Drafter
Clerk 02/20/2020
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A MOTION acknowledging receipt of the report required by Ordinance 18835, Section 118, Proviso P1, that provides options for increasing broadband internet access in unserved or underserved areas of the county.
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WHEREAS, the King County council adopted Ordinance 18835, Section 118, Proviso P1, on November 13, 2018, and
WHEREAS, that proviso requires the information technology department to deliver a report containing the options for increasing broadband Internet access in unserved or underserved areas of the county, and
WHEREAS, as required by the proviso, the report includes definitions for "unserved" and "underserved," a description of the geographic areas in King County that are unserved or underserved, a description of existing and planned efforts to expand access to broadband service and an evaluation of the options for the county to expand broadband access at the household level and community level, and
WHEREAS, the report provides the options available with the county's institutional network, noting any existing limitations and also including: the timeline for the institutional network lease renewal; options available with the community connectivity consortium, noting any existing limitations; and emerging technologies such as 5G wireless home service, and
WHEREAS, the report was commissioned by King County in recognition that those who lack broadband face enormous disadvantages, and that those disadvantages will grow as our economy and society become more broadband-dependent in the coming decades, and
WHEREAS, the county's unincorporated areas are the most likely to suffer from lack of availability of broadband service because adequate broadband infrastructure does not currently exist. Those are the county's unserved areas. Filling that gap will be costly and high-risk because building new broadband infrastructure requires massive capital investment, whether public or private, as well as ongoing operating risk...

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