Monthly Archives: July 2007

New Ulm E-Commerce Training

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote about visiting New Ulm to talk about some training that we were doing as part of their Get Broadband project. Well, I’m now on my third trip to New Ulm – we have one week of training done and two more to go. I thought I’d send a quick update.

First – New Ulm is the best. The people have been great, the town is friendly, and they always put me up at this amazing bed and breakfast.

Second – the training is going really well. New Ulm Telecom is graciously hosting a make shift computer lab. Skillings, another local web development firm, has also donated some computers to the lab.

So although created out of great generosity – the lab is not exactly cutting edge – but that’s been OK. We have been doing 3 classes:

Build a Web Site

Market Your Web

Sell Online

My favorite question so far has been – where is the “at sign”. But everyone has been really open to learn – and quite a few web sites were published. I got an email over the weekend from one participant with a link to her finished site.

I have been very impressed. The classes sold out in record time, so we’ve added more and really I think people are picking up practical e-commerce skills that they are using right away.

Is Video a Killer App?

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I’m always on the hunt for the new killer app – an application that will become (or is) as ubiquitous as email. Well it looks as if that might be video…

According to a recent survey by Pew Internet & American Life, 57% of internet users have watched videos online and most of them share what they find with others, 19% do so on a typical day. Access to broadband and a push by content providers are credited with increasing the number of online video viewers as well as number of viewers who share video with others. Three-quarters of broadband users (74%) who enjoy high-speed connections at both home and work watch or download video online.

I must admit, I probably watch 3-5 videos a week. My kids probably watch 3-5 a day – I know they would if I let them.

Is there a Broadband problem?

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According to FCC Chairman Robert M. McDowell, there isn’t a broadband problem. He wrote an editorial in the Wall Street Journal this week (available without subscription at Free Press) saying that in the US, all of our problems soon will be solved and our broadband dreams will come true. Just so long as we don’t create policy that micromanages the process.

The reports that have come up (such as the OECD report ranking the US at 15th in the world for broadband deployment) are “alarmist”.

McDowell maintains that if you look at sheer numbers – not percentages – the US is still rocking. (OK, rocking is my word.)

It’s interesting reading.

I also think some of the blog counter points are interesting too, such as Broadband Reports’ FCC: What Broadband Problem?

Chime in on Community Broadband Act

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I’m in New Ulm doing some very fun training for retailers on using the Internet. It’s a Get Broadband project. It started with 3 days of training and it has been expanded to 6! The folks in New Ulm are great and once again I am enjoying the gracious hospitality of Bingham Hall Bed & Breakfast. (I love their Wifi!)

Anyways, I got an email from Speed Matters that I wanted to share. It relates to the recent Community Broadband Act:

Apparently Senator Dick Durbin is hosting a series of online discussions to get input from regular Americans on his upcoming universal broadband bill.

I have only had time to peruse it – but it looks interesting.

Community Broadband Act of 2007

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Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) today introduced legislation to help make broadband access universal and affordable across the country. (Read the full press release.)

Here are the big points as quoted from the press release:

  1. Sets forth that no state regulation or requirement shall prevent a public provider from offering broadband services;
  2. Prohibits a municipality from discriminating against competing private providers;
  3. Requires a municipality offering high-speed Internet services to comply with Federal telecommunications law or regulation that applies to all such providers;
  4. Encourages public-private partnerships and;
    Provides the public with notice and an opportunity to be heard before a municipality provides broadband to the public.

The good news is that I think this opens the door for open networks. I’m not sure what this will mean for statewide franchising legislation – it seems to emphasize local government, rather than statewide initiatives.

Also I don’t see a direct relationship with the spectrum auction – except that the Google letter I blogged about earlier today promotes open networks (and platforms) and as I said this seems to open that door wider (no pun intended).

Google on the Spectrum Auction

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Google letter to FCCOn Friday Google posted their “commitment to open broadband platforms” on the official blog which talks about the upcoming Spectrum Auction (we blogged about that earlier).

Google has apparently urged the FCC to consider four types of “open” platforms as part of the auction:

  1. Open applications: consumers should be able to download and utilize any software applications, content, or services they desire;
  2. Open devices: consumers should be able to utilize their handheld communications device with whatever wireless network they prefer;
  3. Open services: third parties (resellers) should be able to acquire wireless services from a 700 MHz licensee on a wholesale basis, based on reasonably nondiscriminatory commercial terms; and
  4. Open networks: third parties (like Internet service providers) should be able to interconnect at any technically feasible point in a 700 MHz licensee’s wireless network.

Hmmm – kinda interesting. Google has blogged about open networks and the spectrum auction. (The comments are particularly interesting in that post!) But I think this is the first time they have promised/threatened to put their money where their mouth is. On July 20, 2007, Google CEO Eric Schmidt sent a letter to FCC Chair Kevin Martin saying that should the “Commission expressly adopt the four license conditions requested in our July 9th letter – with specific, enforceable, and enduring rules – Google intends to commit a minimum of $4.6 billion to bidding in the upcoming auction.”

Committee Approves Broadband Data Improvement Act

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In May I mentioned Senator Inouye’s (D-HI) Broadband Data Improvement Act (S.1492). Yesterday the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation unanimously approved the bill. You can learn a bit more on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation web site.

Net Neutrality Garners Lots of Comments

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Apparently the FCC received 670 comments regarding last Monday on their proposal on Net Neutrality; that was the deadline. Apparently they have received 29,000 comments since March.

You can learn more from a recent article in PC World (Hundreds Weigh in on Net Neutrality). They quote from a fun sample of comments – but there was nothing you couldn’t imagine.

Minnesota Digital Government Summit July 31

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The Minnesota Digital Government Summit is happening July 31. The keynote speaker is Cathilea Robinett, Executive Director, Center for Digital Government. It looks as if she will talk about how to make thing simple online. There will also be a “situation room”, where attendees will participate in a disaster simulation. There are several other break out sessions.

It looks as if this could be a great fit for many of the Get Broadband community leaders.

Brookings on Broadband and Economic Development

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The Speed Matters blog recently pointed me to a new study from the Brookings Institute that “provides new estimates of the effects of broadband penetration on both output and employment, in the aggregate and by sector, using state level data.”

The report reminds me of a dissertation. As a former librarian I once read literally hundreds of dissertation abstracts (and many of the dissertations) for a publication. I realized back then that my best approach was to just keep tabs on the info that was new to me so I think I’ll just do that here. (Plus, I’m on vacation and can only commit to thinking so deeply.)

Points that interested me:

  1. For every one percentage point increase in broadband penetration in a state, employment is projected to increase by 0.2 to 0.3 percent per year.
  2. Employment in both manufacturing and services industries (especially finance, education and health care) is positively related to broadband penetration.
  3. State output of goods and services is positively associated with broadband use.
  4. Information Communications Technology (ICT) contributed 59 percent of the growth in labor productivity from 1995 to 2000 and 33 percent from 2000 to 2005.
  5. Broadband has had a positive impact on employment in finance, education, and healthcare but also manufacturing.

Brookings also makes some state-level policy recommendations. They promote video franchising laws that encourage more competition. They do not promote net neutrality as if closes a door that encourages provides to recoup costs (and therefore encourages investment). They also promote increasing the amount of radio spectrum available for commercial uses.

Microsoft on the Digital Divide

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Fair HillsI’m in the car (not driving!) and on my way to Fair Hills Resort for our annual family vacation. There’s no TV, but there is wireless in the lodge, so I’m hoping to catch up on some reading. I’m starting with The Power Up: The Campaign for Digital Inclusion by Microsoft.

I was pleased to see a quote from Catherine Settani (Minneapolis advocate against the digital divide) on the second page:

“We are looking for a set of strategies that address the barriers that underserved members of the community must overcome. Some people simply talk about providing the infrastructure and access to technology. But what we really need to develop is a strategy that leads to social inclusion using technology.”

The report talks about the need to gap the digital divide because people find jobs online and governments increasing provide and announce services online. They also list characteristics shared by municipalities that have been successful in closing the gap:

  1. Strong Public/Private Partnerships
  2. A Committed Multidisciplinary Team
  3. Affordable Access to Technology
  4. Targeted Training
  5. Long-term Sustainability
  6. Metrics for Accountability
  7. Digital Empowerment Awareness Campaigns
  8. Universal Adoption Mission

The report was a quick read. It was nice to see local communities mentioned – but I don’t feel like there were any real surprises here. You know what would be nice is a follow up “How to Close the Digital Divide Kit” with administration and marketing notes from these communities. It’s one this to hear that targeted training helps – it’s another to get a PowerPoint you can use in your community.

Forbes on the Upcoming Spectrum Auction

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I ran into a good article in Forbes today (Questions Raised Over Broadband Plan) about the upcoming Spectrum sale.

The quick background – the FCC is looking to auction off radio spectrum that is being made available by TV’s shift to digital media. It’s a good way to raise money. (Forbes claims it could be worth $20 billion.) I’ve seen plenty of articles questioning how it will be done and whether or not it is wise for the government to sell such as asset. One debate was whether spectrum (or a portion of the spectrum) should be saved for public safety communication.

The debate raised/observed by Forbes is – should part of it be earmarked for a large wholesale provider to build a large network in an open access model, where smaller providers could rent space or access to the network to provide service to end users?

Apparently such a rule was not included in the latest version of the spectrum proposal – although no rule was added that would exclude a larger wholesaler as a buyer.

This is a big deal because opening up this spectrum means that we could open the door to a whole new genre of broadband providers to join the telephone and cable companies. And the spectrum is an endangered resources of a sorts – access is not unlimited.

The proposal was not made public and apparently won’t be made public in draft format. Voting to approve the proposal could happen as early as July 31, 2007

FTC and Others on Net Neutrality

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Last week (June 27) the FTC released a report promoting guidelines and caution in regards to increasing regulation – especially in terms of Net Neutrality. That has spurred a number of article and blog posts. I thought I’d get a snapshot of time on the topic with an annotated bibliography on the topic. By no stretch of the imagination is this exhaustive – just a picture of what I’ve come across this week: Continue reading →

Half of US Adults have Broadband at Home

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I just got the following note:  

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has released their Broadband Adoption 2007 report.

The report finds that nearly half (47%) of all adult Americans now have a high-speed internet connection at home, according to a February 2007 survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The percentage of Americans with broadband at home has grown from 42% in early 2006 and 30% in early 2005. Among individuals who use the internet at home, 70% have a high-speed connection while 23% use dialup.

The 12% growth rate from 2006 to 2007 represents trails the 40% increase in the 2005 to 2006 timeframe, when many people in the middle-income and older age groups acquired home broadband connections. Those groups continued to show increases in home broadband adoption into early 2007, but at lower rates than in the past.

A point of interest is that this decreased growth is contrary to what The Center for Rural Policy and Development found earlier this year. Here’s info on an interview we did with Executive Director Jack Geller.) We found then:

Acceleration of broadband adoption almost doubled in 2006 compared to years past. Adoption rates have always increased, generally at about six percent; the increase in 2007 was 12 percent. Broadband use in rural Minnesota was 39.7 percent in 2006.

The Center tracked broadband in rural Minnesota. I wonder if the difference is the rural angle, the Minnesota angle, the definition of broadband, or something else.

NOAA Announces New Funding For Environmental Literacy Projects

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TIESI got the following from my favorite TIES list. I thought that it would help spread the word – but also I just found it fascintating to read about the spherical display systems.

Title: Spherical Display Systems for Earth System Science-Installations and Content Development

The NOAA Office of Education has issued a request for applications from institutions with interest in developing exhibits featuring spherical display systems showing Earth system science, or developing science modules for these display systems. Spherical display systems are sphere-shaped “screens” onto which global data and other imagery can be shown. Awards will be offered in two priorities, with priority 1 supporting installation of spherical displays systems into public exhibits and priority 2 supporting development and evaluation of Earth system science modules for the spherical display systems. The purpose of these awards is to support the incorporation of spherical display systems and compatible, educationally effective environmental data products into public exhibits. The goal of this program is to build environmental literacy among the general public through increased use of NOAA and NOAA-related data and data products in informal education institutions. See NOAA’s Education Plan for more details on this goal and strategy: http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/NOAA_Ed_Plan.pdf. It is anticipated that recommendations for funding under this announcement will be made by January 30, 2008 and that projects funded under this announcement will have a start date no earlier than April 30, 2008, and possibly as late as March 30, 2009.

The deadline for applications is 5:00 PM EDT on October 30, 2007.

Visit http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/funding_opps.html for the full announcement and additional information.