Monthly Archives: September 2009

Qwest is Upgrading

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Thanks to Ann Higgins for the heads up on Qwest’s big upgrade. Word is Qwest has purchased equipment from Alcatel-Lucent that will eventually allow their long-haul network to achieve speeds up to 100 Gbps. Unfortunately, this improvement only applies to businesses that use Qwest’s fiber-based long-haul network to connect data centers.

Here’s an interesting tidbit from the same article:

Qwest reports that Internet traffic doubles every 19 months and there is 43% more bandwidth consumption by users this year over last year. Qwest sees this purchase as preparation for these future demand increases.

So Qwest is planning for 100 Gbps and yesterday I reported that the other big providers are campaigning for lower speed definitions of broadband. What’s up?

I have to think that they’re all upgrading their networks. I’ve heard and read from folks who say – pretty much they’re all planning for and/or moving to fiber. (Mobile broadband might be the exception but I think that’s a completely different game.)

So why are we wasting our time creating goals that are so far out of that league? Are we buying time? Are we creating a policy that promotes a digital divide? Are we creating a policy that will be meaningless?

Public Comments on Definition of Broadband

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Last week the FCC asked for input from the public on the definition of broadband. (You can see some immediate response from the FCC blogland readers, which are interesting.) Various institutions are chiming in too.

In some ways I feel like I could test out of reading a lot of comments after watching the Minnesota Ultra High Speed Broadband Task Force debate this in the last few months. The issues I’m reading about from national guys are the same as I’ve heard locally.

You can find a good survey of responses on the Benton Foundation site. I thought I’d comment on some of the ones that struck me.

NATOA

Thanks to Mary Mehsikomer at NW-LINKS for the heads up on the comments from the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA). As with the MN Broadband Task Force, the NATOA talks about an aspirational speed versus minimum speed. They refer to John Chambers (CEO of Cisco) with a prediction of network traffic annual growth at speeds of 300-500 percent over the next 7 years. And while they do mention speeds they point out that the metric for speed should be applications and the definition should be revisited annually.

They promote symmetry but (again like the Task Force) add a caveat that says “have symmetrical connections or at least robust upstream speeds to facilitate interactivty.”

Like many other folks making comments, they add that speeds should be measured at the user end – not based on advertised or theoretical speeds.

They also talk about quality of service. I had a friend in Blaine who was cursing lack of quality yesterday. She missed a day of work due to outages.

NCTA

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association is happy with the current definition – 768 kbps down and 200 kbps up. They point out that the change that the FCC made last year has already been a headache for folks needing to change their systems. Also maps are already been creating with the old definition in mind – changing the rules now will be more headaches.

AT&T, Verizon and Comcast

According to an article by John Poirier, the big providers are campaigning for lower speeds to define broadband. They point out that much of what consumers want to do online (email and web browsing) does not require higher speeds. Also cost is an issue with consumers and the providers can offer lower speeds more affordably.

CTIA

The CTIA (Wireless Association) reminds the FCC of “value of mobile wireless broadband to consumers.” The point out wireless options offer mobility that is important to consumers and as such the FCC needs to find a way to fit wireless into the broadband definition.

So there’s a smattering of the advice from the public. It will be very interesting to see what gets done with it. As an aside, school is not yet in session in St Paul. So over lunch my 10-year-old asked what I was doing. I tried to explain about broadband and how with lower speeds you could check email or browse the web but not download Netflix. So she asked, “Could you use Skype?” Not really. “Could you watch TV?” Not really. “Could you upload video?” Not really. So she wanted to know why you’d have the Internet if you couldn’t do the fun stuff.

Maybe we need to ask our kids to define the applications that we need and build the broadband definition around that.

Blandin eNews September 2009

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Here’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.

Blandin Get Broadband CommunitiesNTIA/RUS Funding
The NTIA/RUS received 2,200 applications requesting $28 billion in response to the broadband stimulus NOFA. http://tinyurl.com/la98sv Specifics on the applications should be published in the upcoming weeks. Reviewers have begun to look at the applications. You can follow the review process on the blog of the BTOP Reviewer. http://tinyurl.com/mv8ykp  

Broadband Task Force in Fergus Falls
The Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force met in Fergus Falls in August. http://tinyurl.com/nk75mu They talked about speed, symmetry, policies and actions required to achieve ubiquitous broadband, role of government, public and private partnerships and costs. They heard from community members, many of whom had attended Blandin’s Broadband Policy Seminar held the day before. http://tinyurl.com/nktvv5 The audio from the Task Force meeting is available online. http://tinyurl.com/l45hfd  

Research on Rural Broadband
The USDA released a report that found that rural communities with better broadband access had greater economic growth than areas with less access. http://tinyurl.com/mp2ybe  

Rural Hospitals Stuck
Rural hospitals are being asked to move to electronic medical records. That will cost money. There is some federal funding available; unfortunately to qualify for that funding the hospitals are expected to do preparation but that preparation has not been specified – leaving the hospitals in a difficult position. http://tinyurl.com/kqv99c

Go for the Gig
Mark Ansboury, from the Knight Center of Digital Excellence makes the case for creating a National Broadband Policy that promote gigabit Internet speeds for all. http://tinyurl.com/mnjsm9

Local Broadband News

Adrian
Thanks to funding from the Blandin Foundation, the City of Adrian has been able to successfully install a telepharmacy solution to meet the needs of the local community. http://tinyurl.com/ndkv3h

Apple Valley
Citilink Communications (based out of Apple Valley, MN) has built the first WiMAX wireless network in Minnesota. http://tinyurl.com/mxmfmq  

Bemidji
Paul Bunyan Telephone is highlighted by Ars Technica in an article praising the work of forwarding-thinking local broadband providers. http://tinyurl.com/nn8r7j  

Chaska
Hazeltine Golf Course installed 26 hi-speed T1 fiber optic data lines, 50 DSL Internet lines and 29 ISDN lines for radio in preparation for broadcasting the PGA Major Tournament in August. http://tinyurl.com/l79qgs  

Dakota County
Frontier Communications is providing free Wi-Fi at the Dakota County Fair. http://tinyurl.com/mhdj5v  

Fergus Falls
A Fergus Falls Daily Journal editorial recognizes that residents as close as 12 miles from a community as large as Fergus Falls are only able to receive Internet access through a dial-up connection. http://tinyurl.com/ltubb5  

Jackson, Cottonwood and Nobles Counties
The SouthWest Minnesota Broadband Group (SWMBG) is planning to expand the reach of FTTP in portions of Jackson, Cottonwood and Nobles County. http://tinyurl.com/nz8tbz  

Lake County
After garnering support from local communities, Lake County moves forward with plans for a fiber network. http://tinyurl.com/nbxlrp In fact they just released a Design/Build RFP for its FTTP network. http://tinyurl.com/na2p69  

Moorhead
The Moorhead Public Service Commission approved the sale of its GoMoorhead broadband operation 702 Communications for $1.2 million. http://tinyurl.com/mfzg4w  

St Cloud
An editorial in the local paper asks, are we disqualifying an entire population because of Internet access? http://tinyurl.com/nvtljg

Bill ColemanColeman’s Corner

The first stimulus grants have been submitted and now applicants are waiting to hear whether they made the first cut in the review process. Those who do will need to respond to requests for more information about their projects. As someone who worked on two projects, I have to ask myself what more they could possibly want to know?! The stimulus application required submittal of in-depth engineering, financial and marketplace information. Government servers ground to a halt under the deluge of documentation submitted electronically requiring that an extra week be allowed for applications.

While I have not seen a comprehensive list of Minnesota applications yet, I know of several others. It will be interesting to see the full list and analyze the decisions that providers, communities and non-profits made in selecting projects and project partners. It will point to the variety of approaches that might work to increase investment in infrastructure, increase efforts to provide public access and adopt technology in business, government, education and health care.

I have seen several notices about initiatives in other states where the state government has taken the lead to coordinate applications and capitalize on shared investments, thus maximizing the amount of broadband stimulus funds received and benefits obtained from those funds. I wonder why that is not happening here in Minnesota in preparation for the upcoming second and third rounds; it is certainly not too late for that to happen and I hope that it does. I am proud of the effort that Blandin Foundation led to develop and submit an application in the Sustainable Broadband category. We have a solid set of activities and a great set of partners. If funded, there will be a flood of broadband promotion activities that communities and providers can get behind to work together to increase our broadband vitality.

Events

September 2 – Webinar: Getting the Most out of Cloud Storage http://tinyurl.com/npafhh
September 16-17 – NTEN’s Online Nonprofit Technology Conference: Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission http://tinyurl.com/l2leop
September 27 – October 1 – Fiber to the Home Conference & Expo (Houston TX) http://tinyurl.com/n4mjzn
November 12 – Talking Tech: Nonprofit Focused Solutions – Remote Access Methods http://tinyurl.com/mmkd8m
November 18-19 – Blandin Broadband Conference (Duluth MN)
December 10 – Talking Tech: Nonprofit Focused Solutions – Supercharge Your Work With MAPS http://tinyurl.com/ntbjm3