Killer Apps Conference Highlights

Bernadine JoselynYesterday at the Minnesota Rural Summit, I got a chance to speak with Bernadine Joselyn, from Blandin Foundation (and occasional Blandin on Broadband blogger) about her recent trip to the Killer App Conference in Fort Wayne Indiana.

It sounds like it was a great conference. I was most interested to hear about the potential for more interactive remote meetings. Currently it sounds as if the telepresence technology is allowing people to actually make eye contact virtually – but someday the interaction may go further.

Click below to listen to a 10 minute podcast of our conversation.

[odeo=http://odeo.com/audio/11332293/view]

Autopsy Videoconference on Internet 2

TIESOK I’m already so happy to be on TIES’ listserv of Internet 2 activities. I just heard about the coolest high school project ever – an autopsy videoconference. You can learn more about it in the Fargo In-Forum. [Note added June 3 by Ann: I’m sorry but the link to the original story is no longer working. You can purchase the article – but I think the basics are all here. I’ve tried unsuccessfully to find another article on the event.]

I’ll summarize just a little since I’m not sure how long the newspaper article will be up. Continue reading

Open Networks Provides Opportunity for Service

Today I’m writing from the Minnesota Rural Summit. It has been really interesting, especially to hear about the changing demographics and the potential (and past) economic and social impact of the changes.

(I’ll be posting most of the PowerPoint presentations from the Summit online.)

During a break I read an interesting article in Broadband Properties (The User Manual is a Loser Manual). The subtitle really says it all – “private cable operators should follow the example of good retailers.” Continue reading

Internet 2

TIESYesterday I met with Kathy Kraemer from TIES. It was easily my best meeting of the week! We seemed to have so many things in common – we both have worked intensely with the Internet since the mid 1990’s. We each lived in Spain. We have lots of mutual friends. We met so that Kathy could tell me all about Internet 2 and TIES’ role with Internet 2.

It made me wish that I worked at TIES. Continue reading

Rural Utilities Service Needs to Reach Underserved Areas

Colin PetersonThanks to the Baller Herbst email list I got word on an article in the Wall Street Journal on rural Internet financing.

Members of the US House Agriculture Committee met to rural Internet financing provided through the Rural Utilities Service. The RUS provides grants, loans and loan guarantees to a number of services, including telecommunications services in rural areas. The Washington Post previously reported that since 2001 more than half the money has gone to metropolitan regions or communities within easy commutes of a mid-size city.

The concern is that funding is going to areas that already have adequate access to telecommunications. That the funding is supporting private companies that don’t need financial support and that there are underserved areas that are not getting the support they need.

Minnesota’s own House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson (D) was quoted as telling James M. Andrew, administrator of the Rural Utilities Service, “If you don’t fix this, I guarantee you this committee will.”

Broadband Cure for Traffic Jams

TrafficA couple of weeks ago the Irish Times had a headline that caught by eye, Can Broadband Break Gridlock?. Unfortunately the article went on to talk about how through broadband you could get traffic reports. But it got me thinking. In places with good access to broadband do/can people drive less or do fewer people need to drive? What are the trickledown cost savings in terms of less road maintenance, fewer gallons of gas, and fewer headaches on the roads? There are financial, environmental, and sanity savings to consider.

People don’t seem to get excited enough at the thought of what we could do with broadband – maybe we need to really look at what we could quit doing and quit spending with broadband. Transportation is just one facet. (I have seen numbers on the cost savings of telehealth – never mind life savings.) But I think transportation is something that everyone can understand. There are numbers available for telework, which I think most often requires broadband.

I’ve been trying to find any such study that really just looks at traffic-related savings but so far nothing. Listening to legislative committee hearings about the proposed broadband director and advisory committee – it has occurred to me that if I were in charge I’d do a study of the cost savings potential of broadband. And from that I’d design my budget.

Senate & House Telecommunications Bills Update

fiber opticsI love when people help me out with information! Towards that end I was delighted to speak today with Anne Higgins from the Minnesota League of Cities on the statewide cable franchising bill.

One thing I had missed in an earlier blog post was where the bill is going next. I had said that it will be going to the Committee on Commerce and Labor but it sounds as if it will get pulled back into the Telecommunications Regulation and Infrastructure Division after the first of the year. Also it seems as if Qwest has plans to try local cable franchises between now and the first of the year to see how accommodating local entities are.

Representative Johnson also mentioned getting together a working group or two to discuss the bill further and there was a mention of getting someone to talk about the FCC ruling on video conferencing. Elizabeth Emerson, committee administrator, at (651) 296-7175 or elizabeth.emerson@house.mn is the one to contact about the working groups.

One interesting aspect of the potential move is that there is no overlap in members of the Telecommunications Regulation and Infrastructure Division and the Committee on Commerce. It seems as if the learning curve could be potentially pretty steep.

I have not been following the bill as closely in the Senate I did finally listen to the archive of the meeting from April 24. Continue reading

May eNews is Out

I am pleased to report that the latest Get Broadband eNews went out this afternoon. You an read it online. It includes a list of upcoming events and some news from Get Broadband communities.