Monthly Archives: July 2008

Goodbye Simon

Posted on by
1

I’m kind of in mourning. Simon Delivers will make its final run in the next two weeks. About 8 years ago I developed curriculum for an e-Business Institute. Simon Delivers was one of our favorite Minnesota-grown success stories.

And the news of Simon Delivers comes after a week of talking to people who are also running into troubles. One conversation was with a resort owner; they’re having troubles getting people to drive up for their vacation. Another conversation was with someone who runs events and conferences. They can’t get people to drive to events. In both conversations the price of gas was the direct and indirect problem.

While I was in Dublin I heard people complain about the economy back home. But in Dublin gas (or petrol) is $8 a gallon; so $4 a gallon didn’t seem so bad. But now that I’m home I’m seeing firsthand that things really are different from a year ago.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I’ve been trying to think about how/if broadband can make a difference. For folks like the resorters, it’s tough. A virtual vacation just isn’t as much fun. But for many other folks, I think broadband can be a big money saver.

Drawing back on the days of the e-Business Institute, I know that people were always most interested in how to make money online but I think saving money online might be at least as valuable today. I see more interest in saving money and saving the environment – although definitely in that order.

I see that a few states (New Mexico and Connecticut) are already looking at telecommuting for government staff. For many people there is no real need to go into the office everyday – the economy might open the door for more companies to take advantage of working from home or working from a neutral ground (business incubator of coffee shop) closer to home.

Web conferencing is another big money saving application. It can be used for e-learning, presentations or even one-on-one meetings. According to AHN, the video conferencing industry grew by 30 percent last year. My favorite conferencing story has to be the virtual field trips in schools. Because of the expense, kids have been taking virtual trips. As a parent, I say that’s great. Let the school arrange a virtual trip to the Rain Forest and I can supplement with a weekend trip to the Rain Forest section of Como Zoo.

But beyond web and video conferencing is a host of real online collaboration tools used by manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin and their Center for Innovation. Here’s a brief description:

The encrypted and secure high-bandwidth network brings government developers and Lockheed Martin’s domain experts together online to work in live and virtual collaboration. They can, for example, collaborate in real time on “sense and respond” focused logistics experimentation, border security concerns and assess the operational impact of new systems as they are being constructed.

I suspect that level of online collaboration will be commonplace – eventually. Location will become a non-issue- but their first line says it all – it’s built on high bandwidth connection.

How can communities – especially rural communities – help local businesses thrive despite the current economy? They need to provide them with the tools that let them play in an environment where location doesn’t matter. It’s getting to a point where it is too expensive to drive anywhere and while that will hurt in the short term, I think it is an opportunity for innovation and that’s something we still do well in Minnesota.

Austin is going wireless

Posted on by
Reply

Austin is planning to deploy a municipal wireless network in their downtown in October. According to the Austin Daily Herald there was a blip in the pilot project earlier this spring. Leaves it turns out were getting in the way of the waves (we’ve seen that in Minnesota before) but they are upgrading the equipment and the project is moving ahead.

Here are some quick facts:

The project costs $1.2 million.
They plan to eventually serve the whole city with 425 access points.
The subscriber costs have not yet been determined.

When I was a kid I used to spend a week every summer in Austin visiting my great Aunt Banty. It’s a great town, probably best known as Spamtown, USA. I suspect that they get a fair amount of tech-savvy visitors to the Spam Museum so I bet that network is well loved and well used.

Austin has about 23,000 residents and a couple of large businesses, specifically Hormel (only Minnesota-based Fortune 500 Company outside the Twin Cities) and the Austin Medical Center, which is tied to the Mayo. These companies must have their own infrastructure, fiber I assume; it will be interesting to see if the wireless has an impact on smaller businesses.

Lakewood Telemedicine Update

Posted on by
Reply

Happy Summer!  A couple of weeks ago, I announced that we had completed a purchase agreement with Honeywell HomMed.  We are excited to announce that the equipment for our telemedicine project is finally here!  It felt like Christmas opening the boxes and realizing the potential that each piece of equipment has to make a difference in the lives of our clients.  I have been in contact with our designated trainer from Honeywell HomMed.  Our training dates have been set for August 5th- strategic planning and August 26-27th – all-staff training.  The all-staff training will include the set up of the secure website where every piece of communicated information from the client’s monitoring unit is held, the actual equipment set up (Blood pressure cuff, scale, oximeter, video phones, and recording unit), along with a number of equipment set-ups in our clients’ homes.  We will be working on identifying the clients who would benefit most from a telemonitoring unit.   

A number of factors will go into identifying clients who would benefit; a couple of examples being the risk for hospitalization and the client’s ability to learn how to use the equipment.  While the equipment is not complicated, a client with severe memory problems or severe illness may not be appropriate. 

Again, we are grateful to the Blandin Foundation for helping us to obtain the tools to provide better care to our clients! 

light speed communityThe Blandin Foundation is supporting four standout broadband programs through the Light Speed program. The program’s purpose is to stimulate the deployment of bandwidth intensive applications that connect local institutions to area resident’s home. This post comes from a Light Speed community leader.

Gas prices promote e-learning

Posted on by
2

Thanks to Bill Coleman for sending me a recent article in the NY Times on the impact of rising gas prices on online learning (High Cost of Driving Ignites Online Classes Boom). The article reports that enrollment for online courses is up – especially at community colleges, which have a higher percentage of commuters than most 4-year colleges.

The bad news is that the expectation is that some students will have to leave school because of gas prices. They had a story of one student who paid $500 per month for tuition and $240 a month for gas!

The good news is that online courses are a way for students to stay in school and eliminate gas costs.

The bad news is that some of the students interviewed did not feel as if the online courses were as good as the in-person classes. I feel though as if this is probably subjective and depends on the individual instructor. My brother-in-law has been taking online classes (in Dublin) and he actually felt the classes were better online because everyone got a chance to participate online.

My husband is an instructor at a local community college. It does seem as if enrollment in general is up when the economy is down, which should mean there is more money to invest. And increased demand for online classes could be the impetus to practice and improve online teaching. It would be nice to see that happen.

Broadband, Technology and Summer Fun

Posted on by
Reply
St Paul Saints

St Paul Saints

I have 2 fun broadband applications for summer. First is an example of how technology is even making baseball better; the second is a way to celebrate Minnesota environmental efforts on YouTube and possible win a prize. Also it’s a great project for kids.

Saints Instant Replays

First, I am a huge Saints fan. The Saints are the Minnesota Minor League baseball team. On July 22, they are hosting the American Association’s All Star Game and for the first time ever the umpires will use instant replay in professional baseball for the first time ever.

So, how will it work? Video replay will be streamed to a mobile phone kept in umpire crew chief’s pocket, giving him immediate access to the play from his position on the field. The umpire will be able to control the video – functions such as rewind, fast forward and pause – from his phone using Slingbox technology.
Umpires will review decisions involving homeruns, fair or foul ball, hit batsmen, catch or no catch, plays at the plate and any play with two outs. The crew chief will have the authority to overturn the original call. Geek Squad Agents will be stationed in each team’s dugout in order to quickly respond on the field to any technical issues experienced by the umpires.

The solution designed by Best Buy Mobile and Geek Squad includes the following components:
• Sling Media Slingbox Pro
• TiVO Series 2 Digital Video Recorder
• HTC Touch smart phone

Minnesota Minute

The second fun thing requires broadband to participate. Here’s the gig:

My Minnesota Minute is a short video contest sponsored by the Bell Museum. Make a short video that shows how you or someone you know is helping to improve or maintain Minnesota’s natural environment. Upload your video to YouTube and tag it with the words My Minnesota Minute. Selected videos will be featured on the Minnesota Minute Blog, where you can learn and discuss how ordinary Minnesotans are taking a Minnesota minute today to protect the natural world for tomorrow.

My daughters and I are working out a video to submit. I just love this project in that it combines experiential and tech-based learning and because it’s virtual, it’s an event that involves the whole state equally.

US is falling behind

Posted on by
Reply

There’s an article in the Pioneer Press (U.S. falling behind on upkeep) that caught my eye. The gist is pretty simple and one I’ve talked about before. On an international level, the US is not keeping up with the Joneses – or whatever the international equivalent of the Joneses would be. The highways and bridges aren’t being maintained. In an age when gas prices are rising like a helium balloon, public transportation needs to be maintained and expanded to reach the masses. (Then in my opinion we need an amazing marketing initiative to sell the idea of public transport.) Water and sewers are a financial and EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) nightmare. The Internet got a good start but has been stalled since the late 1990s.

What caught my eye was a mention of the Depression.

During the Great Depression, Congress came up with a solution to such problems: Tax gasoline and create a federal highway trust fund to provide money to maintain and expand highways.

This struck me because this weekend my mom took my kids to see the new American Girl Doll movie. Apparently it takes place during the Depression – so my oldest wanted to know how the Depression happened and how it ended. So, Grandpa talked about people borrowing more money than they couldn’t afford, losing jobs, not being able to pay off debt or buy new things, which resulted in more layoffs, which resulted in more borrowing of money that couldn’t be repaid, and so on. And then we talked about the WPA.

I know I’ve talked about it before – but it would be such a good idea to reinstate the WPA and get folks to build fiber. It would build something useful. It would provide jobs. It would relieve the incumbents from having to lay fiber, which seems to be something they aren’t interested in doing. And in fairness to the incumbent providers it requires a bigger and longer investment than most businesses are prepared to make these days. It seems as if maybe there ought to be a better solution.

Compudyne buys Superior Broadband

Posted on by
2

I just happened to notice a quick note in the Duluth News Tribune on a local IT support company buying a local wireless provider. It will be fun to see what happens in and around Duluth as a result.

Here’s the news:

Compudyne, a provider of information technology support for small to mid-size businesses, announced it purchased Superior Broadband, a provider of broadband wireless Internet access solutions. SBB was acquired from American Consolidated Media, formerly Murphy McGinnis Media, and Compudyne plans to invest in and expand the reach of broadband services. SBB retained all six employees, one of which works for both Compudyne and SBB in a support services role.

New Blandin Broadband Strategy Board Members

Posted on by
Reply

Blandin Foundation is delighted to introduce the latest members of the Blandin Broadband Strategy Board…

Scott Marquardt is a senior program officer with Southwest Initiative Foundation focusing on economic and community development. Scott recently joined the Initiative Foundation after serving as economic development director for the City of Montevideo. Scott is a former DEED Vision Award winner and was recognized for his work in promoting regional economic development collaboration. Scott was project manager for Montevideo’s Get Broadband initiative. Scott is a board member of the Economic Development Association of Minnesota. (Read more on Scott.)

Nancy Hoffman is economic development director for Benton County. Nancy is past president of the MN Association of Professional County Economic Developers. Like Scott, she is also a board member for the Economic Development Association of Minnesota. Nancy was project manager for Benton County’s Get Broadband initiative. (Read more on Nancy.)

Minnesota number 2 in US FTTH service providers

Posted on by
Reply

To make a long, not-so-interesting story short … I saw a great article on fiber in Iowa leading up to an FTTH Council conference in Iowa. So I asked the author (Joe Savage) if there was a chance he could send similar numbers for fiber deployment in Minnesota. He kindly did me one better by writing a whole article that focuses on Minnesota.

It’s great to see the numbers for Minnesota but it’s also nice to see an optimistic outlook for broadband in the Upper Midwest – including obviously Minnesota.

The March to Next-Generation Bandwidth – the View from MinnesotaFTTH Council

by Joe Savage
President, Fiber-to-the-Home Council

A quiet revolution is going on in the world of broadband. And Minnesota is smack-dab in the middle of it.

Over the past three years, nearly three million U.S. households have been connected directly to the Internet via end-to-end fiber optic cable. Fiber networks are now present in neighborhoods where ten percent of Americans live. And this rewiring of America is gaining speed.

Optical fiber is an amazing thing. One fiber optic cable the thickness of a pencil could theoretically carry all of the world’s communications traffic at any single moment. In fact, fiber has long used in the telecom industry to carry voice and data communications over long distances.

Today, thanks to improvements in the technology, it is now economically feasible to run fiber all the way to homes – replacing copper wires and copper coaxial cable now used in the “last mile” links between telecom company premises and the subscribers.

Telephone companies, which have been looking to compete with cable TV companies offering voice services, are replacing their copper wires with “fiber to the home” (or FTTH) technology, thereby enabling them to offer their own robust video services and bring needed competition into the traditionally monopolistic market for cable television. Some cable TV companies, seeing the handwriting on the wall, are looking into FTTH, as well.

And while the telecom giant Verizon has garnered much of the attention with its $23 billion fiber to the home project that is now being rolled out in a number of states, the upper Midwest, and Minnesota in particular, is poised to become a hub of the fiber to the home revolution. While the number of FTTH subscribers in the state is still relatively low – about 29,000 – this number will grow because there are many small telephone companies in the state are looking to stay competitive in the Information Age. In fact, we estimate that Minnesota ranks number two in the country with regard to the number of FTTH service providers it has – nearly 30 of them in various stages of deployment, including rural telephone companies and cooperatives, competitive telecom providers and municipalities.

As an example, one of these providers is Hiawatha Broadband, which is wiring up small communities in Southern Minnesota with fiber to the home. Combining access to superior broadband with its neighborly and community-oriented approach to customer service, Hiawatha is finding that once subscribers go fiber they never want to go back to anything else.

Fiber to the home is a regional phenomenon, as well. About a quarter of all the FTTH providers in the country are located in the states of the Upper Midwest. This is good news for the heartland. As networks are built and services gain traction, the capabilities made possible by FTTH will have a profound, positive effect on life and on economic opportunity in the region.

For one, it means that a growing number of people who live here will have access to the Internet at speeds that will make today’s “broadband” look like the dial-up service of old. Many fiber to the home providers across the country are already offering data transmission speeds up to six or eight times the standard five megabits per second that customers get via cable modem or DSL – and 100 megabit service is over fiber to the home is already feasible and available in a few places. Once the fiber is installed, it is not a big technological leap to deliver that level of bandwidth.

These vast improvements in connectivity will put a whole range of sophisticated new online services within reach of the average American household – teleconferencing, teleworking, and telemedicine, to name a few – the kinds of applications that help take the “place” out of knowledge work. By plugging rural and small-town America into networks at big city speeds and connectivity, hard-pressed communities will see enhanced opportunities to participate directly in the global economy.

It’s already happening. As just one example, an Asian company recently contracted with American partners to hire 150 language instructors who will teach English to Korean kids over high-speed teleconferencing networks – directly from their homes in a small city in Wyoming. This is happening because fiber to the home will soon be available there, thanks to a recent decision by the city government to build a network for its citizens.

There are legitimate concerns that the opportunities of the Internet Age have thus far bypassed many who are outside of the country’s major metropolitan areas. The fiber-inspired transformation to next-generation networks, particularly over the last mile to the consumer, offers hope for a rising tide of connectivity that will lift all boats. Watch it happen here in Minnesota.

__________________________

Joe Savage is the president of the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council North America, an industry group representing FTTH service providers and equipment vendors.

Broadband for the other 90 percent

Posted on by
Reply

The Walker Art Center (in Minneapolis) has a great exhibit this summer – Design for the Other 90 percent. We went to see it on Saturday. OK really we went because on the fist Saturday each month admission is free and they have kids’ activities– but the coolest thing was the Design stuff.

Here’s the gist of the exhibit:

Of the world’s 6.5 billion people, 90 percent have little or no access to most of the products and services many of us take for granted. In fact, nearly half do not have reliable access to food, clean water, healthcare, education, affordable transportation, or shelter. The exhibition Design for the Other 90% features more than 30 projects that reflect a growing movement among designers, engineers, and social entrepreneurs to create low-cost solutions for everyday problems. Through local and global partnerships, individuals and organizations are finding unique ways to address the basic challenges of survival and progress faced by the world’s poor.

So I got to see a $100 Laptop – those are the super durable laptops for kids in third world countries. I learn about them on 60 Minutes last year and have been looking forward to seeing one. It’s cool. The fun thing is that it wasn’t part of the exhibit so much as one guy had one it and decided that he would take it upon himself to show it to others.

The other very cool thing was the Internet Village Motoman. Here’s the description:

The Internet Village Motoman was launched for fifteen solar-powered village schools, telemedicine clinics, and the governor’s office in Ratanakiri, a remote province of Cambodia, using five Honda motorcycles equipped with mobile access points and a satellite uplink. Each of the schools can send and receive email and browse the Internet using a non-real-time search engine.

I was just amazed at how innovative and driven people are to make lives better – and was excited to see the prevalence of the Internet. It made me think about quickly the world really is becoming so flat. So if you’re around Minneapolis – the Design exhibit at the Walker is worth a visit. (It’s free on Thursday nights, if you’re economical like me.)

Northfield Open Access Feasibility Study RFP

Posted on by
Reply

Last September, the Blandin Foundation awarded Northfield funding for an Open Access Feasibility Study. Well, they are moving ahead with the study and recently posted a RFP on their web site.

Here’s the gist from the proposal:

The City of Northfield is seeking proposals for a Fiber to the Premise Feasibility Study. The purpose of this effort is to hire a qualified firm to provide insight on the feasibility of installing fiber to the premise within the city limits of Northfield.

This RFP is designed to elicit responses to a set of defined issues, listed under the Scope of Work, and also stimulate creativity in adding value to the overall concept of fiber to the premise within the City of Northfield.

I thought some blog readers might like to see the RFP in case their own community may be embarking on a similar journey. I thought other readers might be interested in submitting a proposal. Either way – good luck!

Some folks don’t want broadband

Posted on by
Reply

There’s a new report out by Pew Internet & American Life.

Here’s the good news

  • 55% of adult Americans now have broadband internet connections at home, up from 47% who had high-speed access at home last year at this time.
  • Many (on third) pay for premium services; and they pay more than they did last year.
  • As of April, 2008 55Broadband has climbed for older, rural and middle income Americans

Here’s the bad news

  • Home broadband adoption decreased for low-income Americans (those making les than $20,000).
  • Most folks who don’t have broadband say they aren’t interested in giving up their dialup.
  • 14% of dial-up users – and 24% of dial-up users in rural America – say that broadband service would have to become available where they live.
  • Roughly one-quarter (27%) of adult Americans are not internet users.

Here’s the interesting news (in my opinion)

  • Premium broadband users do an average 19% more online tasks on the typical day than the average broadband user.

It seems as if broadband users wouldn’t go back; they are willing to spend more and they perform more tasks with the faster broadband they use. But the dialup and non-users seem just as adamant. I wonder if there is a way – or even a reason – to tap into that group.

I think of my mother-in-law in Dublin. She has never used a computer and I know she never will – but I know she liked having access through me. Anytime she wanted a phone number, reservations or the history of something mentioned on the news, she’d ask me to look it up online. I think if she had ever used a computer – even an ATM, that we could have sold her on the idea. I suspect that there are more folks who simply need to have a good experience with the Internet to see the value.

I guess the other question is – of the folks who aren’t online, how many of them are like my mother-in-law, a call away from the Internet – calling a friend, family member or librarian to use the Internet on their behalf.

Railroad and Broadband

Posted on by
Reply

I fell upon a great blog post today by Steve Borsch at Minnov8. Spoiler alert – he says nice things about Blandin and their work to promote broadband in Minnesota, but that’s not even my favorite part of the article.

Steve tells a powerful story about the town of Forestville, Minnesota – a town that the railroad bypassed. I’ve heard the analogy made before between the railroad and broadband but I don’t think I’ve heard it done this well.

On a national level, I think that we’re at a crossroads where we’re going to pony up or get passed. On a local level, I think we’re starting to see this too. It’s not quite the same, but I work with a number of resorts and in the last 2 years most of them have installed wifi –because increasingly access to broadband is a non-negotiable, even on vacation – where at least my spouse has tried to make the case we shouldn’t be online.

Take that to the next level where you’re trying to recruit people or businesses to relocate to your community and again I think broadband is a non-negotiable and soon access to ultra high speed broadband will be the issue. If as a community you don’t have it you too may go from being a town like Forestville to being a State Park.

MN Broadband Community eNews July Update

Posted on by
Reply

This went out to the eNews list on Tuesday, sorry I’m a little slow archiving it on the blog. I’m nearly settled back in St Paul – but it hasn’t been the super smooth transition I expected…

Cook County
With funding from the Blandin Foundation, Cook County plans to look into what it would take to invest in broadband infrastructure in their area.
(http://tinyurl.com/4tj8u2)

Eagan
Eagan-based CaringBridge, the third largest nonprofit web site in the world, has expanded service to not only provide people who are ill with a free web site but now also connects families and friends to reputable healthcare information through a partnership with the Centers for Disease Control. (http://tinyurl.com/4ltm4c)

Fergus Falls
A Japanese researcher visited 5 communities in Minnesota, including Fergus Falls, to look at how rural communities benefit from broadband.
(http://tinyurl.com/4u77wc)

Hutchinson
Creatively using broadband in the schools, Little Crow Telemedia Network brought a local chaplain serving in Iraq into the school for Veterans Day. They also provided students with the opportunity to watch and interact with a surgical team as they performed a knee replacement. (http://tinyurl.com/4vloft)

Minneapolis
Minneapolis is ironing out some kinks in their wireless network. Built primarily in the winter, there are small issues with balancing foliage and wireless coverage. (http://tinyurl.com/3h3gky)

Monticello
The Monticello Fiber Network moves ahead with fiber deployment despite a lawsuit filed by incumbent provider TDS. (http://tinyurl.com/49w8ta)  

New Ulm
Stained Glass and More, an online retailer experiences great increase in online sales after attending a Get Broadband sponsored training session on e-commerce and online marketing. (http://tinyurl.com/4v9qg6)

St Cloud
The St Cloud Times now offers live streaming video, starting with their Granite Days weekend coverage. (http://tinyurl.com/3gjapj)

Swift County
Swift County, the latest community to take advantage of Community Broadband Resources available through the Blandin Foundation, invited Bill Coleman to present on “Leveraging Broadband for Community and Economic Development”. They plan to follow up with e-commerce training for the local business community. (http://tinyurl.com/4tjj8d)

Twin Cities
The University of Minnesota recently released research that indicates that Midwest teens that use social networking sites are learning skills required for 21st century jobs. Benefits are seen across socioeconomic demographics. (http://tinyurl.com/3v2bol)

KFAI aired a show on broadband that included comments, questions and answers from three local broadband experts, Christopher Mitchell, Eric Lampland and Peter Fleck. (http://tinyurl.com/3epfx3)

Waseca
The Waseca School Board recently approved a donation from the Waseca Federal Correctional Institution for 73 computers, two 17-inch monitors and a scanner, valued conservatively at $22,000. (http://tinyurl.com/5474au)

Windom
Equipment and software has been purchased for Windom’s “Video Production and Community Server” project. This summer the Mass Media teacher will be learning more about the system with an eye towards using it this fall. (http://tinyurl.com/3zu7gz)

Winona
Home and Community Options (a Blandin Light Speed funded project) has had great success implementing eFile, a system that is being installed and enthusiastically adapted across the organization this year. (http://tinyurl.com/4z9q4v)  

(Many stories are gathered from local online newspaper. Unfortunately each newspaper has a different policy in regards to archive news and therefore we cannot guarantee access to all articles cited.)

VITAL, an e-learning broadband application

Posted on by
Reply

Virtual Itasca Area Academy of Learning (VITAL) is an online learning community created by eight school districts around Itasca. They offer state-certified online course provider, offering accelerated, credit recovery and vocational courses more than 400 students.

Four years ago the Itasca Area Schools Collaborative (IASC) set out to find a way better to serve students despite declining enrollment – and declining funds. A recent article in Blandin Foundation’s at Home newsletter highlights the success of the program by focusing on how the program has me the needs of individual students.

Also they list “two key factors helped IASC reach its objective: a carefully managed growth strategy, and a $525,000, three-year grant from the Blandin Foundation.”

It is interesting to read the impact of technology and the education process for the students and the teachers – both in the online classes and the traditional courses.

I was a librarian and I think that moving the catalog online was a great opportunity for libraries to start to do lots of things differently. Some changes were not at all related to technology – but the change brought about by technology opened the door to other improvements. It seems as if that’s the same with education. Lots of changes directly stem from technology; some don’t.