Monthly Archives: January 2009

January Blandin eNews

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Blandin Get Broadband CommunitiesHere’s the news from our latest newsletter. It’s mostly a compilation of Minnesota-related stories from the blog in the last month – but sometimes it’s nice to have it compiled.

News from the Blandin on Broadband Blog

Blandin Broadband Conference & Community Broadband Awards
Blandin’s 2008 Broadband conference, Connected Communities: Making the Net Work for Minnesota was a great success. The first Minnesota Community Broadband Awards celebrated strides made in Minnesota cities and towns; the Ultra High-Speed Task Force heard from members of the public on their need for broadband, Robert Bell explained his 7 Habits of Intelligent Communities and more. http://tinyurl.com/9u7kth

New Broadband Toolkit
At broadband conference, Blandin unveiled the new and improved Broadband Toolkit. It features the best of the best applications that require significant bandwidth in the business, government, education, health care and consumer sectors. It also includes sections on Market Development, Community Assistance and Community Networks. Much of this information comes from our years of working with communities. http://broadband.blandinfoundation.org/toolkit/

Senator Klobuchar’s Broadband Roundtable
Held December 29, Senator Klobuchar convened a roundtable to discuss broadband in Minnesota especially given President-Elect Obama’s interest in expanding broadband during the second phase of his economic stimulus plan. The roundtable included Blandin Broadband Initiative team member, Bill Coleman. http://tinyurl.com/6wa84k

Minnesota Broadband Task Force
The Minnesota Broadband Task Force continues to meet monthly. In December they heard from several broadband providers in the telecommunication, wireless and cable industries. The speakers indicated that the market is successfully driving broadband expansion. Addressing policy, they promoted flexible regulation and investment in the form of tax cuts, grants and loans. http://tinyurl.com/7jjw7s

TISP Forum
The Telecommunications and Information Society Policy Forum presented a session on Private Providers and Public Partners: New Approaches in Bringing Ultra High-Speed Broadband to Minnesota Communities. Conversation focused on open networks and shared networks from the providers’ perspectives. http://tinyurl.com/83ykhv

Minnesota is Number 18
According to PC Magazine and their readers, Minnesota service providers rank 18 in terms of speed and 34 in terms of customer satisfaction. http://tinyurl.com/7qypg5

The Blandin Foundation has compiled a list of “Hot Sites for Home Business Tools” http://tinyurl.com/75e6c4

Local Broadband News

Adams
Southland Public Schools in SE Minnesota talk about how they use broadband to better serve the students and save money. http://tinyurl.com/9cxqxy

Albany, Freeport and New Munich
Minnesota-based Albany Tel is working with ADC to upgrade Albany Tel’s copper lines to a fiber network. Albany Tel serves Albany, Freeport and New Munich. http://tinyurl.com/7tks4o

Burnsville
Skiers can now get online at Buck Hill; they have expanded their wireless access. http://tinyurl.com/7sp4a6

Fridley
Fridley-based Medtronic Inc. pulled a video from YouTube after a consumer group charged the video was an advertisement that lacked warnings required by the FDA. http://tinyurl.com/888vz7

Goodhue County
Goodhue Public Schools hired a technology integration specialist to help teachers integrate technology into the classroom. http://tinyurl.com/8zzvbq

LeRoy
The LeRoy City Council gave permission to Axxess WiFi to attach a wireless unit to the water tower. http://tinyurl.com/7tsjtw

Monticello
The FTTH saga continues in Monticello. Both the Mayor of Monticello and TDS have published letters to the Editor in the local paper detailing their sides of the fiber story. http://tinyurl.com/9f98sb

Northfield
Northfield is recognized for the local community embracing social networking tools such as community blogs. http://tinyurl.com/7wr3lm

Red Wing
Red Wing has a channel on YouTube where the city has posted 21 videos, which have been viewed 2,665 times. http://tinyurl.com/a33lvc

Park Rapids
Senator Amy Klobuchar and Representative Brita Sailer held a roundtable in Park Rapids in early December where broadband featured highly. http://tinyurl.com/7hm8n3

Staples
Telemonitoring at Lakewood Healthcare is helping patients feel more in control of their healthcare and remote access to patients has provided a real boon with winter weather storms in the area. http://tinyurl.com/7j4uos

St Paul
St Paul was host to the annual Government IT Symposium, where 1000 attendees discussed issues such as network security and cost-effective network management. http://tinyurl.com/a245wr

Twin Cities
The Digital Inclusion Fund Advisory Board awarded nearly $200,000 in Digital Inclusion Fund grants to eight community organizations to help support technology access and literacy in Minneapolis. http://tinyurl.com/73nmg9

Wadena
Telemedicine helps patients in Wadena who no longer have to make the drive 6 hours to and from the Cities. Wadena has forged ahead with telemedicine despite lack of support from Medicare but it looks like Medicare may soon help support remote healthcare visits. http://tinyurl.com/8wc9zy

(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.)

Events

February 3-4 – MTA Day on the Hills (St Paul MN) http://www.mnta.org/

February 20 – New Times – New Tech (Minneapolis MN) The 2009 nonprofit technology and communications conference. http://www.mncn.org/nptech/awards.htm

March 2-4: Minnesota Telecom Alliance: 2009 Annual Convention and Trade Show – http://www.mnta.org/events/events.html

April 27-29: Broadband Properties Summit 09 (Dallas TX) http://www.bbpmag.com/2009s/

Coleman’s Corner

Prospects of a national economic stimulus package have motivated broadband activists to begin strategizing the best ways to get in on the gold rush. I am on the listserv of one ad hoc group that generates at least 100 emails per day with the assorted rants, diversions and opinions worthy of talk radio. Much of the discussion is interesting, but it is equally frustrating. In our quest to develop the “best” legislation, all of the unanswered policy questions lay just below the surface nibbling and chewing on each consideration. Questions about ownership, open access, role of the public sector, user silos like health care and education, capacity requirements and urban/rural services are unresolved in our group and will probably be debated at the Congressional level as the stimulus legislation moves forward. So much debate, in fact, that I would not be surprised to see broadband left out of the package due to the controversy. Our own Minnesota Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force will soon be getting into the nitty-gritty of these conversations.

Over the holidays, I was honored to participate in a panel discussion with Senator Amy Klobuchar. You can see the notes of this meeting on http://tinyurl.com/6wa84k. As it came time for me to speak, other panelists had stolen much of what I had planned to say. Luckily, I had brought along a copy of the Blandin Broadband Strategy Board’s principles. I was able to use the principles as a way to frame some of the others’ comments and put them in a policy perspective. These principles are several years old, but are holding up very well and the Strategy Board deserves much credit for their thoughtful work. The principles are Ubiquity (broadband everywhere), Symmetry (equal upload and download speeds) Affordable, Competition, World Class, Collaboration, Neutrality, and Interoperability. I encourage you to go online to the new Blandin Broadband Portal at http://broadband.blandinfoundation.org to see the complete listing of the principles and the vision and to use these principles as the starting point for the discussion about broadband in your community and with your elected officials.

The funding frenzy that is now underway certainly points to the value of planning. Those communities that have developed a shared vision, understand their needs and built a local consensus are well-positioned to take advantage of the funding streams that are likely to be appropriated in the next 90 days. Some will say they are lucky, but I agree with the axiom – Luck is where preparation meets opportunity! If you want to move your community forward, but do not know where to start or what your next step should be, check out the program details and online application for Community Broadband Resources at http://tinyurl.com/97qv34

House calls in Hawaii

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telehealthAccording to the New York Times, Hawaii will be offering online face-to-face doctor visits starting this month. They are working through a service called American Well.

Patients will long into the healthcare provider web site and can schedule visits to last 10 minutes for $10; it’s $45 for the uninsured. Visits can be extended for an added fee. Doctors can file prescriptions and see patient history through the system. The healthcare provider will pay American Well $2 per visit.

They say the service is for the uninsured and folks who can’t be bothered to wait for or travel to appointments. I want to know if I can find a doctor in Hawaii to sign me up. I have been hoping for this for a long time. No more going in to see a doctor with a kid I know has pink eye just to get the medicine.

To be fair, the draw backs are there as the article points out – something might get missed in a webcam that would be caught in the office and many folks will not have the broadband required to take advantage of the system.

I agree on both counts – but I think the number of ailments that get missed will be equal to or more than the number of ailments missed because people couldn’t or wouldn’t take time out for an in-person consultation. And I’d like to see this become a killer app that pushes the demand for broadband. (Killer app doesn’t sound right here – maybe we’ll call it a life changing app.)

Teaching Online from Africa

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Here’s a quick, fun story from WCCO:

A University of Minnesota professor is teaching class at the school — while traveling by bicycle through 10 African countries. …As he travels, he’ll study the food, agriculture and agro-ecosystems of each African country. He’ll share his observations with his class through a satellite radio, e-mails and the Internet.

I think it’s a great example of how broadband and Internet technology has changed our lives dramatically. Some of us can travel because of our jobs – like this teacher. And some of us can travel despite our jobs – like my year in Ireland last year. For some of us technology helps us live wherever we want – so long as there is broadband available.

So for communities who want to attract a wider range of citizen broadband in essential and for folks looking for a working break broadband is essential too.

DTV meeting in Minneapolis

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Plans for white spaces creating by DTV have been a big issue for many readers – I hought this might be of interest to some too – the transition that creates white spaces that opens up some possibility…

MINNESOTA are you ready for the Digital Television Transition?

On Feb. 17th, 2009 all over-the-air broadcast TV will switch to a new digital format. Low-income families, immigrants, communities of color, elders, and people with disabilities – those communities that rely the most on analog television for news and vital information – will be the hardest hit by the DTV transition.

NOW is the time to get the information you need to help your organizational and community members prepare for the switch!

Join the Main Street Project, the Minnesotano Media Empowerment Project and Headwaters Foundation for Justice for a Brown Bag “DTV 101”

Tuesday, January 6th 12:00-1:30 PM
Phillips Eco-Center
Headwaters Foundation Office
2801 21st Ave S
Conference Room A
Minneapolis MN

-Learn about the DTV transition
-Learn how to get free $40 coupons
-See what a converter box looks like
-Get multilingual materials to share with your members

Bring your lunch, dessert will be provided!

Digital TV is coming: LET’S GET READY!

RSVP: monica@headwatersfoundation.org

Top Predictions for 2009

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I’ve seen loads of predictions for technology in 2009. I’m picking just one to share here – Sitepoint’s predictions for 2009. I mention it because while it’s not broadband focused necessarily – at least half of the predictions will push the broadband envelope.

As a web developer, I like Sitepoint. They generally aren’t too out there – they’re closer to mainstream. The broadband-hogs they mentioned including the following:

Lifestreaming – I have to admit that I have 441 videos on YouTube. Now my kid has her own camera so I suspect we’ve only begun upload. The thing I find amazing – people watch our videos. The only thing worse that uploading your kids Christmas recital is watching someone else’s kid’s recital – but it’s happening.

Web-based OS – a couple of predictions hit upon a web-based operating system. It will open the door for cheap computers, easier remote access to info – but it will also mean a demand for more broadband – and broadband with minimal latency.

Facebook – Facebook does seem to be winning the social networking race as far as folks I know. Linked In is still king for business – but I am surprised the folks I see on Facebook and the videos and pictures that are cropping up from folks who I thought would never go that route. Again, that’s going to be pushing broadband limits.

The other items they list, Palm’s new Smartphone (I have an insider there and it does sound like it’s going to be super cool) and Twittter are tradition broadband hogs – but they do rely on mobile broadband access. I hitnk it will be fun to watch that market in 2009!