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Connectivity planning

Last updated on April 29, 2024

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Connectivity planning is an iterative process. The process helps identify how connectivity can help. It shows where it can help your community reach its goals.

Community planning involves understanding the needs of the community. It also involves working with partners to assess goals, assets, opportunities, and infrastructure.

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Connectivity planning for communities

Connectivity planning focuses on two things. It's about building modern broadband. And, it's about getting residents and businesses to use digital tools.

What is a connectivity plan?

A connectivity plan complements your community development plans. It helps your community achieve its digital vision by:

  • Assessing and documenting your strategic vision and goals for high-speed connectivity;
  • Analyzing existing community resources and service demands; and
  • Outlining specific actions that will be taken to carry out that vision.

The basic components of a connectivity plan include:

  • An inventory of available internet services in your region;
  • Prioritized community goals and objectives;
  • Identified gaps in current services and how your community goals may be impacted;
  • Connectivity solutions that are required to support your community goals and objectives; and
  • A cost estimate of the proposed connectivity solutions.

Your plan helps start talks with providers. It's about specific projects. It also ensures investments in infrastructure are made once. Then, the investments are leveraged to achieve greater benefits for society, the environment, and the economy.

Where to start

Connected communities do not happen by chance – they are digital by design. They take an integrated approach to community planning to ensure that broadband use leads to community benefits and well-being outcomes.

There are many connectivity planning models and frameworks, but they all share some core components. These include:

  • Assembling a team to conduct the connectivity planning process;
  • Engaging residents, community organizations, and businesses to identify the community’s strategic vision and goals;
  • Assessing the current state of connectivity; and
  • Evaluating technology and service options.

Where you start and where you go from there will depend on existing local assets and the strength of your business case for improved connectivity services.

Roadmap to connectivity

The following roadmap is a set of key questions to consider to help you determine where to start planning for better connectivity in your community.

This roadmap is not a linear pathway toward connectivity. It rather when determining how to develop a strategic vision that best fits local needs and desires.

1. Does your community have access to connectivity services that support your community development goals?

  • YES: Focus on broadband adoption and use.
  • DON’T KNOW: Assess the state of connectivity through data gathering and consultations.
  • NO: Contact the regional managers for service providers in your area to discuss your needs

 

2. Are your local service providers able to provide services at the level you need, where you need them?

  • YES: Partner with your local service provider to improve connectivity in your community.
  • NO: Start exploring how your local government can help remove barriers to service delivery within the scope of its authority (i.e., land use, zoning, rights-of-way, permitting procedures that can make it easier for service providers to do business).

 

3. Are cost mitigation measures enough to make a viable business case for for-profit service providers?

  • YES: Focus on broadband adoption and use.
  • NO: Explore the role or roles that your local government can play in getting better connectivity. The range of potential roles include:
  • Doing nothing and letting the market operate on its own
  • Advocating for program, policy, or legislative changes from provincial and federal governments
  • Making municipal and regional assets available to service providers
  • Providing financial support to service providers (i.e., subsidies via taxation and/or loans)
  • Getting involved in ownership
  • Becoming your own service providers

 

4.  Does sufficient support exist among community leaders and residents to explore alternative models for service delivery?

  • NO: Identify local broadband champions and create a cross-functional team to develop a vision and gather support.
  • YES: Partner with telecommunications experts to assess current and future needs and identify potential connectivity solutions.

5. Are alternative service delivery models viable?

  • NO: Determine what it would take to create a business case (e.g. larger or ongoing capital investment that is currently available via grants, subsidized operations, a larger population base).
  • YES: Identify financial resources and required policy changes.

Next steps

Contact information

Please email us for more information.
connectedcommunities@gov.bc.ca