals and organizations ANYWHERE to participate in this 
amazing Age of Innovation.
    However, those of us who have been engaged over the years in the 
development of our present ``Technology Age'' have long been concerned 
about what has been called ``the digital divide.'' This is the phrase 
to describe the state of the ``haves'' and ``have nots'' when it comes 
to access to technology. Today, it especially refers to those who 
have--or do not have--access to secure reliable broadband connectivity. 
In the United State today, more than 60 million people cannot 
effectively access the indispensable parts of American life that have 
migrated online, like education, health care, business and financial 
opportunities, and employment.\7\
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    \7\ Tung, L. (2019, April 16). Microsoft: FCC massively overstating 
how many Americans have broadband access. Retrieved from https://
www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-fcc-massively
-overstating-how-many-americans-have-broadband-access/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Twenty and even ten years ago the digital divide primarily split on 
finances--those who had money had access; those who did not were cut 
off. While poverty still has an impact on access to connectivity, the 
real digital divide in the U.S. is now between urban and rural areas.
    Rural America that is experiencing the benefits of broadband 
connectivity--like Dakota State University and our host community, 
Madison and Lake County, here in South Dakota--are making sure we have 
4 components:

  (1)  Reliable, fast, secure, adequate capacity broadband Internet 
        service,

  (2)  Reliable, fast, secure, adequate capacity cell phone service,

  (3)  Technology services at costs we can sustainably afford, and

  (4)  A highly skilled tech workforce.

    Unfortunately, rural communities generally do not have one or more 
of these components, and instead of innovation and hopeful futures, 
they are more and more being left behind attempting to access 21st 
century electronic resources with 20th century technology.
    A very important point here: this lack of connectivity does not 
just impact those living in rural areas, it impacts the economic 
success of the entire United States. According to a 2016 study done by 
Deloitte for Facebook, every day that one person is not connected to 
the internet, America in 2016 lost $2.16 of potential economic 
activity, which means that the rural/urban digital divide in 2016 cost 
our country over $78 million a day in economic activity, or over $28 
Billion in a year.\8\ \9\ In 2019 dollars, that amount is $2.30 a day. 
This means if we could solve the rural/urban digital divide today, 
tomorrow we have the potential to add $83 million a day to the U.S. 
economy, or $30 Billion a year.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\ Deloitte. (October, 2016). The economic impact of disruptions 
to Internet connectivity A report for Facebook. Retrieved from https://
www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global
/Documents/Technology-Media-Telecommunications/economic-impact-
disruptions-to-internet-con
nectivity-deloitte.pdf
    \9\ Chike Aguh. (2018, February 13). How the 'digital divide' is 
holding the U.S. economy back. Retrieved from https://venturebeat.com/
2018/02/10/how-the-digital-divide-is-holding-the-u-s-economy-back/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The background behind this stunning statistic is this: according to 
the U.S. Census Bureau, about 60 million people, or one in five 
Americans, live in rural America.\10\ According to a recent Pew 
Charitable Trust study, almost 60 percent of those rural Americans, or 
6 out of every 10 people living in a rural area (36 million people), 
report that access to high-speed Internet is a major or significant 
problem in their communities. In contrast, less than 20 percent of 
urban Americans report this as an issue.\11\ According to the FCC, 
close to 40 percent of rural Americans--roughly 23 million people--lack 
any access to broadband services, land-based or mobile.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\ Nasser, H. E. (2019, May 23). What is Rural America? Retrieved 
from https://www.census
.gov/library/stories/2017/08/rural-america.html
    \11\ For 24 percent of rural Americans, high-speed Internet is a 
major problem. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/
2018/09/10/about-a-quarter-of-rural-americans-say-access-to-high-speed-
internet-is-a-major-problem/
    \12\ (2018, February 5). 2018 Broadband Deployment Report. 
Retrieved from https://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/reports/broadband-
progress-reports/2018-broadband-deployment-report
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    It doesn't help that the new rural/urban digital divide is piggy-
backed on top of the poor/rich divide that has existed. Specifically, 
according to a Wharton Business School study, in 2018 the rural poverty 
rate is over 15 percent, contrasting with less than 13 percent in urban 
areas.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \13\ Wharton Business Research. Rural America is Losing Young 
People--Consequences and Solutions. Retrieved from https://
publicpolicy.wharton.upenn.edu/live/news/2393-rural-america-is-losing-
young-people-#_edn1
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    And in rural areas, it doesn't make any difference how much money 
you have--1 out of 5 people making less than $30,000 a year say they 
can't get access to effective Internet service, but close to 1 out of 4 
people making $75,000 a year or more ALSO say they can't get broadband 
access. It's even worse for rural non-whites; 1 in 3 say they have no 
way to connect to the Internet with any bandwidth that will support 
more than straight text.
    Those American living on Tribal lands are even more cut off. 41 
percent of Americans living on Tribal lands (1.6 million people) lack 
access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps broadband and 68 percent living in rural areas 
of Tribal lands (1.3 million people) have no access.
    While the United States is generally the world leader in technology 
access, when it comes to broadband social penetration, the U.S. rate of 
subscribers per 100 inhabitants ranks Americans broadband penetration 
behind Japan, Finland, and Estonia.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \14\ OECD. OECD broadband statistics update. Retrieved from https:/
/www.oecd.org
/internet/broadband/broadband-statistics-update.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    It is not at all an exaggeration to say that unless this country 
can move rapidly to ensure that our rural communities have broadband 
access, a large portion of Americans will no longer be able to 
participate in the life of this country. The United States cannot 
afford to just ``write off'' the 60 million people who live in rural 
parts of the country, to cut them off from participation in the 
culture, society, politics, and economic activity of the 21st century, 
not only that of their own country but the entire world as well. This 
is an unacceptable situation in a country founded on ``We, the people. 
. .''
    But already the impacts of not having connectivity is decimating 
our rural communities. For example:

    In education:

   According to a comparative analysis of Bureau of Labor 
        Statistics and data from the Deloitte multinational 
        professional services network students are 10 percent more 
        likely to earn a high school diploma and college when connected 
        to the Internet at home and will earn over $2 million more over 
        their lifetimes.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \15\ U.S. Census Bureau. (2019, May 23). Rural and Lower-Income 
Counties Lag Nation in Internet Subscription. Retrieved from https://
www.census.gov/library/stories/2018/12/rural
-and-lower-income-counties-lag-nation-internet-subscription.html

   In a study published by the Carsey School of Public Policy 
        at the University of New Hampshire, researchers discovered 47.2 
        percent of rural districts have NO secondary students enrolled 
        in Advanced Placement (AP) courses. This 47 percent rural AP 
        class void compares to urban districts where less than 3 
        percent have no students in AP course, and in suburban areas 
        only 5 percent have no students in AP courses.\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \16\ Gagnon, Douglas J. and Mattingly, Marybeth J. (2015 Winter). 
Limited Access to AP Courses for Students in Smaller and More Isolated 
Rural School Districts. Retrieved from https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/
viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1234&context=car
sey&utm_campaign=elearningindustry.com&utm

   In education we have the added issue of bandwidth and 
        simultaneous users. Not only do schools require reasonable 
        Internet speeds, they must also have enough bandwidth to 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        accommodate large numbers of students online simultaneously.

   Approximately 41 percent of schools do NOT yet meet the 
        FCC's short-term bandwidth goal of 100 Mbps per 1,000 students 
        and staff and thus are cut off from a vast number of 
        educational resources.\17\ Those schools represent 47 percent 
        of students in the United States, including over 6 million high 
        school students, almost exclusively in rural areas. This is one 
        reason why 5G development and implementation will be so 
        important, since one of 5G's improvements will be to 
        accommodate more simultaneous users.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \17\ COSN The Consortium for School Networking (November, 2018) 
2018-2019 Infrastructure Survey. Retrieved from https://www.cosn.org/
Infrastructure

   According to the Education Superhighway's 2018 State of the 
        States report, students who do not have access to the 
        educational applications and content available in connected 
        classrooms are at a significant disadvantage in trying to 
        compete in today's digital world. The sad fact is that rural 
        students without adequate connectivity don't even try for 
        education beyond high school. Part of this is impacted by the 
        fact that almost all colleges and universities application 
        processes are now online. Statistics show that a student living 
        in an urban area has a 10 to 15 percent higher chance of going 
        to college than a comparably achieving student living in a 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        rural area.

   For example, the Tyler Independent School District in Texas 
        had a fast connection, but without enough bandwidth. With 
        limited bandwidth, the speed alone wasn't adequate--it wasn't 
        until they upgraded to 1 MBps per student connection that they 
        were finally able to offer an online Early College High School, 
        where 300 students are taking classes for high school and 
        college credits simultaneously.\18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \18\ Real Clear Education. Making Broadband a Priority Makes 
Education Better. Retrieved from https://www.realcleareducation.com/
articles/2017/10/06/making_broadband_a_priority
_makes_education_better_110211.html

   According to a study done by Harvard Political Review, 
        across the country rural districts in 6 states received 50 
        percent less funding from the Federal government per poor pupil 
        than urban counties. Across the country, urban districts 
        received between 20 to 50 percent more funding than their rural 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        counterparts.

   Lack of technology also contributes to shortages of teachers 
        in rural areas, where more than 6 million high school students 
        are educated. It is already hard to persuade young teachers to 
        settle in rural areas because of the lack amenities of high 
        value to young adults, like social activities. Limited 
        technology access means a significant increased burden on 
        teacher expertise and preparation, which contributes to the 
        fact that rural teachers who work at the high school level 
        overwhelming leave rural schools in their first 3 years of 
        teaching. A science teacher in a rural school district might be 
        required to teach high school biology, chemistry, and physics. 
        Although related, these subjects require individual expertise 
        and preparation. A teacher able to access online lessons and 
        demonstrations is miles ahead of a teacher who has to plan 
        lessons and obtain materials and set up labs for all three 
        subjects simultaneously.

   Even if students have access to broadband connectivity at 
        school, there is no question that having connectivity at home 
        has major impacts in students' ability to complete homework and 
        explore in greater depth areas of special interest to them. 
        Nationally, 78 percent of households have Internet access, but 
        households in rural counties trail that national average by 13 
        points, and by as much as 70 points in some rural counties.

    In health care:

   The FCC project ``Mapping Broadband Health in America,'' 
        using health data from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's 
        County Health Rankings, has revealed that connected communities 
        versus digitally isolated communities have vastly different 
        pictures of health.

   In communities where 60 percent of households lack access to 
        broadband and over 60 percent lack basic Internet connections 
        at home, obesity prevalence is 25 percent higher and diabetes 
        prevalence is 35 percent higher. All of the rural population 
        with poor connectivity has significantly higher rates of those 
        in poor health and preventable hospitalizations.

   In areas without connectivity linking doctors, social 
        services, pharmacies, caregivers and others, health care is 
        significantly more expensive, requiring more people, and thus 
        greater salary expense, than in areas where connectivity 
        streamlines medical processes. For example, Towers Watson has 
        figured out that telemedicine could potentially deliver more 
        than $6 Billion a year in health care savings to U.S. 
        companies, most especially in rural areas. The Federal 
        Communications Commission (FCC) estimates that Electronic 
        Health Records and Remote Monitoring technology could alone 
        create over $700 billion in net savings over 15-25 years. More 
        importantly, these savings are paired with better outcomes for 
        patients. These numbers are only expected to increase with our 
        aging population.

   By the way, we are proud of the fact that South Dakota, 
        thanks in part to the work of the Center for Health Information 
        Technology at Dakota State University, is the first state in 
        the country to have more than 85 percent of health care 
        providers using Electronic Health Records.

    In business and job success:

   As a recent Hudson Institute report emphasizes: ``Rural 
        broadband services are necessary in an economy where the 
        ability to complete a transaction electronically has become 
        indispensable.''

   An unemployed person who has the Internet at home will be 
        employed seven weeks faster than one who does not and will earn 
        more than $5,000 in additional income annually

   Community leaders finally recognize that they cannot attract 
        new businesses or slow declining populations if citizens don't 
        have a fast Internet connection. Some 19 million Americans have 
        no access to broadband internet. In these areas, it is 
        impossible to set up any company that requires connectivity to 
        be successful, which today, is almost every endeavor.

   Shifting industry characteristics explains a large part of 
        migration. Farming, logging, and mining populate the rural 
        employment sector. Unfortunately, these rural area job sectors 
        relied on human capital, which has dramatically shifted to 
        automation, outsourcing, and foreign direct investment. The 
        evolution of agriculture and mining into today's technology 
        dominated economy has left rural inhabitants jobless. It has 
        also profoundly increased production per working person: 
        today's average American farmer provides food to about 155 
        people compared to 26 people in 1960, meaning that in 1960 food 
        demand provided jobs to close to 7 million people. Today, even 
        though the U.S. population has increased from 181 people in 
        1960 to approximately 329 million people in 2019, today we need 
        only 2 million farmers to feed our country. That is a loss of 
        over 5 million jobs, the vast majority in rural areas.

   Rural broadband is often dependent on one provider, which 
        means there is no competition and rate setting can go as high 
        as the market can bear. This puts connectivity out of the 
        financial reach of more businesses and individuals.

   IT professionals can command higher wages than many small 
        rural businesses can offer, so in-house or even local tech 
        support is limited. Tech skills among employees limit digital 
        adoption as well, depending on the access to training. New 
        technologies, such as the use of blockchain to manage the 
        supply chain of small farms, would be a boost for these 
        businesses' economic success, but they require workers who 
        understand and can implement these digital options, or the 
        ability to access online training, an impossibility without 
        broadband connectivity.

    In community services:

   Communities across the country are continuously facing 
        challenges that can affect their long-term stability and 
        relevance. Deciding where to focus community resources is a 
        daunting task. We need to communicate more clearly to 
        communities that broadband access is fundamental to their 
        existence.

   It continues to be the case that in rural America thousands 
        of young people leave home and never return. That number has 
        soared since the 1990s.

   Rural areas lack academic and economic opportunity compared 
        to metropolises. Because of this, a large portion of those 
        leaving rural areas are talented high school graduates. This 
        cause-effect relationship, this ``brain drain,'' robs rural 
        areas of intellectual capital. This further reduces the number 
        of educated people in a community able to effectively provide 
        community and business leadership to the area.

   When young people leave an area, older adults are trapped in 
        the areas they have left. Rural populations governments lose 
        their local tax base. Subsequently, local governments must cut 
        spending. The budget cuts hurt infrastructure, community 
        centers, and most importantly public schools. As the population 
        drops, schools close and local businesses suffer. The cutbacks 
        drive more people to cities. It is a vicious cycle.

   Low population deflates property values. Many elderly 
        American rely on their home equity as their savings. When 
        property values drop, they cannot afford to sell their homes to 
        move. The median age in rural communities has been rising. In 
        South Dakota, for example, from 2010 to 2017 the population of 
        those 65 years old and older grew from 14 percent of total 
        population to 16 percent, an increase of 25,000 people.

   Geographical inequality traps rural Americans as evidenced 
        by job creation location, new business location, and employment 
        rate. For example, the rural poverty rate is 15.1 percent 
        contrasted against 12.9 percent for cities.

    As a country we must decide whether we are going to make it 
possible for ALL U.S. citizens to have equal access to high-speed 
internet, or abandon rural users to slow smartphones, library parking 
lots, and limited unreliable home connections. There is no question 
that real high-speed Internet could change the lives and futures of the 
1 in 5 Americans, 60 million people, who live in rural areas. Changing 
their lives means the life of the entire United States would change for 
the better as well. Can we really afford, in this ever more competitive 
global marketplace, to throw away $130 million of economic activity a 
day?
    Fundamentally, it is a question of values. In the 1930s and 1940s, 
the United States decided that everyone in this country was entitled to 
reasonably comparable electricity and telephone service. There was 
universal agreement that this was a requirement to ensure that every 
American could fully participate in the life and economy of the 
country. The Federal government created a system of loans and grants to 
ensure that communities across the country, regardless of their 
geography, had access to these key utilities. In addition, the FCC set 
up a system to charge businesses and customers in urban areas slightly 
more
    The question facing us today is whether we still hold to that 
American value, that every American citizen is entitled to have access 
to the resources necessary to fully participate in the life and economy 
of their country. It was a simple decision for our government in the 
1930s and 1940s. It should be an easy decision for our government 
today.
    South Dakota is committed to the American values that built this 
country. Consistent with that, we are energetically working to ensure 
that our state becomes a cyber state, leading the Nation in equitable 
high-speed Internet access for every one of our citizens.
    However, we cannot do it on our own. It is going to take national 
leadership and national resources to fix this national problem.
    As I said earlier, rural America's tech void is primarily in four 
areas, whether we are looking at education, health care, business and 
industry, or community services. It is these areas where the FCC and 
Congress must focus efforts to make improvements. Congress and the 
FCC--supported by the entire country--must move rapidly to create 
systems, funding, and expertise to provide effective, affordable, 
broadband services equitably to both urban and rural Americans. We must 
ensure that every single American has access to:

   Reliable, robust, fast Internet service;

   Reliable cell phone service;

   Competitive, affordable technology services; and

   A large skilled tech workforce.

    In closing, I remind us all of some of the responsibility with 
which we are entrusted to serve each American by serving all Americans, 
as proclaimed at the beginning of the United States Constitution: ``We 
the people . . .. establish justice, insure domestic tranquility . . . 
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to 
ourselves and our posterity . . .''
    A little dramatic? Perhaps. But cutting off 60 million people from 
the life of this country would also be dramatic, in terrible ways, not 
just for these individuals but for the whole country. We can do better. 
We must. And we need our Federal government to lead the way.
    Thank you.

    Senator Thune. Thank you, Dr. Griffiths. And I would add 
that the person who does our IT operations in offices in 
Washington is a proud DSU grad. Next up is Deanna Larson, who 
as I said is the President of Avera eCARE, and I think it goes 
without saying that Avera has been a pioneer when it comes to 
things you can do with telemedicine and telehealth, and to 
treat people across our state and the region through 
technology. They continue to make advances and lead the way. 
So, thank you for being here and look forward to hearing from 
you.

       STATEMENT OF DEANNA LARSON, PRESIDENT, AVERA eCARE

    Ms. Larson. Thank you, Senator Thune. And I want to thank 
Senator Thune and Senator Fischer, and actually Chairman Carr 
really for thousands of people, tens of thousands of people 
whose lives have been impacted, their healthcare lives, their 
family lives, lives of clinicians, by really having this 
broadband available to them when a crisis occurs. And if you 
could just hear one story of one life saved because there was a 
connection from that facility that they were at to the facility 
where I am here in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, it should make 
you feel very good every day for the commitment that you've 
made in making sure the broadband is a continued extension.
    So, from all of those thousands of people, please hear a 
heartfelt thank you. It is very important to them and it is 
very important to us. Deep thank you. We often think about 
broadband as an expansion in terms of needing to reach rural 
homes and underserved areas by creating equal access on online 
businesses, all of those things that are very important, you 
have heard some things about already. In the realm of 
healthcare, broadband is more than equal access. It really is a 
matter of saving lives.
    Twenty percent of Americans live and work in rural American 
communities. Just like on the urban counterparts, they 
experience cancer, heart disease, trauma, stroke, very severe 
injuries that are always at the risk of being life-threatening. 
In today's specialized health care systems, people either must 
drive to get that special care miles and miles or forgo the 
care they need. Staffing in this kind of care in rural 
communities is just not a feasible opportunity.
    First of all, there are not enough specialists to go 
around, and second of all the population would not support 
having those specialists available to them in their own 
community. To bridge these gaps, Avera has developed a far-
reaching telemedicine program that is looked at as the world's 
model. To our knowledge, there is no one else doing what we are 
doing with this secure and interactive video capabilities that 
are offered.
    We started this about 25 years ago, and it began with just 
a simple consult from Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Flandreau. 
That pilot back in 1993 started the journey of understanding 
what rural providers need and support, and how those living in 
those communities should have equal access to specialty care. 
Today at Avera eCARE, we not only do the medical specialty 
clinic to clinic, but we also have Board physicians providing 
care to emergency rooms, pharmacists, ICU care providers, long-
term care providers for those living in senior living 
communities, behavioral health specialists, hospitalists, 
school nursing, and correctional care.
    All of those services going directly into the place where 
the patient need it the most and bringing the specialist to 
them immediately. It has become the most extensive telehealth 
network. Right now, we serve more than 350 communities with 
more than 650 different telemedicine locations, and that is 
across 25 states. Our emergency program in which our local 
teams can provide immediate access around the clock supports 15 
percent of the Nation's critical access facilities, and I begin 
by saying broadband is a matter of saving lives.
    So, because medicine is so advanced, it is impossible for 
one physician to be the ``do it all.'' There are many 
situations in which the right intervention, such as a cardiac 
provider, pulmonary provider in the right place and time can 
make that life-saving difference. For example, in our ICU 
program, around the clock computerized algorithms notifies 
critical care intensivists of changes, and through those 
notifications, they can support the local bedside and make any 
necessary changes to either reduce length of stay in the 
critical care unit or actually to make things get better 
quicker because they notify the physician sooner. So, I think 
you can all relate to that.
    If you have an illness yourself, the earlier you go to the 
doctor and get intervention, the more likely to have a quick 
turnaround. eCARE pharmacy supports care locally by supporting 
physicians in ordering medications and reducing medication 
errors and advanced directives. The specialty and emergency 
support in medically underserved areas is important to bring 
up.
    We do serve the Indian reservation communities, and in 
supporting those disparities across those areas, we know that 
we are supporting a cure for cancer, diabetes care, as well as 
reducing risk of suicide. All of these services really allow 
our patients to stay close to home--close to home for care 
whenever that is possible, and we do that by providing an 
extension of care to the local providers. That is important to 
know.
    Oftentimes we think about a business that is replacing a 
local rural business, and what we are really doing is 
augmenting that. We could not do that without that broadband. 
We find that in more than 80 percent of the cases, when we have 
telemedicine available to the local providers, we were able to 
reduce transfers to tertiary care facilities. That is important 
because tertiary facilities are often overloaded anyway, and 
secondarily, anytime you can maintain care in a local 
community, you can actually enhance your support to that local 
economics. The practice of medicine is very demanding and the 
repeating cadence of what goes on in a rural provider's life is 
very important to consider.
    Not only are they up all day and night working in clinic 
and then going into the emergency, second of all they are 
working in isolation. So all of that does relate to an overall 
burnout, and we want to mention that training our medical 
students here in South Dakota, bringing them into eCARE, of 
course a look at what telehealth is maybe as a receiver of 
telehealth and provider, is actually preparing them to go out 
and have understanding of what it is like to have a telehealth 
colleague, and hoping that we can recruit and retain those 
positions in those rural communities.
    I would just like to close with, without these broadband 
services, none of this would be available, and all of these 
individuals would not have had the opportunity for treatment. 
For those reasons, I am really proud to give testimony today 
and to support the expanded broadband and the funding that it 
is providing.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Larson follows:]

         Prepared Statement of Deanna Larson, CEO, Avera eCARE
    Hello, I am Deanna Larson, CEO of Avera eCARE, based in Sioux 
Falls, S.D.
    We often think of broadband expansion in terms of needing to reach 
rural homes in underserved areas, creating equal access for doing 
online business and communication.
    Yet in the realm of health care it's more than equal access--it's a 
matter of saving lives.
    Twenty percent of Americans live and work in rural communities. 
Just like their urban counterparts, they experience cancer, heart 
disease, stroke, severe injuries and so on. In today's specialized 
health care system, people either must drive hundreds of miles, or 
forego the care they need.
    Staffing each rural community with a full array of specialists is 
not feasible. There aren't enough specialists to go around, and each 
rural area does not offer the population needed to support these 
practices.
    To bridge these gaps, Avera has developed a far-reaching 
telemedicine program that is looked to as a model worldwide. To our 
knowledge, no one else is doing what we're doing with the secure, 
interactive video capabilities that exist.
    Avera recently celebrated 25 years of telemedicine. It began with 
consults with specialists in the City of Sioux Falls, with patients 
located in the rural community of Flandreau, S.D.
    This one pilot back in 1993 demonstrated how we could successfully 
extend specialty care across the miles.
    Today at Avera eCARE, we're not only doing this with medical 
specialty visits, but also in emergency care, pharmacy, ICU, long-term 
care and senior living communities, behavioral health, hospitalists, 
school health, correctional health and more.
    Avera eCARE has become the world's most extensive telehealth 
network, reaching a total of 320 communities with 650 telemedicine 
services being offered across the 22-state footprint.
    Our Emergency program, in which local teams can access immediate, 
around-the-clock support from emergency specialists, supports 15 
percent of our Nation's critical access hospitals.
    I began by saying this is a matter of saving lives.
    Because medicine is so advanced, it's impossible for one person to 
``do it all.'' There are many situations in which the right 
interventions at the right time make all the difference.
    For example:

   Through eCARE ICU, around-the-clock monitoring is an extra 
        set of eyes to watch for negative trends. Timely intervention 
        can turn things around, whether that's at 2 in the afternoon or 
        2 in the morning.

   Through eCARE Pharmacy, we prevent potentially deadly 
        medication errors or adverse drug events.

   Through eCARE Emergency, we support local teams faced with 
        life-threatening events such as stroke, heart attack or trauma.

   We're offering specialty and emergency support in medically 
        underserved areas, including Indian reservation communities, to 
        improve the disparities in access to vital health care 
        services. These disparities result in greater risk of death due 
        to cancer, diabetes and suicide.

    Everyone is concerned about rising health care costs, and 
telemedicine is a promising solution.
    Health care costs mount when patients suffer complications and 
escalation of illness that could have been prevented by timely 
intervention earlier in the disease process.
    With the right physicians in the right specialties available to the 
patient virtually, we provide early intervention in a variety of 
settings: hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities, assisted 
living communities and more. Addressing the urgent needs of patients 
when they first become ill reduces overflow into the tertiary facility.
    We allow patients to stay close to home for care whenever possible 
by acting as an extension of their home care team.
    We find that in over 80 percent of cases--when telemedicine is 
available--an expensive transfer is not necessary. More than $3,800 is 
saved for each patient transfer avoided.
    We also know that recruitment and retention of medical 
professionals, especially at rural sites, is an ongoing challenge for 
maintaining quality health services and local economies.
    The practice of medicine is demanding. The repeating cadence of 
seeing patients all day, then doing rounds and being on call all night 
results in loss of life balance and ultimately, burnout.
    eCARE offers providers collegiality and the support of a team, 
wherever they practice. We're providing a blueprint for how this can be 
accomplished anywhere.
    We believe telehealth is the future of medicine. That's why we're 
training medical students--future physicians and advanced practice 
providers--how to deliver care in this way.
    Without broadband, we wouldn't have these services that now exist. 
Without expanded broadband, we would leave some areas of our country 
without the advantage of these potentially lifesaving, money-saving and 
career-saving services.
    For these reasons, I'm proud to give testimony today in support of 
expanded broadband and the funding to provide it.

    Senator Thune. Thank you very much, Deanna. Next up is Mr. 
Mark Shlanta, who as I said earlier, is the CEO of SDN 
Communications. And he has been that, I think, since 2000, is 
that right?
    Mr. Shlanta. Yes.
    Senator Thune. And has led efforts to expand SDN's network 
across South Dakota and into neighboring states, and really 
increased both business and institutional access to broadband 
connectivity and related services. So, we are glad to have him 
here and look forward to hearing from you. Please proceed, 
Mark.

    STATEMENT OF MARK SHLANTA, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, SDN 
                         COMMUNICATIONS

    Mr. Shlanta. Chairman Thune, thank you for inviting us in 
participating in today's hearing. And Senator Fischer and 
Commissioner Carr, thank you for joining us as well. This year, 
SDN Communications marks 30 years in business. The story of 
South Dakota's access to rural broadband cannot be told without 
SDN and its member companies investment in over 50,000 miles of 
fiber facilities. That is enough to circle the Earth twice. I 
would like to take a moment to describe how SDN and the 17 
independent telephone companies that own SDN and our partners 
are growing that fiber optic network dramatically as we move 
forward.
    In this hearing, I hope we will have time to further 
discuss the needs for greater alignment and teamwork to drive 
innovation in broadband applications. First, I would like to 
remind everyone who our collective network serves, our 
companies cover 80 percent of South Dakota's geography and a 
third of the population. We are not talking about the 
population centers, yet our companies aggressively combat the 
digital divide. By the end of 2021, we will have fiber to the 
home, farm, ranch, and business in over 93 percent of the 
locations and the service areas of the independent phone 
companies. Their investment over the past 5 years represents in 
excess of over $500 million.
    Further demonstrating their aggressive fiber deployment, 
when Governor Kristi Noem wanted her $5 million connect to 
South Dakota grants, her Administration quickly realized our 
companies have or will have fiber to the most remote farms and 
ranches in the State. Instead, her team asked our companies to 
help provide broadband in relatively populated areas, North of 
Pierre, around Watertown, and even here to Minnehaha County. In 
fact, the stories from those unserved areas in Minnehaha County 
and Hughes Counties might be the most impactful. At the 
Northern edge of Minnehaha County, a large dairy farm had 
struggled to implement technology into its operations because 
of its lack of broadband services.
    Additionally, I have been told the stories of rural 
families in Minnehaha County must take their cell phones and 
other technology into relatives homes in Garretson in order to 
have access to broadband and do necessary updates to their 
devices. In Hughes County, roughly 700 homes will now have 
fiber available to them. Six of the eight Connect South Dakota 
Grants Governor Kristi Noem's Administration issued went to our 
companies to build in those unserved and underserved service 
areas.
    VICKOR Communications received the largest grant. Fifty-
four percent of the Governor's $5 million, Cheyenne River 
Tribal Telephone Authority received another $475,000 to bring 
broadband to unserved Timberlake. Mitchell Telecom is plowing 
fiber to serve housing developments around Mitchell with a 
grant to $441,000 but RC Communications and ITC are serving 
parts of Cottington County and Alliance Communications is 
serving Minnehaha. Our companies have also been aggressive in 
applying for Federal Reconnect grants. Valley Communications 
working along Highway 14, SDN Communications in the Black 
Hills, and Premier Communications serving parts of Union 
County. We look forward to hearing more about those grants.
    I recently listened to National experts speak at the South 
Dakota Telecommunication Association's annual meeting. Speakers 
who look far into the future warn that there is a disconnect 
between the predictions of future broadband needs and what can 
be delivered across various Wireless Services. These speakers 
say fixed wireless, 5G cellular, satellite, they all play a 
role, but they will not fully meet the demand of all broadband 
services. The speaker's position was that the only way to 
future-proof broadband services is a fiber connection to every 
home, farm, ranch, and business here in South Dakota and across 
the Nation. Fiber-based networks are the solution to a 
comprehensive broadband infrastructure needed to support the 
innovations we seek in the fields of telehealth, e-commerce, 
online education, and Precision Agriculture.
    Again, today I hope we can spend some time reviewing, at 
some level, six key elements that I feel will continue to drive 
broadband innovation forward. These elements are last mile 
networks, having the right policies that encourage broadband 
buildup in unserved rural and urban markets. Middle mile 
networks. Development and coordination are needed to provide 
clear paths for the data and applications that can be a be 
enabled with the last mile investments. In my opinion, it would 
be a shame to see last-mile investments slowed by poor middle 
mile policy. The Rural Development Opportunity Fund may become 
a vehicle to extend middle mile networks into areas where last 
mile networks are desperately needed.
    I would like to see progressive data targets as we look 
into the future, 2020, 2025, and beyond. I think we also need 
to continue to focus on making sure we have good data as we 
look at the areas that were adequate broadband exists and does 
not exist. Having that good data will be key in developing 
future policy, certainly coordination among agencies, and the 
removal of other barriers associated with broadband development 
will help us all. Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Shlanta follows:]

  Prepared Statement of Mark Shlanta, Chief Executive Officer, South 
              Dakota Network, LLC d/b/a/SDN Communications
Introduction
    Chairman Thune, Senator Fischer and panelists thank you for the 
opportunity to provide written and oral testimony on importance of 
rural broadband and its impacts on the daily lives of the millions of 
people touched by the services it enables.
    I am Mark Shlanta, Chief Executive Officer of SDN Communications 
(SDN) in Sioux Falls, SD. SDN is regional fiber optic network owned by 
most the Independent Telecommunication Companies in South Dakota. Our 
owner Members total seventeen and we work closely with at least another 
two dozen Independent Telecommunications Companies in Minnesota, Iowa, 
and Nebraska. We are part of Indatel which is a national network 
consisting of nearly thirty statewide and regional fiber optic networks 
like SDN.
    Since we are seated in South Dakota, I am going to provide a lay of 
the broadband landscape in our state. Our Members are seeing broadband 
throughput increase. One of our Members reported a doubling of 
throughput from 2017 to 2019 and expects another doubling by the end of 
2021. If this evolves, each month the average broadband connected 
household in South Dakota will consume over 500GB of data by that time. 
This growth is also being compounded by the advancement of fiber 
optically connected households. In 2017, the rural broadband providers 
in South Dakota touched roughly 65 percent of the occupied homes and 
living locations in their markets with fiber optic cables. As we 
approach the end of 2019 the industry is closing in 80 percent of the 
households and by the end of 2021, they anticipate that over 90 percent 
of the household in their markets will be serviced by fiber optic 
cables. This is an increase of nearly 50 percent in four short years.
    This growth is supported on three fronts: (1) the private 
investments made by companies to increase their reach in fulfillment of 
their mission to their communities, (2) the ongoing support from 
various programs like the Universal Service Fund (USF), which helps 
offset the high-cost of deploying and maintaining networks in rural 
areas, (3) grant and loan programs like USDA's ReConnect and Governor's 
Noem's broadband plan which provide the capital necessary to enable un/
underserved portions of the state that have been neglected by others to 
obtain powerful broadband connections.
    As we see the number of households expand and the throughput from 
each household increases, we are seeing demands placed on the middle-
mile networks of the statewide and regional carriers like SDN. SDN and 
its peers around the country play in important role in the delivery of 
broadband services to rural communities and connecting multi-location 
businesses across the country. We carry voice, video and data traffic 
from the smallest communities in our respective states to the largest 
peering points in the country supporting e-commerce, tele-health, e-
banking and community banking, precision and value-added agriculture 
and online education. We also supply and connect the ``wires'' for many 
of the wireless carriers in both rural and urban markets. Many will 
talk about the benefits and applications of 5G wireless networks, but 
none of these benefits could be attained without the robust ``6G'' 
fiber networks supplying the backhaul bandwidth.
    As I was preparing my testimony, I was reminded of the opening 
sentence in Patrick Lencioni's book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. 
The sentence reads; ``Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is 
teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because 
it is so powerful and so rare.'' The portion of the sentence that 
reads, ``It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive 
advantage,'' is the portion that strikes me for its applicability to 
this discussion.
    SDN Communications, its rural broadband Members and partners work 
as team delivering the lighting fast connections that support the 
demands of households and businesses alike. Today's hearing and 
conversations examine how this teamwork enable the applications that 
impact lives of those who live in rural communities and to participate 
more fully in the global economy. My comments will center on the 
importance of the middle mile fiber networks and the carriers that 
provide those networks. I will also touch on the need to better align, 
network operators, with solid planning data and comprehensive forward 
looking policies.
Statewide, Regional, and Middle-Mile Networks--What Are They and Why 
        Are They Needed
    SDN is regional fiber optic network headquartered in South Dakota 
with network connecting Members and partners from the Minnesota/
Wisconsin border west into Wyoming with extensions from there 
stretching into Colorado and Montana and as we extend from east to west 
our network extends into Nebraska, Iowa and North Dakota. Originally, 
SDN was assembled to support its Members by centralizing various 
services that were needed by the telephone companies. Services like 
centralized equal access for long distance services, SS7 for call 
features, the consolidation of cable television headends and the 
development of broadband and Internet services are part of our mission. 
As we needed to extend our reach to gain access to services and other 
partner companies sought our services, we began to weave a regional 
network extending throughout the state and into the neighboring states.
    Networks like SDN help bridge the distance between the independent 
operating companies and provide a pathway for scale to create new and 
innovative services and return value to the customers and companies we 
support. These network works are needed to deliver the services that 
broadband network enable to consumers, government and business leaders 
have come to expect as they lead their lives.
    SDN, its Members and partners supply connectivity for nearly a 
thousand macro and small cell sites. This is an example of our 6G fiber 
optic based networks supporting today's 4G and tomorrow's 5G wireless 
services. We connect hundreds of schools and locations servicing local, 
county, state, tribal and Federal government locations from the game, 
fish and parks check points to the world class data centers monitoring 
climate, crops and weather around the world. People from Baltimore to 
Zell and from Ardmore to Walla Walla are supported by the powerful 
fiber optic networks of middle mile carriers. People are impacted by 
middle mile carriers every day in the things they do and information 
they need.
    Speakers today, will discuss in greater detail how they rely on 
broadband connections to support their latest innovations in tele-
health, precision agriculture and online education. Simply understand 
we are all part of team that is needed to deliver and grow to maintain 
delivery of these services now seen as essential in the daily lives of 
so many.
    Tele-health delivery can reduce the cost of health care delivery 
through more complete follow up visits and reduce the stress applied to 
families who no longer need to support multi-hour round trip visits to 
see a doctor. These visits can be completed in the communities with 
connected clinics and hospitals.
    Local commerce is supported when the community banks of a region 
are able to maintain branches in smaller communities with kiosk-based 
tellers and remote IT and cybersecurity services.
    Similar support is supplied to schools and governments as 
applications that were once only available at large government offices 
are closer to the citizens using broadband connections for online 
applications and access to information.
    Various commodities are bought, sold and processed with the support 
of rural broadband networks. Rural broadband services can reduce the 
cost to markets and increase yields and prices for local producers. 
Agricultural products make up the largest portion of our country's 
exports and rural broadband service plays a role in our global 
competitiveness.
    Rural broadband services extend services into remote areas of our 
country. In South Dakota, SDN and its Members are extending urban 
services into some of the most remote ranches and communities in the 
lower forty-eight. Working as team brings these services into play more 
cost effectively and quickly for the benefit of businesses, consumers 
and citizens. Middle mile networks play a critical role in these 
deployments by ensuring that necessary bandwidth is made available from 
the content source all the way to the end point. One can think of 
middle networks as the offensive line of a football team. They can 
provide a clear path for the critical payloads to move allowing the 
team to succeed.
Progressive Data Speeds Are Needed
    The current broadband definition of 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up has 
been a significant move forward from the previous 10/1 and 4/1 
definitions. As a nation, however, we already need to be thinking about 
whether the 25/3 standard is truly sufficient for the advancements in 
networking and applications for our broadband economy to continue to 
flourish with innovation.
    Recently, I was at a conference where a precision ag speaker 
discussed speeds of 100Mbps up and 100Mbps down are needed by 
agricultural producers to move the data that is being acquired by 
today's precision ag tools and for the producers to be able to act upon 
the results within 24 hours of the data collection.
    At SDN, we are seeing the throughputs on our networks double in two 
years. It is for others to make the call on how to set exact speed 
targets, but such growth signals that our investments in broadband 
infrastructure need to have a pathway forward to meet the anticipated 
demands of the applications.
    The current 25/3 definition was first proposed in 2015, and a 
refresh of target speeds will be needed soon. Especially given that we 
are building networks intended to last for years, if not decades, I 
encourage both the FCC and Congress to examine and adopt new standards 
now, thinking about what kinds of speeds will be needed over the lives 
of these networks. As a veteran of the rural broadband industry, my 
suggested minimums for a robust broadband economy prepared for 
innovations are:

   2020 50Mbps up/50Mbps down

   2025 100 Mbps up/100Mbps down

   2030 200 Mbps up/200Mpbs down

    Households may have demands for more bandwidth than even these 
minimums deliver, but to support continued advancements speed targets 
should be set, and from those minimums the plans for forward looking 
policy can be advanced.
The Need for Good Data to Make Good Policy Decisions
    There is no question that good decisions about infrastructure 
policy generally and universal service policy more specifically must be 
driven by good data. ``False positives''--claims of voice and broadband 
services where none actually exist--could leave rural consumers and 
businesses stranded without access in defiance of the national mandate 
for universal service. Meanwhile, ``false negatives''--areas that are 
perceived as unserved but actually have voice and broadband services 
available--run the risk of wasting scarce resources from important 
governmental programs on redundant networks.
    At this point, nearly every governmental communications program has 
some mechanism intended to ensure that funds are directed toward where 
they are needed most to build and sustain advanced networks. Problems 
arise, however, when the data driving these programs are incomplete or 
incorrect--and, unfortunately, it's not easy to discern when that is 
the case on the face of existing databases and maps.
    The FCC, for example, gathers data on voice and broadband service 
availability through its Form 477. There has certainly been a lot of 
concern--especially from among members of this Committee--about whether 
the Form 477 data accurately capture coverage in the mobile context. 
This is an understandable focus given the efforts to implement the 
Mobility Fund and the disappointment of having no cell phone coverage 
in an area where provider maps say one should.
    But what is often lost is that these concerns are just as prevalent 
in the context of fixed voice and broadband services, too. On Form 477, 
a census block is reported as served simply because one location in 
that block could be served by a provider at an advertised speed within 
10 business days. In other words, there may be no service actually 
installed in a census block, or the speeds actually delivered in that 
block may not be equal to what is advertised--and, yet, that area can 
show as served. Even more troubling in rural census blocks that can 
stretch large distances, the theoretical delivery of service to one 
customer in a census block could result in the denial of funding for 
voice and broadband to another customer located miles away, yet still 
in the same census block, who literally has no choices for such 
services.
    At this point, the reaction is often to say that we need to get 
more granular in the data--and this is correct as a partial response. 
But getting more granular alone is not going to solve the problem or 
potential for ``false positives'' specifically. In particular, no one 
is vetting in advance whether data submitted on Form 477 are accurate. 
Providers submit the data based upon what they advertise. Thus, whether 
by accident or on purpose, Form 477 data can contain errors that in 
turn lead to support being denied in areas where it is in fact very 
much needed.
    Fortunately, there is a way to care for the fact that broadband 
coverage maps are always at risk of being inaccurate even if they get 
more granular. For years, agencies like the FCC and the Rural Utilities 
Service (RUS) under the U.S. Department of Agriculture have developed 
and used ``challenge processes'' that treat service coverage 
information like Form 477 data as informative but not dispositive. 
Mapping databases are used as a ``baseline'' for determining where 
support should or should not go, but a ``challenge process'' is then 
used to confirm whether the maps are correct and to adjust them when 
they are not.
    Certainly, the recent experiences with the Mobility Fund show the 
value and wisdom of a challenge process. Without such a process, the 
concerns that have been raised about overstated mobile coverage would 
never have been identified. At the same time then, it was disappointing 
and somewhat shocking to see the FCC now considering moving away from 
challenge processes in the fixed voice and broadband context. 
Specifically, the FCC has proposed to eliminate the prior existing 
challenge process to validate Form 477 data in the context of fixed USF 
support, and instead to default to the Form 477 data effectively as 
gospel.
    If the Mobility Fund experience provides any lessons, however, it 
is that a meaningful challenge process is a necessity in determining 
where funding should go or be denied. We therefore are hopeful that the 
FCC will reverse course on its suggestion to eliminate a challenge 
process in the context of distributing USF to support fixed networks, 
and that it will return to a data-driven process that ensure rural 
consumers are not left on the wrong side of a digital divide due to 
inaccurate information. This is more work, to be sure, for all 
involved--but the stakes of getting it wrong are too great to leave to 
chance.
Coordination among Agencies is Critical to Achieve a Shared Vision of 
        Sustained Universal Access
    One very successful formula for the deployment and ongoing 
operation of communications networks in rural America comes in the 
combination of: (1) RUS loans that finance upfront network construction 
(with payback) in rural areas where there are often few financing 
options; and (2) the USF programs that help, as noted above, to support 
ongoing operations and ensure the affordability of rates on networks 
once built.
    RUS has long played an important role in financing rural broadband 
construction. Since the 1950s, locally based rural telecommunications 
providers have obtained financing from RUS or its predecessor agency 
under the U.S. Department of Agriculture. RUS telecommunications 
lending has helped enable and unleash billions of dollars in private 
capital investment in rural communications infrastructure.
    It is important that the complementary roles of RUS upfront 
financing and USF ongoing support continue for last mile rural 
broadband carriers. In particular, we can make smart and effective use 
of Federal resources by reaffirming and codifying the complementary 
nature of coordinated RUS and FCC programs, rather than allowing these 
programs and the resulting networks to be pitted against one another in 
a manner that undermines the sustainability of the networks and the 
integrity of the programs themselves.
    Indeed, with the 2018 Farm Bill and the newly minted ReConnect 
Program, RUS will take on a larger financing role for rural broadband 
deployment through grants and loan/grant combination packages. These 
new and updated programs are much-welcomed and important tools in the 
Federal government's toolkit to eliminate the digital divide. But it 
will be critical to promote the efficient and effective use of limited 
Federal resources by ensuring that a new network built by one provider 
leveraging Federal programs will not compete with and undermine the 
sustainability of an existing network operated by another provider that 
leveraged other Federal resources and is already meeting Federal 
broadband standards. Both the FCC and the RUS should therefore 
coordinate closely in administering their programs, and it is essential 
to avoid the prospect for two dueling federally supported networks 
built in a rural area that cannot sustain either one without the 
assistance of Federal programs.
Improving the Business Case for Rural Broadband through Streamlined 
        Permitting and Removal of Other Barriers to Deployment
    Given the deeply rural, sparsely populated nature of the area 
served by rural broadband providers, SDN, its Members, partners and 
peers operate across large sections of Federal land, including land 
owned or managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land 
Management, USDA's National Forests, Department of Interior's National 
Parks, and Army Corps of Engineers. Barriers to broadband deployment 
such as disparate applications, fees, and reviews across Federal and 
state landowning agencies can slow down or stymie deployment of 
networks within and across such areas, and such barriers must be 
addressed as part of any holistic plan to promote and sustain 
infrastructure investment.
    Efforts to standardize Federal permitting processes and implement 
``shot clocks'' for securing prompt approvals are important tools in 
promoting broadband investment--while they may not make the business 
case in and of themselves, efforts to eliminate regulatory barriers and 
streamline permitting can help to improve the business case and 
expedite the construction of networks, which is an important 
consideration in particular in places like South Dakota where the 
``build season'' is relatively short due to environmental factors, 
namely winter. Streamlining permitting and other steps to remove 
barriers to deployment will also be critical in making sure USF dollars 
go further--that such resources are spent on building and operating 
networks rather than paying outrageous fees for mere feet of railroad 
crossings or spending hours and days to secure permits from a 
government agency.
    Our industry appreciates this Committee's bipartisan efforts to 
reduce barriers to deployment of communications networks. Important 
measures like the MOBILE NOW Act have laid out a roadmap for important 
steps forward like the development of common form applications (which 
are particularly useful for carriers like SDN, its Members, partners 
and peers that work with multiple landowning agencies) and deadlines 
for agency action. Building upon such provisions through additional 
efforts here in Congress and recommendations and model provisions such 
as those developed by the FCC's Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee 
can help in realizing the benefits of broadband in rural areas.
Conclusion
    The quickest path to having a country fully built out with 
broadband networks that are scalable into the future is to align the 
various elements needed for success. In my opinion, these are:

   Last mile networks--ensure policy that encourages robust, 
        ``future-proof'' broadband buildout in rural and urban markets 
        and incents investment when incumbents abandon markets.

   Middle mile networks--development and coordination are 
        needed to provide clear paths for the data and applications 
        that can be enabled with last mile investments. It would be a 
        shame to see last mile networks slowed by poor middle mile 
        policy and management.

   Progressive data speed targets--advances in networking are 
        continuing and we are seeing the monthly throughput of networks 
        increasing. We will need to focus on what the broadband of 
        2020, 2025 and beyond looks like as we make investments and 
        policy decisions for the future.

   Good data--understanding where adequate broadband exists and 
        does not exist will be a key to developing the quickest path to 
        a built out broadband economy.

   Coordination among agencies--programs, grants and loans that 
        complement the common goal of a fully built out broadband 
        economy will generate the results sought by policy makers and 
        expected by citizens.

   Removal of other barriers--I was thrilled and a little 
        disappointed when the President issued an Executive Order in 
        January of 2018 that called for the streamlining and expediting 
        of requests to locate broadband facilities in rural America. 
        Thrilled that the lack of coordination that can slow progress 
        was recognized and disappointed that it had not been addressed 
        earlier.

    Again, Lencioni describes teamwork as the ultimate competitive 
advantage and as powerful and rare. The innovation we seek in our 
broadband economy transforming tele-health, precision agriculture, 
commerce and education will be achieved. I want to think how much 
faster these innovations could develop with the proper alignment 
(teamwork) of carriers, policy, data and forward-looking broadband 
speed goals.
Network Maps of SDN Communications

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Regional network extending from the Minnesota/Wisconsin border west 
to Wyoming.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    A broader regional view of SDN Communications network demonstrating 
its reach into other regional and national networks.
Indatel Network Map

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Indatel is a national network assembled through the 
interconnection, partnership and teamwork of the regional and statewide 
fiber optics owned by Independent Telecommunication Providers.

    Senator Thune. Thank you, Mr. Shlanta. Next up is Mr. Craig 
Schnyder, Chief Executive Officer of VIKOR Teleconstruction. 
And he is the founder and CEO of Sioux Falls Tower & 
Communications, which is now known as VIKOR, and the company 
celebrated its 30th anniversary this April. And I had an 
opportunity to be out there as did the Commissioner, and now 
has been a leading provider of wireless infrastructure 
providing services in more than 30 states across the United 
States. So, we are delighted to have you here. Please proceed, 
Mr. Snyder.

   STATEMENT OF CRAIG SNYDER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, VIKOR 
                        TELECONSTRUCTION

    Mr. Snyder. Thank you, Senator Thune, for inviting me to 
speak today, and Senator Fischer for being a part of this, and 
for Commissioner Carr, who somebody hashtagged him today as 
#CarrWorks. If you follow Commissioner Carr on Twitter, 
LinkedIn, or Instagram, you know, he is all over the place. He 
is up on towers and he is underground now. I think he has got a 
couple of miles of spread between the farthest place 
underground to 2,000 feet above, and so we really appreciate 
his leadership on the Commission.
    VIKOR Teleconstruction, formerly Sioux Falls Tower, you may 
not know us, but we are the guys who build the vertical 
infrastructure, Mark builds the horizontal infrastructure. We 
build the vertical that makes your cell phones work. So that 
includes these galvanized steel towers and all these antenna 
systems that you maybe just see a blinking light in the 
distance. If you see one of those, VIKOR and companies like 
ours have done that. It has been my privilege for the last 30 
years to witness the build-out of cellular.
    I just coincidentally got into this industry when it was 
just starting in South Dakota and put up some of the very first 
towers. In those days, we just had one tower in every 
community, and then eventually they built them on highway 
corridors and are filling the gaps, but even over 30 years, 
there is still a lot of white spaces, as Dr. Griffiths talked 
to us about, both with fiber and also with mobile broadband. 
And we are trying to fill those as best we can and as quickly 
as we can but there is always impediments. I like to liken the 
wireless infrastructure buildout of today to the electric 
buildout of 70 years ago. I had a partner when we founded 
VIKOR, formerly Sioux Falls Tower, that actually did not have 
power into his home in rural Stickney until he was 12 years 
old, and he use to tell us these stories and he is about 20 
years older than me, but and I am like, you cannot be serious, 
you had to have power, but no, he did not. They waited for 
power to come. And what did they do in preparation for that? 
They bought the appliances at Sears, they had the lights put 
in, and then they just waited for those poles to come down 
their rural road and they just anticipated that.
    Well we have many people in rural America today that are 
doing the exact same thing with wireless broadband or even 
wired broadband. They want it so much, but they just can't get 
it quick enough because it is expensive to do this big 
buildout. We also have people, and we read about them every day 
in the news, that say not in my backyard. They do not like that 
infrastructure. They think it is ugly and it is really 
interesting because while we have these big, galvanized steel 
towers holding overhead power wires, and they are not even 
noticed, another group of people will say, well, I do not want 
a tower, I mean that is ugly. We do not want that.
    And there is only one of those and there might be dozens of 
these other towers they are looking at. They are very similar 
and so it is kind of a mentality shift that we have to 
overcome. But thankfully we are getting more and more people. 
And just like Senator Fischer said before in her comments. She 
lives on a ranch South of Murdo where Governor Thune grew up 
but quite----
    Senator Fischer. We like to say South of Valentine.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Shlanta. OK, South of Valentine. If we are in South 
Dakota, we can say Murdo, she can say Valentine. That is her 
choice. But anyway, and I asked her, well how many bars of 
coverage do you have? And she says, oh, we have like zero or 
one. I mean not enough, just enough to send text messages. If 
you can get one bar, you can get out a text, but you cannot get 
online and you can't really talk on, you know, voice.
    So, we have a lot of work to do. Thankfully more and more 
people are saying instead of not in my backyard, please in my 
backyard. Now, in some cities they are not saying that but--and 
even sometimes on the reservations, they are not saying that, 
but we have some work to do there. But we are thankfully 
partnering with industry and Government to close the digital 
divide. We have a ton to do and there is no time to waste. 
Technology is advancing at the speed of thought, and we had 
some really smart people working on things that we do not even 
know where it is going to go yet.
    So, while we continue to close the gap in this digital 
divide in Rural America, in what I refer to as the white spaces 
in our industry, we also have this really awesome technology 
that is available now called 5G, fifth generation wireless. So, 
when you are on your phone today, you are either on 3G or 4G. 
You do not always know but this 5G is now on the cusp of roll 
out. Oh man, I got to hurry up here. So, what do companies like 
VIKOR do? We put up that infrastructure. We represent just 1 of 
900 companies in the National Association of Tower Records 
commonly referred to as NATE. So, my voice is just an echo of 
those other 899 plus companies out there. We need more 
workforce.
    The biggest bottleneck to VIKOR's ability to help build out 
this rural infrastructure and in even this infrastructure in 
the cities, is people. And so, our plea is how can we find a 
way to open up the door to more and more workers? And we really 
applaud South East Technical Institute who is hosting us today 
in this beautiful facility. They are presently working on one 
of the first programs in the United States to train workers and 
we encourage them to do that.
    If some of you are here today and you have the financial 
means to support them through grants or scholarships to future 
students, we are hoping to launch that program in January. They 
will be using the VIKOR facility for our training center, 
state-of-the-art, wonderful facility, to help train those 
students. So, what are we asking for?
    First of all, we commend Commissioner Carr for doing such a 
wonderful job of highlighting the challenges that we face. Just 
like rural electric was getting billed out years ago, we need 
your help. There is a bill in Congress, Senator Thune and 
Senator Fischer, that is before the House right now. We would 
love to see sponsorship from the Senate. It is H.R. 1848, 
Communications Training Act of 2019, bipartisan with Democrat 
Congressman Loebsack and Republican Mullen. It does require 
funding and I understand from Alex that funding in the Senate 
means you have to find you have to take money from somewhere 
else to put it in.
    So, we understand that, but it would provide $20 million 
per year and I think that would be a really great start. So, 
thank you so much and sorry I went over time.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Snyder follows:]

     Prepared Statement of Craig Snyder, Chief Executive Officer, 
                         VIKOR Teleconstructoin
Introduction
    Good afternoon. And thank you, Mr. Thune, for inviting me to 
testify at this hearing.
    By way of introduction, I am one of the co-founders and the chief 
executive officer of VIKOR Teleconstruction. (Formerly known as Sioux 
Falls Tower)
    We are a 30-year-old firm specializing in the construction of 
mobile broadband infrastructure. We've been headquartered here in Sioux 
Falls since 1989 with offices throughout the Great Plains and mountain 
states. In layman's terms, we build the towers and antenna systems that 
transmit the signals that talk to cell phones across the country.
Rural Broadband Like Rural Electric
    It's been my privilege to witness the build-out of wireless 
broadband services that coincidentally began at the start of my 
professional career.
    I started as a tower technician myself working my way through 
college. This remarkable buildout has not been unlike the electric grid 
buildout in this part of the country 70+ years ago. Cellular started 
slow with one tower serving each city and then spread to small towns 
and rural corridors. But just like with the rural electric buildout, 
the last to receive electricity have been the vast wide-open spaces 
with sparse population.
    One of my founding partners, Edwin Stritecky, used to tell me how 
anxiously his family waited for electricity to be brought to their 
farm. They had the house wired, appliances purchased, and then they 
waited and waited for the rural electric cooperative to run the power 
poles and wires down their country road near Stickney, SD. Can you 
imagine today if there were people without power to their rural homes. 
We'd move heaven and earth to get them power. We're getting there with 
broadband, but we have a way to go.
    Over the past 30 years we have heard many voices expressing 
sentiments of not wanting towers in their backyards. But like the rural 
electric customers of yesterday, now we are hearing more and more a 
different cry from our rural and urban neighbors. ``Please in my 
backyard''. People are hungry for mobile broadband and covet the 
reliability and speeds they get a flavor of when they travel to places 
where it is more common. When they hear talk of 5G in the news, many 
are still waiting for 2 or 3 bars of 3 or 4G coverage. Towers are 
becoming a symbol of these sentiments.
Closing the Digital Divide
    Thankfully the partnership of industry and government have begun to 
make a difference. The ``white spaces'' are beginning to shrink and the 
digital divide between the cities and rural areas is closing. But there 
is a ton to do and no time to waste. Technology is advancing at the 
speed of thought and the global race to 5G is on. Even while we 
continue to close the ``white spaces'' gaps in rural America we are 
also ramping up our efforts in the cities to roll-out ``Fifth 
Generation Wireless'' commonly known as 5G.
5G
    5G has enormous technology and economic ramifications for America. 
Not only does it bring the consumer 1 gigabyte download speeds and 1-3 
milliseconds latency, if America wins the 5G wireless race, the 
economic ramifications and benefits are huge. We reap the harvest of 
hundreds of billions in investment that will set America up to be the 
driver to the rest of the world.
    Applying the possibilities of 5G are largely yet unknown. When 
applied to mobile devices and machine-to-machine communications, the 
opportunities cannot be overstated. We are just now gaining a glimpse 
of what incredible applications will spring from this technology 
breakthrough.
    One simple example I like to use is autonomous driving cars. The 
day is not too distant when a Tesla will drop off its owner at work in 
the morning, work as a self-driving UBER throughout the day, then come 
and pick her up and drive her home in the evening.
Application to Companies Like VIKOR
    So how does this apply to a company like mine? The ramp-up to fill 
white spaces with services like AT&T's FirstNet, and the global race to 
5G in the urban areas is pushing demand beyond the supply we have 
workforce to fill.
    The National Association of Tower Erectors commonly referred to as 
NATE and headquartered right here in South Dakota, has done a 
remarkable job of raising the bar in safety and standardization of the 
wireless infrastructure workforce. My voice represents the 900 other 
member companies like mine. The explosive growth on the horizon will 
push demand for skilled workers even higher.
    By way of example, an entry-level wireless infrastructure 
technician can earn upwards of $60,000 per year. Skilled workers well 
beyond this. We have been a long-neglected trade among our electrician, 
plumbing, mechanic, and other fellow tradesmen in terms of educational 
opportunities. Whereas there are programs for most trades, there are 
not for tower technicians. Tower Technicians must be trained by the 
companies that onboard them. Companies like VIKOR. This is a long and 
expensive process, costing my company around $12,000 in the first 6 
months of employment. We need more trade schools like Southeast Tech to 
establish training programs for tower technicians to fill current and 
future demand. And to this end I applaud my friends here at Southeast 
Tech for considering launching a program here in Sioux Falls in the 
near future.
What We Are Asking For
    So, what am I and the 900 member companies of NATE hoping for? 
First off, we commend Commissioner Brendan Carr and the rest of the 
Federal Communications Commission for being forward-thinking in 
clearing regulatory hurdles in advance of the 5G build-out.
    Whereas the electric utility industry has almost no zoning or 
Federal hurdles involved in placing their elevated steel infrastructure 
across our cities and rural areas, telecommunications towers have been 
met with resistance at almost every turn.
    The FCC has worked hard under great opposition to help level the 
playing field. But there is more work to be done. We need help with 
both regulatory hurdles and workforce development. Presently there are 
bills in both the house and senate that could help alleviate the 
burdens on our industry.
    In particular we could use some help from the Senate with a 
companion bill to H.R. 1848--Communications Training Act of 2019, a 
bipartisan bill sponsored by Representatives Dave Loebsck (D-IA) and 
Markwayne Mullin (R-OK). This bill would appropriate $20m per year for 
three Fiscal Years to develop classroom and field-based curriculum and 
certificate programs like the one being proposed by Southeast Tech. 
With this kind of help from Congress, the playing field in the global 
race to 5G against China and others is substantially equaled.
Conclusion
    Once again, thank you, Mr. Thune, for inviting me to testify. And 
thank you for your foresight in calling this hearing and being the 
singular member of Congress that really understands the importance of 
the United States winning the global race to 5G.

    Senator Thune. Thank you, Mr. Snyder. And last up is the 
good gentleman from South Dakota State University, Dr. Michael 
Adelaine, as I said. And he has been a faculty member at SDSU 
since 1990 and now serves as the Vice President for Technology 
and Security at SDSU. So, we welcome you here. Look forward to 
hearing what you have to say.

                 STATEMENT OF MICHAEL ADELAINE,

          VICE PRESIDENT FOR TECHNOLOGY AND SECURITY,

                 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY

    Mr. Adelaine. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman Thune and 
Senator Fischer. Thank you for the invitation to testify today. 
I would like to address specifically the intersection of 
broadband connectivity and Precision Agriculture. Precision 
Agriculture is based on collecting data in real time and 
adjusting farm or ranch operations to correspond to the new 
information.
    Sensors can provide data on multiple aspects of 
agricultural enterprise, whether it be temperature, soil 
moisture, or nutrient availability for plant growth. Sensors 
could also provide data on animal health, feed conversion, and/
or performance. When we speak of improving connectivity, we 
need to talk about the last mile in and at the farm or ranch. 
So many times, connectivity is describing what is available in 
the nearest local community. Once you are outside that area, 
broadband availability can drop off significantly.
    For Precision Agriculture to have the impact the 
agricultural scientists believe it can, data, and I mean big 
data, will need to flow freely from the field, to the farm 
office, up to the cloud, back to the operation in near real 
time. We can now analyze plant images to detect some plant 
diseases up to 2 days before the human eye can spot the 
problem. Being able to quickly move thousands of high-
resolution images acquired close to the plants in the field 
currently is a major barrier to widespread production. South 
Dakota farmers planted approximately 13.5 million acres of 
corn, soybeans, winter wheat, spring wheat, and sunflowers in 
2019.
    One day of hyper specular imagery of every South Dakota 
crop acre with a coarse resolution of 1 pixel representing 1 
square centimeter would be a huge yield of data. To put the 
challenge into perspective, if the imagery was acquired when 
the sun was at optimum angle between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., it 
would take 1,500 high-speed fiber optic connections, like the 
100-Gig connections SDSU has to move images to its computers 
for processing now.
    Another way to look at it is if agricultural researchers 
wanted to collect all the data possible from a single plant, 
that would be 18.4 gigabytes per plant or 432 terabytes of data 
on the average field. To put it into perspective, Library of 
Congress holds about 15 terabytes of data. So, the average 
cornfield holds 28 times as much data to be processed in the 
growing season.
    Because South Dakota has a highly variable production 
environment witnessed by the phrase, just wait a minute the 
weather will change, producers have become early adopters of 
technology to deal with the variability. We strongly believe 
they will embrace new technologies and it can make a difference 
if we have the bandwidth. A consulting company projected that 
Precision Agriculture is expected to increase rural State 
production by additional $650 million to $1.5 billion from crop 
production alone in the next 10 years.
    I would like to say that SDSU is deeply committed to 
supporting Precision Agriculture. With its first in the Nation, 
the Precision Agriculture program and investments by donors, we 
will be building an innovation technology facility with a 
commitment of over $46 million. Senator Thune, thank you for 
this opportunity on behalf of not only South Dakota State 
University, but also the people of South Dakota we serve.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Adelaine follows:]

    Prepared Statement of Dr. Michael Adelaine, Vice President for 
         Technology and Security, South Dakota State University
    Good afternoon Chairman Thune. Thank you for the invitation to 
testify today. It is privilege to present on a topic that is so 
impactful for South Dakota and surrounding rural states.
    As Vice President for Technology and Security, I am charged with 
supporting the mission of South Dakota State University, which as you 
know, has a tripart purpose around teaching, research and outreach. We 
also provide access to the benefits of higher education through our 
mission. Each of these, whether it's teaching, research or outreach, 
but access to broadband is a critical part of meeting that mission and 
serving the citizens of South Dakota.
    I did not start on the administrative side of a university. 
Instead, I began as an Extension computer specialist teaching farmers 
and ranchers how to use computers and software. I also managed one of 
the first websites that provided digital access to Extension services 
and information. Anyone who wanted to have those publications then 
would have had to dial from a telephone line into 300-baud modem pools 
to get connected and download publications that would take several 
minutes, at best, to complete.
    Today, my division at SDSU oversees the networks and technology on 
our main campus in Brookings, as well as at off-campus learning 
centers, regional Extension offices and various Agricultural Experiment 
Stations in the state. At many of these sites, we connect using 100-
Megabyte circuits that aggregate back to campus on a 100-Gigabit 
connection. As you know, technology and the demands for enhanced 
technology continue to change and the need for better and faster 
connectivity is important.
    As the world population continues to grow--some projections 
estimating an increase of 2 billion by 2050 (6/17/2019 United Nations), 
the need for an efficient and effective food and fiber production 
system will be essential. Precision Agriculture will be one of the 
building blocks on which the production system will be built.
    A group of university professors from around the United States 
authored a paper titled, ``Advancing U.S. Agricultural Competitiveness 
with Big Data and Agricultural Economic Market Information Analysis, 
and Research,'' for The Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource 
Economics. They describe Precision Agriculture as ``a suite of 
information technologies used as management tools in agricultural 
production.''
    I interpret that statement to mean Agriculture is an evolving tech 
industry of today.
    Continuing the analogy, broadband connectivity will be the mortar 
that will hold together those building blocks, enabling the various 
technologies necessary for a successful precision ag ecosystem. This 
ecosystem will consist of big data, artificial intelligence, GPS, 
digital maps, and the ``internet of things.''
    The Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics' paper 
noted that current advances in technology have increased the Total 
Factor Productivity--the efficiency of inputs being transformed into 
outputs--at an average of 1.47 percent annually. The increase can be 
attributed within the value of field-level data, but the opportunity 
for even greater increases exists by utilizing a wider range of 
aggregated data with other data sets suitable for pooled analysis. This 
type of data comparisons takes decisions out of a specific field and 
widens it to entire farms and potentially beyond.
    The tractors of today are command centers that constantly receive 
data while operating and are able to adjust to the new information in a 
matter of seconds. This is valuable data, but also data that currently 
operate in a silo as much of that data transfers from tractor to 
tractor by hardware.
    Imagine a scenario where the tractors' connectivity is done in the 
cloud through wireless technology from multiple sources in real time. 
When you add information being sent from drones and satellites to that 
system, it could create less time in the field for the farmers, meaning 
less overhead, less fuel and a more sustainable and efficient food 
production system.
    Imaging from drones can be used to identify nutrient deficiencies 
in plants, weeds, insects, or diseases that can be treated immediately. 
The imaging comes from sensors that utilize complex software through 
Global Positioning Systems and Geographic Information Systems.
    The use of drones extends beyond crop management to ranching by 
monitoring range conditions and virtual fencing to create precision 
grazing. Drones would monitor animal health and status of newborn 
livestock, field conditions, and overall performance to develop data 
useful in comparing range versus pasture settings.
    Drones would also be utilized for field management and spraying by 
tracking weather conditions and weather forecasts to determine the 
optimal time for field treatments.
    Imagine a scenario where farmers are able to better own clean data 
and provide information to industry, producers and universities like 
South Dakota State, which are working to develop the next generation of 
farming technology to meet the population demands of the future while 
working toward even more sustainable and greener farming practices that 
will benefit future generations.
    Precision Agriculture is the site-specific implementation of 
management practices that will economically optimize yields while 
maintaining the soil, water, atmospheric, plants, and animal natural 
resources.
    That future is now and high-speed connectivity to rural South 
Dakota and neighboring states is what is needed.
    SDSU is a global leader in Precision Agriculture and Dr. John 
Killefer, dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Biological 
Sciences, is an expert in the field. Dr. Killefer's recent presentation 
to the South Dakota Joint Appropriations stated that South Dakota 
``producers are early adopters of technology.'' According to a 2017 
report from Agribusiness Consulting, Precision Agriculture is expected 
to increase gross state product by an additional $615 million to $1.5 
billion from crop production alone in the next decade.
    Precision Agriculture at SDSU is not new. Since 1968, there have 
been more than 750 publications from SDSU faculty and researchers that 
talked about some aspect of Precision Agriculture. A 1968 edition of 
Winter Farm and Home Research Magazine had an article titled 
``Precision Information for Irrigation Planning.'' The article 
discussed the utilization of a 16-square-foot lysimeter to measure 
water infiltration to a hardwired recorder that was placed on the edge 
of the field. Today, these measurements are done with an app on a 
smartphone to a wireless receiver.
    More than 175 students are currently enrolled in the Precision 
Agriculture program, seeking either a bachelor's degree or minor in the 
field. These students are on the cutting edge of agronomics, high-speed 
sensor technology, data management and advanced machine learning using 
high performance computers. They are the next generation of farmers, 
engineers, producers and even business leaders. More importantly, they 
are the next generation of mostly South Dakotans who will support our 
state's largest industry.
    Senator Thune, I want to thank you for the opportunity on behalf of 
not only South Dakota State University, but also the people of South 
Dakota we serve. Our passion in the area of Precision Agriculture is 
evident and we are prepared to lead not only the United States, but the 
world, in this growing industry.
    Thank you for your consideration of this need and efforts to 
transform rural America.

    Senator Thune. We thank you very much, Dr. Adelaine, for 
being here. So, tell me again, Library of Congress?
    Mr. Adelaine. 15 terabytes, and a cornfield, if you add all 
the data from individual plants, would be 438 terabytes.
    Senator Thune. OK, that certainly puts things into 
perspective. Well, it is exciting to see the technology and the 
way that it is being applied and the difference that it is 
making for farmers across this country, in terms of the 
productivity and yields. Pretty staggering. So well, thank you 
all for you for your remarks. We are going to ask you a few 
questions and try to have a little discussion going here.
    And I will start off and then yield to my colleague Senator 
Fischer, but Commission Carr, at previous hearings we have 
discussed the importance of the Federal programs that are 
available to carriers to help with deployment of reliable 
broadband services, and last year the FCC took several positive 
steps to put the Federal Universal Service Programs on a more 
solid foundation for years to come.
    And if you could elaborate on what steps the Commission 
took, how those actions will help expand the availability of 
high-speed Internet services in rural America and places like 
South Dakota?
    Mr. Carr. Thanks, Chairman Thune, for the question. We have 
been in the process of the FCC reorienting the Universal 
Service Program. For those that do not know it, it is about a 
$10 billion a year fund that we oversee and administer at the 
FCC. And we have been reorienting that funding toward truly 
unserved and underserved communities and prioritizing them. 
That has resulted, among other things as we talked about, in 
millions of dollars of new funding coming to South Dakota to 
serve over 40,000 new locations with just one tranche of 
funding alone.
    And we were out on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation and we 
are seeing some of those dollars being plowed right into the 
ground to be trenching fiber, pulling conduit, and connecting 
communities. When you step back and think of the broader 
economic impact that comes from these Federal dollars, we are 
being good stewards of it, we are policing waste fraud and 
abuse, and it is expanding economic opportunity everywhere 
where this funding is supporting build out.
    Senator Thune. Well thanks for doing it, and I think with 
the announcement a few weeks ago, South Dakota alone for the 
next decade we are looking at about $700 million that should be 
deployed which will make a huge difference in a lot of lot of 
places in rural South Dakota. Mr. Snyder, fixed wireless 
services also have been a part of the solution to bring high-
speed services to rural South Dakota. Can you talk about your 
role in installing wireless towers and how they are used to 
help close the digital divide?
    Mr. Snyder. Sure. So, if you think about tower sites, you 
have capacity sites and you have coverage sites. So, coverage 
is like trying to fill the white spaces and capacity is, we 
have too many people in one area, we need to put a lot of 
sites. And we have both problems in the U.S. and there is only 
so many dollars to be spent from AT&T, Verizon, and people like 
that or even fiber broadband.
    And so, they have to decide well, where are we going to put 
it. So, what VIKOR does is we go out and put those towers up 
wherever the money is. But like for example, Verizon has to 
decide are they going to spend it in Minneapolis or Myrtle? We 
are going to spend it in Pine Ridge or Portland. And so 
sometimes the white spaces get neglected because there is only 
so much, but we have this workforce--just we are going wherever 
we have to go in putting these vertical structures up, and we 
still have a long ways to go, but thankfully we have a lot of 
help from the Federal Government, more so now than we have ever 
had.
    Senator Thune. Mr. Shlanta, and just to continue the 
conversation on the buildout of broadband services, SDN's owner 
companies, which include many of the South Dakota independent 
telephone companies have been leaders in expanding broadband 
services throughout some of the most remote parts of the state. 
How have you been able to leverage some of the Federal 
opportunities available, and what do these opportunities mean 
for rural consumers and businesses?
    Mr. Shlanta. Thank you, sir. And I would just like to 
comment, as I was listening to my other panelists speak, and 
Commissioner Carr, when you were a mile underground, the fiber 
connection that is supplied at the mine is through SDN 
Communications. The university campuses that Mr. Adelaine 
talked about, Dr. Griffiths talks about, through SDN 
Communications. The eCARE Center that they have there operates, 
again, through SDN Communications.
    And many of those towers that Mr. Snyder talks about come 
from the backbone connections and the last mile connections of 
the independent phone companies owned by SDN Communications. 
But coming back to your question on the Federal programs, I 
touched on the Reconnect Program, which is through Department 
of Agriculture. It was $600 million to help expand broadband 
across the country, and in our state, to my knowledge, there 
were three applications.
    That is one example of how, and through the Department of 
Agriculture, if we are successful in those applications, we 
will take new high-speed facilities, fiber facilities, we might 
serve last mile and a combination of fiber and radio, but it 
will be delivering services to locations that do not have a 
facility today. And so, I think about the opportunities that 
are being opened up through those types of grants. You know, 
the telehealth connection that Commissioner Carr talked about, 
from your home and how the world will be starting to change, 
and will consume telehealth from our homes. Those kind of 
services will be opened up in areas that frankly are the most 
remote and those are the people that have to travel the 
furthest distances to find their health care services.
    When you go to those communities and you see the kids in 
those communities, their ability to go home and do homework is 
negatively impacted because they do not have access to the 
broadband infrastructure. The parents cannot do online banking, 
you know, some of the things that we take advantage of right 
from our own kitchen tables cannot be accomplished in those 
areas.
    So, I look at those programs, Reconnect is one example, as 
ways to continue to extend broadband facilities into new areas 
and ultimately help reach that goal, like you talked about at 
the very beginning, of trying to deliver broadband services to 
everybody who wants it. And some of those areas, because of the 
density, the remoteness, and the cost to get there, really 
without support through some of the Federal programs, it just 
is--it is not attainable through the commercial markets, so we 
do appreciate the different programs that are put together, and 
just the Department of Agriculture was one example. And you 
touched on the continuing support from the FCC that is now 
coming through the $700 million over the next decade.
    Senator Thune. Dr. Griffiths, having access to reliable 
broadband has allowed a lot of higher-ed institutions to 
integrate technology into their curriculum, and it is key to 
helping students and faculty stay at the forefront of 
innovative research. SDSU has many exciting projects including 
the Wireless Mobile Computing Initiative, which provides new 
students with a tablet that they can use throughout the school 
year to create a more interactive classroom environment. Can 
you kind of tell us how that program has supplemented students' 
learning experience?
    Ms. Griffiths. Thank you very much for the question 
Senator. Yes, every one of the students coming to University of 
South Dakota--South Dakota State University is given a laptop 
when they come, and it is a pretty high-end laptop. What that 
allows us to do is ensure that everybody has the capability 
they need to go through the various classes that we offer. And 
we know those computers are capable of carrying the software 
and the applications that those students need. They are 
required to use our laptops for 2 years and after that they can 
swap out and take something else. It really makes a difference 
when everybody has access to the same technology, so we do not 
have to run around and have difference of maintenance 
agreements. We maintain those laptops too by the way. We 
maintain the same equipment for Lake Area Technical College.
    So because we have the volume of activity that we have our 
own maintenance program for those laptops, but it does allow 
the students in class to get access to a variety of different 
resources, the virtual labs, the advanced computer simulations 
that put them into a sort of a virtual reality environment so 
that they can actually practice and see things in three 
dimensions as opposed to just reading about it in the book. So, 
there are lots of applications in the educational sphere that 
require people to have just even a base level technology.
    And our students can go anywhere on campus and they can 
connect, and they love staying on campus, I should say. It has 
had an impact on the students wanting to live on campus and now 
we are seeing more and more of our upperclassmen wanting to 
come back and live on campus because of the amenities we 
provide. I am sure it is not just the laundry. I am sure it is 
not just the gaming suites. I am sure the access to a reliable 
high-speed broadband is a key factor in their wanting to come 
back and live on campus.
    Senator Thune. Very good. I would think as a college 
student trying to pinch pennies that free Wi-Fi would be a 
pretty big incentive. Ms. Larson, telehealth services have 
dramatically expanded the improvement, as we noted earlier, of 
broadband services in rural America. You touched on that in 
your remarks, but how have you seen this expansion transform 
the patients and healthcare providers' experience in areas that 
lack sufficient healthcare services, particularly specialty 
care services?
    Ms. Larson. Well, thank you, Senator Thune. Specialty care 
services specific. So, I will just use a case right here in 
South Dakota. Cancer care. Cancer care, we did actually find 
out at Avera that there actually was an area going really North 
of Pierre in Redfield, all the way down through Valentine, that 
was really lacking access to cancer care and we really needed 
to--you know, you either needed to be on the East side of the 
state or the West side of the state.
    And actually understanding, and if you understood the 
recruitment process for the cancer care team, so first of all, 
those individuals, there is only a few of them trained in that 
way and they are hard to recruit, and they need a population to 
serve. So, we had an experience. We have many--we talk about, 
you know, we can put eConsult in front of almost any 
specialist, but we actually then, the hardest one for me was 
when one of the CEOs came to me and said, can we do eRadiation 
Oncology. That is a group of about five physicians who need to 
be available to do a radiation treatment, and it was a pretty 
big undertaking, it was, how do you actually--first of all, do 
we have the broadband space to make sure we have the PACS 
imaging and all of those pieces going perfectly, and can we 
actually provide enough visual viewing for a physician to be 
able to see the patient?
    And in this case, it was in Pierre, South Dakota to do 
radiation oncology treatment from Sioux Falls, South Dakota or 
from Aberdeen, or now from Yankton. Interestingly enough, we 
actually were able to provide the right camera space to afford 
us the opportunity to use a specialist who wants to have a 
wide--wants to have enough population to serve that they feel 
comfortable after those decades of learning and actually 
training to do that service that they have a population to 
serve.
    So, we now have that capability through technology on the 
telehealth where the physician can look into the vault and see 
the patient, see a lot of technology, making sure that it is 
exactly the way it is supposed to be and that they can actually 
provide the treatment from the physician here in Sioux Falls 
and the patient in Pierre. Why is that important? Because in 
that space that I just described, from Redfield going down to 
Valentine, there were many women, I will just use cancer care 
for breast cancer, just deciding to forego that treatment, do 
not do the radiation oncology. It takes a month and it is a 
Monday through Friday thing and you do not feel good after you 
have that done. So maybe I will just do the complete 
mastectomy, or I just will not to do the care because my 
husband needs me on the farm, my partner needs me to do these 
things, take care of the children, etc.
    So now with that access, we have actually seen an increase 
in radiation oncology in Pierre. It is more than 50 percent 
more than what we anticipated would be. So that means that 
those treatments for radiation oncology in Pierre, South Dakota 
are going on at home. So that is just as--it is a very special 
technology, a very special specialty, if you will, meeting five 
different specialists that would have not been able to be 
recruited to Pierre to provide that service had it not been for 
telehealth.
    Senator Thune. Thank you. Dr. Adelaine, I understand that 
the SDSU offers the first-in-the-Nation Bachelor of Science in 
Precision Agriculture. You talked about this earlier, but could 
you just maybe further describe the intersection between new 
technologies and agriculture, and what that means for a South 
Dakota farmer? Bring it home to the farm.
    Mr. Adelaine. You bet. So, if you are looking at what we 
think might be a savings or return on value, we believe that 
for the average corn producer, they could see a 10 to 15 
percent increase in profit by the use of technologies, 
Precision Agriculture technology. And for the soybean and wheat 
producer, we could see a 5 to 10 percent increase in profit for 
that. But I also like to mention what I think is an intangible.
    Senators, you know that farmers and ranchers are real 
stewards of the land, right, and with Precision Agriculture 
allows them to sharpen that to the point where they are taking 
even better care of what they believe they want to pass on and 
take good care of. It allows them to do that even more. So, I 
think that will be an intangible benefit that all of us will 
reap because of their efforts.
    Senator Thune. Thank you. Senator Fischer.
    Senator Fischer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ms. Larson, I 
would like to follow up a little bit on a question about what 
Avera eCARE is able to provide, especially to patients in homes 
throughout the underserved, unserved rural areas of the State. 
Your company has a great history in telemedicine. I guess I am 
really interested in the lessons that you have learned and how 
you have achieved some success in reaching I believe over 300 
communities. I know there are challenges that you faced along 
the way. I am specifically interested in how have you overcome 
the challenges in terms of scaling hospital to patient Internet 
connections across rural America, and who have you partnered 
with in that endeavor?
    Ms. Larson. Well, first of all, I want to make sure that I 
mentioned here that we are very dependent upon some of the 
Federal funding, USAC funding as an example, as we find a rural 
community hospital that really could be eligible to decrease 
the monthly cost of their services. We make sure we introduce 
that opportunity and assist them in any way that we can to 
research the USAC funding. We of course also use ESDA. We know 
a lot about what USDA will fund as far as the technology that 
is needed in those communities, and we lean into that heavily 
and help others understand that as well.
    It is interesting when you get into rural communities how 
many of those funds that may be available to them, they are not 
familiar with. So, as an organization, we do quite a bit of 
that. So, who have we partnered with? So, what did we learn 
first and who did we partnered with? Last mile connectivity was 
mentioned just a little bit earlier. So, it is often, when we 
are in Kansas and we need to get to Wichita, is there anything 
in between there for broadband, and how do we do that better? 
So sometimes we actually put help--reach out to Mark. Mark 
helps us a lot with where the circuitry is, what is available 
there in those states and those communities.
    And sometimes we will partner either with Mark or our local 
Telco to understand what it is that we need to do to get that 
last broadband into that hospital to make sure that we have 
continuous connectivity. So, in many times, broadband, that 
last mile, will be what will wait a number of months to 
actually get that last connection. We may be up and ready to go 
and it will take another couple of months for that last mile 
connectivity to go, for various reasons, but I would say maybe 
Mark can comment a bit on what those reasons are a little 
deeper. But that is often a holdup that we don't have that last 
mile connectivity.
    So, we have learned to try to plan ahead of that. There is 
a lot of other issues with telehealth, meaning physicians' 
licensure, those things and things, but we try to space that 
very carefully so that once a rural provider decides that they 
need some support in their community with telemedicine, they 
have been through a lot of discernment to get there and so they 
would like to have it next month. So, it takes a little bit of 
time to help them understand what will require.
    Senator Fischer. OK. So, let us go to the last mile again. 
When we look at the last mile and we understand the challenges 
that are out there, a lot of times it is with funding, of 
course, but when the need is so great, how are we going to get 
there?
    Mr. Shlanta. Well, that is a great question--Senator 
Fischer: So, you kept bringing it up. So, there we go.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Shlanta. So now I get to answer the question. Senator 
Fischer: Yes, help us figure out how we can get these services 
to areas that truly need them. Mr. Shlanta: You know, I think 
that one of the first things we have to do is really examine 
the data sets we use to identify the areas that are in need for 
broadband connectivity. We have all worked through a series of 
data collection. We have moved it upstream and I think as we 
move forward, getting data at the location level, which would 
be a huge granular effort, but if not at the location level 
then certainly using shapefiles to better coordinate the 
geography where broadband exists, and broadband doesn't exist. 
So being able to use good data will be part of our steps.
    I think that as we start to identify those, I feel 
personally, what are the types of applications that can be 
created in those communities? Communities that have a clinic, 
communities that have schools, communities that have banks 
should be some of the ones that we start to prioritize toward 
as a way to start to put the funds that we have available in 
those markets first and continue to work out from there. I 
think that will become a combination of last mile and middle 
mile that will be needed in order to accomplish that because we 
cannot have really all of these last mile roads leading into 
choke points within a State. We have to also make sure we are 
providing an examination of support for a robust middle mile 
network.
    Senator Fischer. Thank you. Ms. Larson, rural mental health 
care is, I think, a huge void that we see across my State. I am 
sure you see that in South Dakota as well. How are we going to 
make sure that with all the advantages we see here with 
telehealth, that we are able to have professionals be available 
to rural communities as well when it comes to mental health? Do 
you think telemental medicine has a place in that, and how can 
we move that forward?
    Ms. Larson. Thank you for that question. I think there is 
absolutely a need in every community that we go to. It is one 
of the first questions that is asked. Right now, we are 
undergoing a pilot project to really support and understand how 
to best serve those needs. Oftentimes the need shows up either 
with first responders, police or Sheriff's departments and, or 
in the emergency departments. So oftentimes these things 
escalate into a situation where individuals may be transferred 
or jailed because jail is the only place that anyone feels safe 
to put them in. There is no one else in a rural community area, 
or no other place, where the Sheriff or the individuals feel 
safe to put them.
    So, we are very concerned about that. The pilots that were 
looking at are actually ride along the types of opportunities 
meaning iPads, if you will, that are with a County Sheriff as 
they go to a scene, go to a situation, may be in a home, where 
there is a call that has been made and we can actually, have 
proven that, get the individual who is causing that situation 
on an iPad interview, try to deescalate the situation, and make 
decisions about what is really needed. Do they need acute 
therapy today, acute treatment, into the hospital whether they 
are really going that route--if they do, they should go 
immediately.
    If not, can we deescalate that enough to do an ambulatory 
process the next day. Not making them go to jail, which usually 
escalates things worst and just causes a whole other scenario 
of issues. So, our focus right now is to create that team that 
can be the ride along with the Sheriff. We are not doing 
municipal police departments at this point, but we are doing 
County Sheriffs. What can we do in that area as an initial 
point?
    The other thing is when we think about that is if we can 
reduce the assessments that actually need to go to the hospital 
setting, we can keep the Sheriffs off the highway and keep them 
in their home communities and home counties.
    Senator Fischer. What do you think we can do at the Federal 
level to change policy that would offer better support?
    Ms. Larson. Part of that is, I think, the treatment plans 
and the reimbursement plans. You know where the treatment often 
ends up being a situation of who is going to pay for that 
treatment and where do they go? So that is where a lot of the 
incarceration occurs, and that escalation goes on there.
    So, part of this for telehealth is the reimbursement of 
telehealth and how can that reimbursement change into maybe a 
therapist being reimbursed differently as well as mid-level 
providers being reimbursed differently and being able to--
because a group of psychiatrists is a pretty small group. They 
can lead all of this care and oversight the care provided by 
the rest of the individuals, but I think if we could have a 
broader scope of who can do some of those services, it would 
make eligibility a lot more available.
    Senator Fischer. Do you know if your state is looking into 
making any changes to scope of practice that would be 
beneficial?
    Ms. Larson. You know, it is very state-to-state right now. 
We actually have a lot of access in the State of South Dakota 
to do many of those services in South Dakota.
    Senator Fischer. Commissioner Carr, nice to see you again. 
Thank you for coming out to South Dakota. Thank you for being 
in Nebraska. And thank you for your leadership on the 
Commission when it comes to rural issues. You and Chairman Pai 
and Commissioner O'Reilly are always out doing these road 
trips. We will get you back to Nebraska. I think it is 
wonderful that you do that, and I appreciate it.
    You have, I think, been a leader when it comes to creating 
the Connected Care Pilot Program, and I know our seniors and 
our veterans that live far from populous cities, they have to 
not only overcome that digital divide, but they have to also 
overcome a patient, doctor divide as well. And to be able to 
distribute health care across this divide, I think, would 
improve our patient outcomes, it is going to reduce costs, 
which we are all very concerned about, but it is going to help 
the patient.
    To the extent that you are able, can you provide further 
details on just where you at with proceeding with it and how 
interested participants could expect to benefit from this 
program? Just a great update would be helpful.
    Mr. Carr. Certainly. Thank you, Senator, for the question 
and thank you as well for your leadership in pushing on 
healthcare for rural parts of the country and in rural 
broadband connection. I think there is a focus, for some 
reason, on this hearing on Valentine, Nebraska and I have a 
story that is relevant----
    Senator Fischer. But you are in South Dakota, remember, 
so----
    Mr. Carr. That is right. I will bridge the gap between the 
two. When we were in Pine Ridge yesterday at the IHS facility, 
there was a woman, Connie, who lives in Valentine and she is a 
mental health, behavioral health specialist, and she is able to 
video conference in. She works from her home in Valentine as a 
mental health, behavioral health specialist and has video 
calls, video conferences with folks on the reservation from 
there because that connection.
    What we have seen is when you are able to move the 
provision of care outside the four corners of a brick and 
mortar facility, it opens it up to people that cannot make 
those travels to a healthcare provider, particularly in the 
Great Plains and the winter with some of the weather is not 
possible. But we have seen in trials to date on connected care 
pilot care, which are delivering care directly to people, for 
every dollar that has been invested in those pilots, there has 
been a $3 return in terms of savings and of course significant 
improvements in outcomes for those measured in bed days for 
people not having to end up in the highest cost center for 
healthcare system, which is the emergency department, or 
improvements in their lives.
    At the FCC we are doing a couple things. One, we are 
continuing to support through subsidies connections to 
hospitals, and we are now, as you asked, standing up this pilot 
program. We voted just in July, I believe, to move forward with 
that. It is the second to last step in our process which is a 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and then we will move to an 
Order hopefully within the next few months, and then we will be 
opening up to application.
    So, we are really reaching out to healthcare providers to 
make them aware of the program and aware of the opportunities 
to encourage them to apply for the program for funding. So, we 
do think it can make a big difference, to your point, with 
bridging this doctor divide. We see rural hospitals closing by 
the dozens around the country, and we can replace some of that 
with access to a doctor located somewhere else, whether it is a 
big city--that can make a real difference.
    Senator Fischer. When you look at funding for rural 
hospitals, does the critical access designation have a part to 
play in the formula?
    Mr. Carr. Yes, we are working through exactly how we should 
define the areas that we are targeting, and we are open to 
ideas. One thing we have seen so far is some of the definitions 
don't always line up. I was with Senator Capito in West 
Virginia, I believe in Madison, West Virginia which is a pretty 
rural, remote community but for some reason it is pulled into 
Charleston, West Virginia for a lot of funding decisions and 
therefore is not considered rural and remote.
    So, there may be some steps you need to take with measuring 
what is rural that reflects more of the practical experience on 
the ground. And then as was mentioned, some of the licensing 
and reimbursement issues might be some low-hanging fruit. Maybe 
not low hanging, but some fruit to target at the Federal level 
to make it easier to deliver care across State lines.
    Senator Fischer. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, can I ask one 
more----
    Senator Thune. Absolutely.
    Senator Fischer. Thank you. Mr. Shlanta, Nebraska's 
Broadband Task Force has been analyzing ways to improve 
broadband mapping throughout our state, especially in the wake 
of difficulties with the FCC's mobility fund to challenge the 
process. And I think we have made really good strides at the 
State level, but there still is a focus on solving this at the 
Federal level. So, given the FCC's authority to compel 
reporting changes that providers submit for their coverage 
areas, how can we improve accountability for providers 
submitting information on their coverage areas while also 
ensuring that there is a robust challenge process to fine-tune 
what we actually have with broadband coverage and connections?
    Mr. Shlanta. Another great question.
    Senator Fischer. I know. I am giving you all these tough 
ones here.
    Mr. Shlanta. It is alright.
    Senator Fischer. This gets down to the bones here, now, 
though so----
    Mr. Shlanta. You know, it does, and you know, I am not a 
mobile carrier, so I am not the one who provides those reports 
that you are talking about, those coverages, but I do think, 
back to an effort that took place in South Dakota a number of 
years ago. Now it took place, again, at the State level so 
maybe similar to what is happening in Nebraska where the state 
went out and mapped areas for broadband connectivity speeds 
from the wireless carriers. In addition to those broadband 
speeds. You would help to just identify areas where coverage 
existed and coverage did not exist.
    So, I think one of the keys are going to be--actually, some 
kind of funding to put some boots on the ground to go out and 
take some different measurements and get that data reported 
back. And I do not think that is something you can rely on the 
consumer to do, I think it will take an effort of a 
professional to go out to the field and take some of those 
measurements because at the end of the day, it comes to what 
you are trying to get to is that good data that I have talked 
about so that you can make those right decisions and where 
those investments are needed to expand the coverage, explain 
the broadband deployments, all of those things that ultimately 
roll up to having good data.
    Senator Fischer. Yes. I mean if we are going to take 
advantage of Precision Agriculture, if we are going to be able 
to do all the cool stuff with the Internet of things, we have 
to have that coverage and we can only get that--I believe we 
can only get that coverage if we have dependable maps that are 
going to be available so we can make good decisions, the FCC 
can make good decisions on just where this funding is needed 
and where it should be targeted.
    Mr. Shlanta. Yes. I do think--you know, from an Internet of 
things standpoint would be access to precision ag sensors, you 
know, wireless coverage is one way to accomplish getting that 
data distributed. I also think for some operators, you know, 
being connected to their terrestrial network and having perhaps 
their own somewhat radio network to cover their fields will be 
one solution so that you have that coverage in those areas 
where that Precision Agriculture operator is producing their 
crops.
    And just to touch on Precision Agriculture, I did hear one 
of Dr. Adelaine's colleagues last month talk about the need for 
a more robust broadband speeds at agricultural locations, farms 
and ranches. He was suggesting speeds of 100 up, 100 down is 
needed to be able to take that data that Dr. Adelaine was 
talking about, you know, those images, get them uploaded, get 
them processed, and get the answers returned in a time-frame 
that the Ag producer can act upon the data.
    You know, three days later, sometimes the window of 
opportunity for the Ag producer has passed. So, I do think this 
speeds that help define broadband are something we are going to 
need to continue to examine as well in the coming years.
    Senator Fischer. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Thune. Thank you, Senator Fischer. Mr. Shlanta, one 
thing you will find out about my colleague from Nebraska is 
that she always asks hard questions.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Thune. They are not confined just to witnesses.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Thune. Could you just--and this is just for 
purposes of many of us who don't traffic in the language, but 
an example of middle mile versus last mile when you are 
building that out in a community. Can you explain that or 
somebody that----
    Mr. Shlanta. Yes, thank you. You know, using South Dakota 
as an example and then I will transition to Nebraska as well 
for those who are more familiar with Nebraska. But in South 
Dakota you know, I touched on the independent phone companies 
and as I touched that in my comments, they serve about 80 
percent of the State's land mass.
    And so, think of them as I would consider them the last 
mile provider, taking the connectivity out to the farm, the 
ranch, tower, the bank, the hospital, whatever is in the 
community where that service is needed. They will aggregate all 
those different data connections back into a couple of key 
locations in their markets, but carriers like SDN then come on. 
We connect those independent companies.
    So, we provide that backbone connectivity across the state 
and ultimately deliver it the points outside the state, places 
like content providers like Facebook or, you know, other 
Internet providers, they have limited connectivity available to 
them in the State of South Dakota. So, we help carry that to 
points beyond the state so we can get out of those national 
backbones so we can go straight from that National backbone 
right into that hospital, home, that are in those markets.
    So, the middle mile carrier, we bundle them all up and we 
carry them across the state and out of the state so that we can 
get on those National networks. Nebraska is, as I touched, I 
think on a similar network, Nebraska Link. A fewer number of 
companies, but they are working really to accomplish the same 
things that we do here in South Dakota.
    Senator Thune. And did I hear you say 50,000?
    Mr. Shlanta. 50,000 miles of fiber facilities collectively 
across SDN and its member companies. So, like I said circling 
the world twice right here in the State of South Dakota, taking 
those high-speed connections out to farms, ranches, banks, 
anywhere it needs to be.
    Senator Thune. That is a lot of fiber.
    Mr. Shlanta. It is.
    Senator Thune. You mentioned in this follow up on Senator 
Fischer's question but the need for more accurate mapping and 
one of the reasons we need that is to prevent overbuilding, 
avoid some of the mistakes have been made in the past. So, what 
steps do you think we need to take to prevent overbuilding? And 
then I would like to have Commissioner Carr maybe follow up on 
that. How do we get better coordination between the Federal 
agencies? We talked about USDA and the FCC, both of which have 
programs and resources that are targeted at deployment of high-
speed services in rural areas.
    But to prevent some of those mistakes of the past and get 
broadband out there in the most efficient way possible, how to 
avoid the overbuilding? We have talked about, you know, we 
always hear that, and we want to make sure that we are 
deploying resources in the best way possible to the places that 
need it the most.
    Mr. Shlanta. Again, I will go back to I think location data 
is one of the key pieces but when you think of all of the 
locations across the country, that is a huge undertaking. So, 
let us start to break that down into shape files, you know, 
where to look. Where does that infrastructure exists? I think 
no matter how hard we try, we are going to end up with I will 
say some level of overbuilding. Someone is going to have built 
a facility that did not get reported and then it is going to 
look like it was perhaps an inefficient use of programs or 
funds. But if that existing facility maybe provides 
connectivity to a single location or is limited to what it is 
accomplishing, is it really ultimately meeting its full need?
    So I would say, we need to work hard but we need to 
recognize that there will probably be some level that 
ultimately exists but I do think the census block data at the 
right time--at the beginning of try to gather this data may 
have been the right granular level, it has shown us there are 
flaws in that, especially in big census blocks across the 
country and we need to start to move that into the next 
granular step which I would say is a shapefile, and beyond 
that, a location. What locations are served at what speed? If 
you can get to that level of data, we will be able to make the 
right decisions.
    Senator Thune. Commissioner, anything you want to add to 
that?
    Mr. Carr. You know, I agree with a lot of that. We have 
heard loud and clear both from providers and from leaders in 
Congress. We have to do a better job at our math. That is going 
to help address some of the overbuilding issues. We are also 
coordinating, I think better, with some of the other agencies 
on this.
    We had maps, as was noted, at a census tract level for at 
least 10 years, maybe more, and as was noted, they may have 
made a lot of sense back then for the purposes they were 
serving but we have come to rely on those maps pretty heavily 
to make effectively billion-dollar funding decisions. So, we 
have, at the FCC, decided to turn the page on some of those 
older mapping approaches and we are launching into a new more 
granular approach, whether it is shapefiles or otherwise to get 
a lot better data. So, I think in D.C. there is often inertia 
of adding another Christmas ornament to an existing process and 
not starting from scratch, and I think we get it that we 
basically need to start from scratch with our maps. Keep the 
ones we have for the purposes that they are good for but let us 
launch into a more accurate approach.
    And I think I should note as well, you know, we are here at 
Southeast Tech and when we talk about building out these 
networks, and I know you have been a strong leader for these 
workforce development issues. And as I mentioned the tower 
crews alone could absorb another 20,000 workers. These are good 
paying jobs and Southeast is looking at adding a tower tech 
program, and I know you spoken in favor of it and I have as 
well, and we got a briefing before this hearing on how that is 
progressing and moving forward, and hopefully will result 
ultimately in a tower training program pier. It would save 
costs a lot on the industry that is looking to hire them, make 
sure that people are comfortable working at heights and some of 
the travel associated with jobs. I think that would be great.
    I also want to recognize, you know, Craig and his whole 
team. A lot of people we talked to turn their cell phone on, 
they expect it to work, they assume it is magic or pixie dust. 
They do not realize that it is America's hard-working men and 
women that are the tower techs, that are climbing the towers, 
that are building this. I spent some time with his teams, 
Brandon, Leland, him, and Mike across the State and really 
across the country, and they are doing great work. And as I 
said in my statement, you know, what it takes to build out 
these networks is thankfully what rural America has in spades. 
It is hard work, grit, and determination.
    And there is another provider I wanted to mention that I 
saw was here, Tyler, who I met a couple years ago here, I guess 
a year or so ago. He lives out in Parker, South Dakota. He 
runs, a least back then, ran a very small wireless Internet 
service provider. He was trying to solve his own digital divide 
and get service to his old family farm, set up a wireless 
connection, decided to go into business helping this community. 
Took me up on the water tower above Parker and showed me some 
of the people that he has been able to connect.
    And so, we do a lot of work at the FCC, and you need to set 
the right policies, and then it takes hard work and sometimes 
duct tape and baling wire to actually bridge that last mile. So 
just very thankful for the crews that are out there building 
this infrastructure out. I think that is what being here today, 
emphasizing the potential to stand up a training program to 
create a pipeline for these 5G workers would be a really good 
step.
    Senator Thune. Thanks, and it should not be lost on anybody 
why we are at Southeast Tech today. We are very hopeful about 
that program and hopefully they can get it launched because I 
do think there is a huge demand out there. And Craig and his 
team and others who are in this business can attest to that and 
having a prepared workforce and what would be very good paying 
jobs. And I guess as long as you can handle some heights--how 
far can you see from the top of the water tower in Parker 
anyway?
    Mr. Carr. You get a pretty good view from up there in 
Parker. At least, I don't know, 15, 20 miles from up there. 
Thankfully, when I was with some of Craig's crew on top of the 
KLT broadcast, that was the 2,000-foot tower, thankfully it was 
snowing that day so you could not see very far----
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Carr.--which made it a lot easier on my fear of 
heights.
    Senator Thune. Well, it is a big--the workforce is a big 
challenge across sectors of industry right now, but certainly 
this one is one where we really need the help. And like I said, 
I have, if nothing else, very capable, professional, skilled 
people with a powerful work ethic here in South Dakota that can 
fill a lot of those positions. So, we just need to make sure 
that we can get them trained, and I hope that the project here 
at STI ends up coming to fruition. Let me ask you very quickly, 
T-Mobile, Sprint, good for rural areas? They have made a lot of 
commitments and promises. Can the FCC enforce that when this 
thing comes to----
    Mr. Carr. Yes, I think this transaction is another really 
good win, both for the Administration and for us at the FCC in 
this really global race to 5G. From our perspective, big 
cities, New York, San Francisco are going to get 5G almost no 
matter what any of us do. The challenge is getting it into 
every community, and with this transaction and the FCC looking 
to approve the transaction, they have secured a commitment to 
build out 5G to 99 percent of the U.S. population. And so that 
is solving a digital divide that would be difficult to bridge 
otherwise, so I think that is going to be a really good deal 
for U.S. leadership.
    Senator Thune. I want to ask just Dr. Griffiths, if I can 
because I think this ties into all these discussions, but DSU 
has been a leader, as you pointed out, in cybersecurity 
throughout the state and the region, and each year the 
university is producing more and more graduates with the tech 
skills that are necessary to participate in that modern work 
force. Earlier this year, I introduced the Cybersecurity 
Exchange Act, which is legislation aimed at allowing for the 
recruitment of cyber experts in both the private sector and 
Academia.
    As more South Dakotans go online and more innovations 
become a reality, how important is it that our cyber security 
capabilities and cyber workforce keep pace, and what would you 
say are some of the ways that we ought to be investing?
    Ms. Griffiths. Well, thank you for the question. I am 
familiar with the legislation that was introduced. I think 
cyber security is often forgotten in this world of, you know, 
getting connectivity. The applications that we have heard about 
today in healthcare and in Precision Agriculture have security 
needs.
    Unfortunately, at the code of state, we have to think about 
bad actors. It is very easy to think about how bad actors can 
interfere with the flow of services and flow of information 
back and forth that enable these kinds of applications. And you 
have heard me speak. I know about agriculture as a critical 
infrastructure in the United States or any country for that 
matter, and how vulnerable it is. I think what we are trying to 
do--in a way in higher education, we have the luxury of 
thinking ahead, right.
    We are not responsible for providing all the infrastructure 
and the services, but we have the luxury of thinking ahead 
because we are educating people for jobs that don't really 
exist yet and trying to see what happens next. So, I am 
intrigued. You know, we have been talking for decades about the 
last mile and we have talked about it a lot today. We talk 
about the last inch, how do you ensure that applications and 
information are secure to the last inch as we have people with 
more and more devices that are connecting to the network. We 
have more and more wearable devices that are going to be 
critical in long-term care as the population ages in place.
    So, I think it is even more important than ever before, and 
the need for experts in the area of cyber security--I mean, you 
know, and as I've indicated, we have plans to double the size 
of our program, double the number of graduates. I am sure other 
programs around the country are doing the same. We have been 
working to form a national network of cybersecurity programs in 
higher education so we can sort of leverage strengths that we 
each have and begin to provide more support to each other and 
also perhaps answer the call, if it comes, from the Federal 
sector, if you need support from our experts, our expert 
faculty, or some of our students who also have expertise and 
security clearances can jump in as necessary. But I don't think 
cybersecurity is going to become less and less of an issue. It 
is going to become more and more important as we move forward.
    Senator Thune. Thank you, and I could not agree more. I 
just think that we trade, we want the connectivity, we want the 
speed, and all that comes with that, but we also have to be 
aware that there are bad actors out there and cyber security 
and making sure we slam those doors shut is really critical. 
And you are preparing the folks that are going to be helping us 
do that in the future so thank you for doing that. Senator 
Fischer, anything else you want to ask?
    Senator Fischer. No, I just would like to thank you, 
Senator Thune, for holding the field hearing. Again, it was a 
pleasure to be here. I think it was an excellent hearing. Thank 
you.
    Senator Thune. Thank you for coming up and making the trip. 
We appreciate it. Anybody on the panel, any thoughts, closing 
comments, anything that we did not address that you think 
should be addressed or observations or comments you would like 
to make as we sort of wind it down here?
    Mr. Adelaine. If I could make, Senator, one point quickly?
    Senator Thune. Yes, Dr. Adelaine.
    Mr. Adelaine. So, in 2004, when I took over at SDSU, we 12 
Megs of bandwidth for research. We have 100-Gig now. So, as we 
think about broadband, I cannot tell you what those 
applications are, but I can tell you our researchers and 
faculty are eating up bandwidth and data is flowing big time so 
we really have to think where this thing might go way into the 
future.
    Mr. Shlanta. If I could add on to Dr. Adelaine's comments, 
we too are seeing the throughputs on connections from homes, 
ranches essentially doubling every two to 3 years. So, the 
amount of bandwidth that is consumed by a household goes up. 
And you touched on things like the Internet of Things, those 
are various devices, those are all contributors to the amount 
of data that moves. I do think as well those speeds that Dr. 
Adelaine talked about, and I am seeing speeds in the last mile, 
are going to be key to us staying ahead of the advances and the 
applications.
    We can create all the applications we want but if can't 
move the data, they are not useful to us. So, I would encourage 
Congress and the FCC to continue to look at what are those 
right thresholds for data speeds that should be our minimums 
for setting good broadband policy.
    Ms. Larson. Senator, I would add one piece. As we talked 
about the cyber security, it is certainly important in 
healthcare as has been described, and we actually are forced to 
carry cyber insurance, you know. If we do get held ransom, we 
have to try--as we travel, the rural communities and ask the 
hospitals, we actually require them to have a kind of an entry 
level, if you will, cyber insurance and there are so many who 
have not thought about it, not heard about it, so where can I 
get that?
    They go to their bank and the bank has not heard about it 
or done anything about it. So, the awareness and the access to 
it, entry level is I believe for most that have come back to us 
and say we cannot find any, is at $10 million and so that is 
pretty expensive for those critical access facilities. So, it 
is an issue. It is, again, something that I am not sure how to 
address but it is something of concern for us as we do enter 
into the healthcare arena.
    Senator Thune. Anything else guys?
    [No response.]
    Senator Thune. Good. Well, I want to--again, I will tell 
anybody who wants to add to the record, if there are any 
additional questions that we want to submit or anything, we 
will keep the hearing record open for a period of time to 
enable that to happen.
    And I do want to thank the Commerce Committee. We have 
several people out here from Chairman Wicker's staff, Olivia, 
is here, and a trustee, Stephanie Gamache over here are running 
the operation. Jeff Johnson, all work on the Commerce Committee 
to make sure that when we have these hearings, both in 
Washington D.C. and around the country, that it comes off 
smoothly and hopefully well.
    And so, we appreciate their presence here. Alex Sachtjen, 
you know, my staff does our Commerce Committee portfolio in our 
office and is a Burke, South Dakota native, so he was one of 
the fortunate ones. His house, I think, stayed together. You 
probably saw that we had a bad tornado in Burke, South Dakota, 
wiped out a lot of the main street, and school, and everything 
else.
    But anyway, he does a great job for us. I think Senator 
Fischer as well has somebody that does her work on the Commerce 
Committee. So, we appreciate the work the staff does on a daily 
basis to hopefully help us deal with our very challenging 
issues and as we try and shape policies that will create a 
brighter and more prosperous future for people here in South 
Dakota, and rural areas of our country.
    And we are grateful for the contributions that all the 
folks in this room do to make that happen. So, thank you for 
being here today. With that, we will adjourn.
    [Whereupon, at 3:10 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

                            A P P E N D I X

 Statement of Joseph RedCloud, Member, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine Ridge 
 Indian Reservation; Executive Director, Oceti Sakowin Tribal Utility 
  Authority; Acting Chairman, Oglala Sioux Tribe Utilities Commission
    I welcome the opportunity to submit written testimony on Rural 
Broadband in South Dakota being hosted by Senator Thune and his 
colleagues in the United States Senate. Recently, I went to Washington, 
D.C. and met with Federal government officials on important issues 
impacting Tribal lands, such as broadband availability, affordability 
of service, and Tribal consultation.
    Attached is my Statement on the important meetings that I had with 
the Federal Communications Commission (``FCC'') and representatives of 
the Senate and House of Representatives. I would like to highlight the 
following points as part of my testimony in this hearing:

  1.  Tribal Consultation--the term ``Tribal consultation'' is loosely 
        used to refer to efforts by Federal authorities to consult with 
        Tribes on important issues impacting Tribes and residents of 
        Tribal lands. It could mean an ``e-mail,'' ``phone call,'' 
        ``presentation,'' or other form of communications with Tribal 
        representatives that may or may not have any knowledge or 
        direct involvement with the issues impacting Tribes and 
        residents of Tribal lands. Consequently, while the 
        communications may allow Federal authorities to check the 
        ``Tribal consultation'' box it may not involve any meaningful 
        engagement with the responsible Tribal officials. The Oceti 
        Sakowin Tribal Utility Authority (``OSTUA'') submitted a 
        proposal to the FCC to establish a formal Tribal consultation 
        process with clearly defined criteria for meaningful engagement 
        with Tribes on matters impacting Tribal lands. I urge formal 
        consideration of this proposal.

  2.  Tribal Lifeline Service--Lifeline service is critical for 
        residents of rural Tribal lands, who typically are not able to 
        afford telecommunications and Internet service. The OSTUA 
        challenged a FCC order that would have significantly limited 
        Lifeline service on Tribal lands and won this challenge in 
        court, which represented an important step in ensuring 
        residents of Tribal lands have access to affordable telephone 
        and Internet service. Now, the FCC is implementing additional 
        reforms to the Lifeline program that threaten to effectively 
        limit Lifeline service on Tribal lands by (i) making it 
        difficult, if not impossible, for Tribal residents to be 
        verified as eligible for Lifeline service through a partially 
        implemented National Verifier, and (ii) establishing minimum 
        standards that will result in less service not better service. 
        The OSTUA has asked the FCC to reconsider these reforms to the 
        Lifeline program.

  3.  Availability of Broadband Service--unlike urban areas and other 
        areas, rural Tribal lands have very limited access to high 
        speed Internet service and when it is available, it is cost 
        prohibitive. It is therefore critically important for Congress 
        and the FCC to recognize the unique challenges to serving rural 
        Tribal lands and adopt policies, laws, and regulations that 
        enable companies, like Native American Telecom--Pine Ridge, to 
        provide affordable broadband service, an Internet Library and 
        Technology Center (where Tribal members can obtain free access 
        to computers and the Internet), and digital literacy training. 
        For some Tribal areas, the solution may lie with grants. For 
        other Tribal areas, the solution may be high cost universal 
        service funding. And for other Tribal areas, the solution may 
        be based upon an economic development business model. I urge 
        the FCC not to make any changes in the universal service 
        program or the intercarrier compensation rules without 
        conducting a thorough analysis of the impact of any new rules 
        or changes in existing rules on the availability and 
        affordability of broadband service on Tribal lands.

Respectfully submitted,
                                            Joseph RedCloud
Enclosure
                                 ______
                                 
        Chief RedCloud's Descendant Visits the Nation's Capital
    My direct ancestor, Chief RedCloud, went to Washington, D.C. after 
signing the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 that settled RedCloud's War and 
established the Great Sioux Nation. Over the years, my other ancestors 
(Chief Jack RedCloud, Chief James RedCloud, Chief Edgar RedCloud and 
Chief Oliver RedCloud) also traveled to the Nation's capital to fight 
for the rights of Native Americans. Last week, I followed in the 
footsteps of my ancestors and met with Federal government officials.
    My ancestors fought for our sacred land, which remains an issue 
today, notwithstanding the 1868 Treaty. Yes, it may come as a surprise 
to most Americans that 150 years ago, after years of battles, the U.S. 
government settled the land disputes with the Lakota, Nakota and Dakota 
Sioux Tribes to ensure Tribal ownership of the Black Hills. No sooner 
was the ink dry on the Treaty, the Black Hills were taken from us and 
given to gold prospectors. Sorry for the digression, but our history 
with the United States government continues to haunt us.
    In my meetings last week in Washington, D.C., I was struck by how 
welcoming and attentive people were to me. While I came in peace, my 
message was direct and forceful. Native Americans living in rural 
America are being left behind in today's digital age.
    In the 1800s, my ancestors fought for land rights. Today, our 
battle is for the basic necessities of housing, food, education, 
communications and Internet access. It may surprise you to learn that 
the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is larger than the state of Rhode 
Island. Yet we have only a few cell towers to serve the entire 
reservation whereas Rhode Island has more than 1,000 cell towers.
    Back home, Tribal residents suffer with no or spotty coverage on 
roads and homes and huddle around an Internet Library for the only free 
Wi--Fi service on our Reservation. As I walked around Congress, the 
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other areas of Washington, 
D.C. last week, I witnessed the digital age---people glued to their 
phones and computers, presumably conducting business and communicating 
with loved ones. I thought, if only our people had the same access to 
information and communications, then maybe we would be able to realize 
the American dream and not suffer from chronic unemployment, 
devastating poverty and other third world living conditions. Surely, my 
message of inclusion and access to essential broadband services would 
be well received and supported by our Nation's leaders, right?
    My first stop was the office of FCC Chairman Pai, who is the 
Nation's top communications leader. On the FCC web page, it prominently 
states ``Bridging The Digital Divide For All Americans,'' which surely 
includes the Nation's first Americans, e.g., Native Americans. In fact, 
Chairman Pai himself states, ``My number one priority has been closing 
the digital divide and bringing the benefits of the Internet age for 
all Americans.'' I applaud Chairman Pai's message of inclusion and 
closing the digital divide, which is ``wide'' on many Tribal lands.
    Chairman Pai has pursued an open market approach with regulatory 
incentives to broadband deployment. This approach has largely worked 
resulting in 93.5 percent of the population of the U.S. having access 
to fixed broadband service and 99.8 percent of the population of the 
U.S. having access to mobile broadband service. (See FCC 2019 Broadband 
Deployment Report.) At the same time, the FCC has recognized broadband 
service deployment ``on certain Tribal lands lags deployment in other 
geographic areas.'' In fact, the data shows that only 45.4 percent of 
the population in rural Tribal lands have access to fixed and mobile 
broadband service. Can you imagine if that was the case in urban 
America? It would be a national crisis and likely result in the country 
spiraling into an economic crisis. Welcome to everyday life for many 
people in Indian country.
    I am encouraged, however, by Chairman Pai's focus on the digital 
divide. I am also encouraged by the work being done on many 
Reservations to bridge the digital divide. My Pine Ridge Indian 
Reservation has an Internet Library and Technology Center that provides 
Tribal residents with free access to computers, the Internet and 
digital literacy training. This would not be possible but for the 
broadband regulatory policies of Chairman Pai and the FCC, which has 
allowed a company, like Native American Telecom--Pine Ridge, LLC, to 
serve the broadband and digital literacy needs of residents of the Pine 
Ridge Indian reservation.
    I am committed to working with the FCC to ensure that ``no Indian 
is left behind.'' I urge regulators and legislators to consult with 
each Tribe and implement the necessary laws, rules, and policies to 
bridge the digital divide in Indian Country. I also urge Federal and 
state authorities to recognize that access is only one component of 
solving the digital divide. Equally important is affordability and the 
Lifeline program, which makes telephone and Internet service affordable 
for many residents of Tribal lands.
    Recently, Tribal interested parties challenged an FCC Order in 
court that would have limited the availability of Lifeline service. We 
won this legal challenge, but our work is not done and we need to 
continue to work cooperatively to establish a Lifeline program that 
works for everyone. For example, I completely agree with Chairman Pai's 
efforts to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse within the Lifeline program 
and establish a National Verifier to ensure that only eligible 
consumers obtain valuable Lifeline discounts. But, I do not agree with 
implementing new rules, processes and procedures without regard for the 
impact on low--income consumers. A National Verifier that cannot verify 
because of lack of access to eligibility databases may eliminate fraud, 
waste and abuse but it does so at the expense of eligible residents of 
Tribal lands not having access to Lifeline service. Minimum standards 
for Lifeline service are important, but if the standards are too high 
or too burdensome, then the result may be less Lifeline service not 
better Lifeline service. Let's temporarily halt some of these Lifeline 
reforms and make sure we get everything right before blindly making 
changes that could harm the beneficiaries of the Lifeline program--low 
income consumers.
    We can solve all of these problems--access to broadband service and 
affordability of service--by working together. Like my ancestors, I am 
willing to take the road less traveled to ensure that Native Americans 
have access to the same services available to all Americans and realize 
the American dream.
                                           Joseph RedCloud,
                                                Executive Director,
                                Oceti Sakowin Tribal Utility Authority,
                                                            Member,
                                                    Oglala Sioux Tribe.

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