America is investing billions in broadband. Let’s spend it wisely.

After decades of effort and deliberation, the United States is finally making significant investments in its infrastructure. The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act covers everything from roads and bridges to airports and local water pipelines. Fortunately, it also recognizes what’s become abundantly clear in the last couple years – broadband infrastructure is just as critical.

Students, businesses, families and communities have relied heavily on connectivity especially since the beginning of 2020 for health care, education, telework, socializing and receiving government services. And by focusing tens of billions of dollars on broadband buildout in rural and underserved communities, the new law will advance these critical virtual functions.

While the massive infusion of cash for broadband expansion is essential, the communities that receive grant funding -- and the network providers that help them -- must carefully consider how to spend the money they receive.

Not all networks are created equal, and network providers should not waste this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on unreliable, unsecure, overly complex or ill-fitting solutions. A network architecture that cannot grow and adapt to address more users, different use cases and new threats will quickly become outdated and too expensive to maintain -- or possibly replace.

As providers and communities consider how they will invest grant funds and design network architectures that best suit their needs – both in the short term and for the future – it is important they keep these four factors top of mind to ensure a great experience for those who manage the network and the end user:

1. Automate all the things. Because networks are inherently fragile, they require a great deal of monitoring for slowdowns, shutdowns, threats and other problems. The troubleshooting needed to keep networks up and running can be expensive and time-consuming, particularly if conducted in-person in remote areas. Fortunately, much of this work can now be done through automation and artificial intelligence. Software-driven network management tools delivered through cloud platforms are quick, cost-effective, scalable and efficient to operate. Automation enables communities and providers to spend their money where it counts – on delivering services to residents and businesses – instead of keeping the IT lights on.
2. Keep it open. It would be disappointing for communities to spend millions of dollars in broadband grants, only to learn that the network they are building will not operate smoothly with solutions they might want or need in the future. Fortunately, there is insurance against that occurring, which comes in the form of open standards. Network solutions developed with open standards ensure that devices and software from different manufacturers will work together smoothly and efficiently on the same network across routing, switching, security and network management. Some manufacturers might claim that deploying devices with their proprietary solutions are a better option, but that’s really only a better option for the manufacturer that is locking in its customers. Demanding open standards-based solutions gives the customer the upper hand by forcing providers to offer the best value at competitive pricing.
3. Optimize technology for rural areas. Rural customers should not be looking only at networking equipment, they should be looking for solutions that are optimized for rural and other hard-to-reach areas. One example of this would be technology that requires fewer signal repeaters across long stretches of land or in mountains. One such technology, packet-optical networking, already has proved to be an advantage for rural broadband needs.
4. Secure the heck out of it. Finally, as networks grow and more devices and people get connected, security also multiplies in importance. It is important that networks have security capabilities that are ubiquitous and connected. This means all devices on a network must be aware of potential threats, able to detect them and able to enforce policies to protect against them.

To be sure, only good things can be said about this long overdue broadband investment in communities that have been left behind. But it’s important to remember that money alone isn’t enough to serve those families, businesses, schools, libraries and other community hubs right.

It’s incumbent upon all of us -- networking developers, service providers and grantees -- to consider that a network isn’t merely a bunch of interconnected boxes. At its heart, a network is an experience. When we build networks, we must be maniacally focused on creating a simpler operational experience for those managing the network as well as a flawless end-user experience, whatever that may look like. Communities being connected don’t need just connectivity; they need connectivity that is secure, efficient and cost-effective.