In just three short years, the organization claims to have brought Kentucky out of the technological dark ages, raising the availability of high-speed Internet by one-third while increasing other prime indicators ranging from home computer ownership to growth in high-tech jobs. Connect claims an advanced mapping system to guide the development of Internet through the state and through the work of local "leadership teams." The mapping program is supposed to show where there are gaps in the provision of high-speed Internet. The local teams, led by Connect Kentucky staff and composed of representatives of local business, education and technology organizations, are supposed to come up with a snapshot of how advanced the community is now, and set out some goals for improving use of technology.
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The irony is that the Connect Kentucky model, hailed by Democrats such as Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA), Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Rep. Zach Space (D-OH) and, to a lesser extent, House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) was cooked up by Republican staffers for then-Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) and representatives from BellSouth. That background is necessary to understanding the unique circumstances of Connect Kentucky as others try to replicate its "success."
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"They haven’t impressed anybody in the state" with the data collection, the source said. Another Kentucky source said that the information on deployment wasn’t at all useful to non-Connect members. Connect’s claim that more than 90 percent of the state has access to broadband has been met with a great deal of skepticism. "It’s a joke," one knowledgeable source said, echoing what others also believe.
Sources with knowledge of the program said there were a myriad of problems. Connect Kentucky’s results were overstated by a methodology that determined everyone within a 2.5-mile radius from a telephone company facility capable of supplying Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service was indeed capable of getting the service. However, that assumption was not always true, the source said.
There are other weaknesses. Carriers aren’t required to submit any information, and information considered proprietary can be withheld. When he introduced his legislation, Durbin saw these elements as a positive attribute. However, while those conditions might be acceptable to the providers of the information, they don’t do much to make a complete map. There is no standard format for submitting data, so data from the cable industry was different from that from telephone companies. The best information came from the municipal utilities, which showed accurately where the service was. It’s left up to consumers and the local "teams" to validate the map, which means the results will vary greatly as some teams are larger and more active than others.
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But other indicators aren’t as bullish. Bruce Leichtman, president of Leichtman Research Group which publishes state-by-state analysis of broadband, said his data shows that as of the beginning of 2007 Kentucky was 46th of the 51 states and Washington, D.C. in residential broadband penetration with a 32.7% penetration of broadband subscriptions to U.S. Postal Service addresses.
On a broader scale, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) published in Feb. 2007 a state-by-state New Economy Index. Kentucky ranked consistently in the lowest categories. For 2007, the state overall, based on 26 indicators, ranked 45th, which is actually six places lower than it was in 1999 and three places lower than in 2002. Specifically looking at a "Digital Economy" ranking, which includes percentages of population online and deployment of broadband, the ITIF report ranked Kentucky 45th as well.
For more specific measures, Kentucky ranked 40th in broadband deployment, dropping three places from 2002, according to ITIF. The state in 2007 also ranked 44th in high-tech jobs, 46th in scientists and engineers as a percentage of the workforce. Ironically, some of the state’s higher rankings came without Connect’s involvement. The state ranked 11th in e-government and 31st in technology in schools. The state’s $70 million Kentucky Education Network (KEN) and education department are responsible for the project that will provide high-speed Internet links to colleges, universities and K-12 school districts.
In theory, Connected Nation’s legislative agenda is centered on closing the digital divide. In practice, its legislative efforts have centered on helping AT&T and other telecom providers. And Connected Nation finds time to help itself.
As a result of the PSC decisions toughening the broadband build-out and clamping down on anti-competitive activity, BellSouth began a campaign to get itself deregulated. It largely succeeded, with support from the Fletcher Administration and Connect Kentucky. The first bill, HB 627, was passed in 2004. That one took away the state’s ability to set prices for or otherwise regulate broadband services.
The telecom industry got their biggest victory in 2006, however, with the passage of HB 337, a bill that largely took away the authority of the PSC to regulate telephone companies’ rates, to review their financial information, to perform management audits or prescribe other rules. Former state Rep. Joseph Barrows (D), who served a majority whip, said it was "the worst piece of consumer legislation I had seen in 27 years." Barrows said the bill took away the authority of not only state regulators but also the state attorney general to investigate the telephone companies. The bill gave telephone companies the ability to set their own rates, an approach "that seemed to me to be overkill," Barrows said.
