Monthly Archives: April 2011

$700 million no longer slated for broadband

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Often I am thankful for folks such as Stimulating Broadband who look at the national broadband scene. I am also thankful to generous readers, such as Sam Osborne who give me the heads up on good articles – beucase lately it’s all I can do to keep up on Minnesota-specific issues. But obviously there are national issues that have a big impact on MInensota and this is one of them.

Stimulating Broadband reports…

The full amount of $700 million in rural broadband loan authority slated to be used this year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been cancelled as part of the budget compromise reached Friday evening.

I won’t rehash the details here. Stimulating Broadband has done a good job pointing out what this means and what it doesn’t, although I’ll include one of their observations…

Said accurately, the denial of the $68 million in federal funds means that a figure over ten times that amount will not flow to credit worthy wired and wireless service providers for eventual repayment to the government. The RUS broadband loan portfolio has a default rate of less than one percent.

But as I pointed out last week, I don’t know how much those details matter when the main issue at hand is taxes – not investment, economic development or broadband.

Tele-wellness tools are making life better in Benton County

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Thanks to Nancy Hoffman for the heads up on the following story…

Foley, MN, April 8, 2011: LA Home Care, a home care provider, located in Sauk Rapids, is making an impact on area residents through use of The GrandCare System, a combination of Smart Home Technologies, Activities of Daily Living monitoring, Internet communications and Tele-Wellness, which supports an entire network of caregivers providing greater security and less social isolation.

Last fall, after partnering with Cybermation, Inc located in Waite Park, LA Home Care www.mylahomecare.com received $16,000 in funding from the Living Connected in Benton County Steering Committee www.bentoncountyconnected.org to help make this technology available to area residents.

“Technology has been such a growing force in our health care system. Now is the time to make the technology affordable, easy to understand and easy to use for all of us,” said Leslie Ann, owner of LA Home Care. “The GrandCare System, I believe, has done just that.”

This technology, which is currently in five homes, serves three main purposes:

  1. Assists seniors to stay in their homes longer. Clients are more productive and able to remain connected to community and family through favorite websites set up by the client and caregiver as well as SKYPE, a scrolling alert/message system, brain bending exercises and more.
  2. Enables caregivers to assess a client’s abilities and helps monitor activities of daily living to keep them safe. They are able to accommodate a client’s needs and coordinate with doctors. This technology provides a number of wellness devices to fill the need of many different health issues including a blood pressure device, a weight scale, and a pill dispenser which all use a wireless bluetooth device to record results in the computer and route them directly to a nurse or other care provider.
  3. Gives family members peace of mind. Family members and caregivers are able to remotely upload pictures and send messages in real time, post daily reminders, create calendar appointments and events for the client. Family members are able to monitor their loved ones health concerns and stay in touch with caregivers.

LA Home Care cites Dorothy O. as an example of someone who is benefiting from this technology and who has been able to stay in her home longer. Without this technology Dorothy O. would likely be in an assisted living facility. “We have used Skype to see her newest great-grandchild in Hawaii,” says Leslie Ann. “She has some medical issues that have greatly improved while using the GrandCare system. She likes the fact that if she is in need of a nurse she only has to push a button and I would receive a message saying she needed help. Of course for emergencies she continues to have the Lifeline pendant. I can monitor all movement in the apartment and that can be reassuring to family members who are only hearing part of the issue over the phone. Family members can also log into Dorothy’s computer and see the same information that I do. This makes a well-rounded caring atmosphere.”

For more information about LA Home Care, Leslie Ann or this technology visit www.mylahomecare.com or call 320-828-0802.

Living Connected in Benton County www.bentoncountyconnected.org is a project partner in the Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities Initiative (MIRC). MIRC is a coalition of 19 statewide partners and 11 demonstration communities funded in large part through an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant. The work of the coalition focuses on bringing the full promise of broadband technologies to rural Minnesota communities, businesses and people. Blandin Foundation serves as the project administrator. More about MIRC is available at www.blandinfoundation.org.

The Range needs broadband deployment and adoption

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I’m a fan of Aaron Brown on the Iron Range. He’s a guest blogger on Minnesota Public Radio this week. He talks about what it’s like to be a blogger in Hibbing and how close the area is to being a great place for tech types to live.

There are appear to be two problems. First, broadband is not fast, nor ubiquitous, enough to attract big broadband users from other places. So folks who want to live in Hibbing but commute online to another location are not able to count on that happening. Second, the current residents are not big broadband users. Aaron points out that while the elderly users are one thing – he’s also running into resistance from younger potential users…

A more concerning trend, however, isn’t the slow acceptance of online connectedness by the older generation, but the general lack of Internet fluency by the whole population. Even some of my younger students at the community college lack an email account or a strong understanding of how to use search engines. At my relatively Internet-friendly age of 31, my online contact with most of my high school friends takes place through their wives’ Facebook accounts because they don’t want their own.

I think the keyword here is potential. Hibbing has the potential to be a draw – it’s beautiful up there, there is plenty to do, especially if you like the outdoors, housing is more affordable than the Cities, schools are good – but broadband is a core requirement for many, not an elective.

Project FINE doing great in Winona

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Earlier this month I had the opportunity to meet with Project FINE in Winona. They are a nonprofit organization that helps newcomers integrate into the community. They provide foreign language interpreters and translators as well as opportunities for education, information, referral, and empowerment for immigrants and refugees. With funding through MIRC (Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities), they have also started with broadband adoption and computer literacy programs.

They have received donated computers and money from community partners. They have computer science majors who are tutoring FINE clients. Currently they offer training in the classes, but they have plans to expand training to people’s homes. The response has been terrific; people come early to the classes and want more. One attendee offered a nice testament to FINE…

“I am thankful for the class. I have nothing but positive things to say about Project FINE. I was able to get my Drivers License and employment through them. I’m not sure where to get the services if there is no Project FINE. I am so thankful to them.” – Cha Lee

Winona has become a hub for New Americans. Fatima Said, Project Fine manager, is Bosnian. There are many clients from the Hispanic and Hmong communities. Folks from the Hispanic and Hmong communities take classes either separately in their native language or together in an English-language class. While Project Fine works extensively with these groups, the computer/internet classes have been the first ones with great interaction between the two communities.

So as if often the case the curriculum and primary goals have been based on Digital Inclusion – but the results have expanded beyond technology. There was even a story of a Hmong family who gave an old washer/dryer to a Hispanic family as a result of interaction at the class.

It’s just one of the stories of success that we’re starting to see with the MIRC projects.

Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities: Broadband as a Rural Development Strategy

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I’m excited to share the following article with John’s permission. It was originally published by the Small Town & Rural Planning Division, American Planning Association.

By John C. Shepard, AICP, Southwest Regional Development Commission (1,284 words + Resources)

America’s economy runs on broadband. Ninety five percent of small businesses that have computers have adopted broadband internet service, according to US Small Business Administration studies. While a similar percentage of private households have access to broadband internet (2/3 have actually adopted broadband), that still leaves hundreds of thousands of small town and rural residents in states such as Minnesota without basic access to this essential element of 21st Century infrastructure.

The Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC) project aims to do something about that. Minnesota’s Blandin Foundation was awarded stimulus funding in 2010 by the federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) to reach out to rural Minnesota (which we affectionately call “Greater Minnesota”) through education, training, technical assistance and removing barriers to broadband adoption. The Blandin Foundation has a long record with their Broadband Initiative working to improve economic vitality in rural communities by encouraging development of telecommunications markets and infrastructure. They also sponsor the Blandin on Broadband Blog and an annual Blandin Broadband Conference. The Initiative has developed principles such as ubiquity, symmetry, and affordability that have guided their efforts in small towns and rural areas across the state.

There is a significant gap between rural and urban broadband adoption rates. The small percentage of citizens still without access to broadband infrastructure is predominately located outside metropolitan areas. In Minnesota, for example, stimulus-funded mapping by the Connected Nation organization found that only 3/4 of households in rural Jackson County along the Iowa border have access to broadband service, let alone subscribe. Among the Leach Lake Band of Ojibwe, surveys found only 48% of households with land-line telephones subscribe to broadband services. Rural demographic characteristics such as an aging population, lower per capita income, and lower educational attainment compound the challenge.

The MIRC project draws on the Intelligent Community Indicators framework developed by the New York-based Intelligent Community Forum (ICF): broadband, knowledge workers, digital inclusion, innovation, and advocacy. “The basic question,” stated Robert Bell of ICF at a project training session, “is ‘Do you want your community to be a place your children can live in 20 years from now?’“ The internet today is like oxygen, Bell noted. You don’t miss it until you try to do anything without it. In the ICF framework, broadband infrastructure is an essential utility that provides a solid foundation for economic development. The knowledge workforce of the new economy relies on broadband connectivity to spur innovation, in the public and private sector. Digital inclusion efforts utilize broadband to empower ALL members of the community. Marketing and advocacy, finally, celebrates success and helps cross-pollinate new ideas.

While broadband internet access underlies the MIRC project, broadband is just a tool to help create better communities. Broadband is the journey not the destination. The project doesn’t push cable modems or DSL, fiber optics or satellite, mobile or fixed wireless, nor dwell too much on improving asymmetrical upload/download speeds that place most of the US at a distinct international disadvantage. Rather than debating 1 Mbps vs. 100 Mbps service, initial project reports are highlighting what speed it takes to do basic Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) vs. telemedicine increasingly necessary for an aging rural population. Project partners discuss the technical details and are working with local leaders to better understand their options, but at the end of the day the intent is to make the technology transparent so we can all concentrate on helping create those places where our children want to live.

The Blandin Foundation assembled a core team of local experts, including Community Technology Advisors and Treacy Information Services, to support an array of partners from across Minnesota. The core team is supporting local efforts with community technology planning to reduce the ‘digital divide’ and create a ‘culture of use’. Public and non-profit MIRC partners include:

  • University of Minnesota Extension is delivering e-entrepreneurship training and technical support to small businesses in rural communities
  • MN Learning Commons is developing knowledge worker courses, career exploration and learning pathways
  • MN Workforce Centers are extending public access to training and new online learning opportunities
  • MN Renewable Energy Marketplace is providing technical assistance focused on creating new jobs in renewable energy industries
  • PCs for People, a non-profit organization that refurbishes previously-owned Windows machines, is distributing 1,000 free personal computers in Greater Minnesota. Minnesota-based Atomic Learning joined w/PCs for People to provide free online training for computer recipients.
  • 11 Demonstration Communities, including small towns, rural counties, and a Native American reservation, are providing matching grants to local broadband projects
  • Regional Development Organizations are assisting with broadband advocacy and information sharing on development strategies
  •  University of Minnesota-Crookston EDA Center is measuring progress in individual small towns and across rural areas of Greater Minnesota.

Regional planning and development organizations like the Southwest Regional Development Commission (SRDC) are helping bridge the gap between state-wide service providers and local communities. Whether it’s helping entrepreneurs start new businesses or small towns chart their future land use plans, regional planners are looking at new ways to foster innovation in rural areas. “Southwest Minnesota is seeing great local investment in broadband infrastructure,” said SRDC Chairman Gary Sorenson. “Now we need to use that infrastructure to be competitive in the global economy.”

Public and private utility providers are making improvements to their networks. The Southwest Minnesota Broadband Group, for example, is leveraging experience from the Windom, MN, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) project to build a 125-mile fiber ring to connect eight communities in Jackson County, which will greatly improve the existing low access rate. The independent Woodstock Telephone Co, based in Ruthton, MN, population 284, is dropping FTTH to 1,300 access lines across 450 square miles of rural customers. MIRC is working with these communities to help more people get better use out of that infrastructure.

MIRC is also supporting recommendations from other sources. In 2010, the FCC issued a national broadband plan that stated “Like electricity a century ago, broadband is a foundation for economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness and a better way of life.” The national plan proposes policies intended to remove barriers to broadband deployment and foster competition, according to analysis completed by the MIRC project team. The Minnesota Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force reported in 2009 that “To remain competitive with other states and the rest of the world, Minnesota must make a long-term commitment to developing and maintaining ultra high-speed broadband capability.” In addition to policy initiatives, the Task Force report to the Minnesota Legislature included action items for local government, such as:

  • Plan once; develop coordinated broadband, electric grid, and energy retrofit projects.
  • Dig once; coordinate infrastructure construction projects, such as roads and electrical grid improvements, with ubiquitous broadband projects.
  • Encourage conduit installation with new development.

Lessons will be emerging from the MIRC project as activities progress. With the timeframe of the federal stimulus funding, MIRC has been something of a design-build project, so adjustments are being made as we go. Organizations such as Connected Nation are compiling new and improved GIS maps of broadband availability in several states, and local projects continue to bring new and improved wired and wireless broadband access to more of our country.

It is increasingly apparent that planners need to treat broadband internet service the same as other basic utility networks like roads, water and sewer, or the electric grid. We need to know about broadband, yes, but also about how knowledge workers in our community are using that infrastructure, and how we can include all members of our community in online opportunities. Planners need to be advocates for the future of our communities. The Intelligent Communities framework is a development strategy that small towns and rural communities can use to log on to that future.
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John C. Shepard, AICP, is Development Planner for the Southwest Regional Development Commission in Slayton, Minnesota. John has experience in local economic and community development across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain states. He blogs on life, liberty and the pursuit of Americana at www.jcshepard.com.

Slow, Mediun, Fast and Super-Fast

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Thanks to John Hamerlinck for the heads up on the latest broadband leaders – the Swiss! According to the Nielsen Company…

Switzerland has, by far, the fastest-connected population, with 88 percent of consumers online at home connecting at speeds greater than 2Mb – and 38% having a ‘super-fast’ 8Mb+ connection. Following Switzerland, the U.S. (29%) and Germany (27%) have the greatest concentration of people on ‘super-fast’ connections.

Nielson isn’t detailed on how they arrived at these numbers except that they measured and compared connection speeds during February 2011. That would indicate to me that they are looking at actual speeds, not advertised.

My favorite aspect of the article is their definitions of broadband:

  • slow (up to 512Kb),
  • medium (512Kb – 2Mb)
  • fast (2Mb – 8Mb)
  • super-fast (8Mb+)

Usually I hear about unserved, underserved and the served. In the US, served is confused by the dual standard of broadband (100 Mbps for most; 4 Mbps for the rest). Now I might lean on the scale a little so that 768 K was slow and 2 Mbps was medium and on down the line – but I really like idea of four qualifiers.

Uncertainty of Federal Funding for Rural Broadband

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Lately I’ve heard a lot about Universal Service Fund and Intercarrier Compensation Reform. (I’m hoping to have notes on the topic from a recent MN PUC meeting to post soon.) The concern is that federal funding goes to the right place to promote and sustain broadband in areas where it is difficult to make a business case to provide broadband. No one seems to deny that some areas need that subsidized support, the debate is on how it’s doled out.

But while in the industry we’ve been working on the rules to the game, someone else has been working on a game change at a higher level. Daily Yonder got the word from Stimulating Broadband…

A full $1.445 billion in federal funds slated this year for rural telecommunications project capital subsidies is now in jeopardy. The risk of steep cuts to 4 programs within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, each of which is now open to funding applications, is part of the partisan battle over the larger federal budget.

Unlike the discussions of USF and ICC, it seems that broadband isn’t the issue at hand – taxes and government spending are the big issues. I think that makes the discussion much more difficult. A discussion of USF and ICC is like sibling rivalry. We’ll argue hard, we all know the nuances, the rest of the world may or may not understand the fight. Taxes is like you’re dad coming in and telling you it’s time for bed. The nuance is gone, the decision has been made, the fight is over. My intention is not to trivialize USF and ICC – but just to say that tax talk is a game changer. And it may have an impact across the board…

Based on our review of the budget process, and off the record discussions with officials, StimulatingBroadband.com believes all of the programs are at risk of potentially substantial cuts:

Total RUS Rural Telecom Grants & Loans: $1.445 billion
Subtotal, Grants: $ 55 million, 4%
Subtotal, Loans: $ 1.39 billion, 96%

Community Connect Grants: $ 25 million
Distance Learning and Telemed. Grants: $ 30 million
Broadband Access Loans: $ 700 million
Telecommunications Loans: $ 690 million, total
Direct Loans, Hardship Loans $145 million, subtotal
Direct Loans, Cost of Money Loans $250 million, subtotal
Guaranteed/Insured Loans $295 million, subtotal

AT&T to build 4G in the Twin Cities

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According to a recent press release, AT&T is upgrading to 4G speeds in the Twin Cities. Here is their definition of 4G speeds…

4G speeds delivered by HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul. Available in limited areas. Availability increasing with ongoing backhaul deployment. Requires 4G device.

Here are the overall plans..

Bob Bass, president of AT&T Minnesota, says AT&T plans the following network improvements in the Twin Cities area in 2011:

  • Deploying enhanced backhaul connections to more than 300 cell sites to enable 4G speeds and add capacity to support more mobile traffic, like adding traffic lanes to a highway
  • Installing more than 10 new cell sites to improve network coverage
  • Adding spectrum carriers to 45 cell sites to support more traffic
  • Deploying and upgrading Distributed Antenna System (DAS) networks at high-traffic venues, such as sports facilities and airports to enhance network coverage

Marry this deployment with wireless adoption I wrote about earlier today to get some more good ideas on what to do with that added broadband.

 

Help Wanted – Connect Minnesota Program Director

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Connect Minnesota will be hiring local staff. I think this would make a great job for the right person – you can apply online…

The Program Coordinator will work under the guidance of the Minnesota Broadband Task Force and provide primary management and administrative project oversight and support for Connect Minnesota’s state strategy. This includes developing and leading a coordinated broadband-focused initiative, which will include continued broadband inventory mapping, state-level broadband planning, research on broadband and related technology adoption, and technical assistance resources. Additionally, this individual will promote collaboration between Connect Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Commerce, the Minnesota Broadband Advisory Task Force, and local, state, and federal policymakers by coordinating regular meetings and strategic planning sessions. A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Information Technology, Telecommunications Management, Government/ Public Administration, or Business-related discipline required. An advanced degree is preferred with relevant experience in the telecommunications or economic development fields. In addition, the successful candidate should have five years of experience in a professional setting, and be skilled in managing projects. To view the entire job description and apply for the position, please visit our online application system. Applications will be accepted until April 18.

TISP May 4 – PUBLIC PRIVATE BROADBAND PARTNERSHIPS

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I knew folks would be interested in details on the upcoming TISP meeting. So while I’m sorry to post so much news today, I wanted to share it asap…

SAVE THE DATE – TISP Program

Wednesday, May 4 * 4 – 5:30PM
Roy Wilkins Room (215)
Humphrey School of Public Affairs

TOPIC: PUBLIC PRIVATE BROADBAND PARTNERSHIPS: HOW THEY WORK IN PRACTICE

Public private broadband partnerships as a way to expand broadband in Minnesota is often repeated popular language. But what does it mean for building community wide broadband networks?

Join us on Wednesday, May 4, to hear the up close and personal stories of how two private companies and two public entities are making their public private partnerships work. Both partnerships aim to bring wide ranging betterment to a whole community through a fiber optic network. But what do they do in actual practice?

Also hear from the Farmers Mutual Telephone Company/Lac qui Parle County partnership and from the Hiawatha Broadband Communications, Inc/FiberNet Monticello partnership. Bernadine Joselyn, Director of Public Policy and Engagement, Blandin Foundation, will moderate the discussion.

What lessons can be learned? What problems arise? What might be incentives for private providers in such partnerships? What motivates public participants?

Stay tuned for full program details to follow.

Co-Sponsors: Blandin Foundation
League of Minnesota Cities
Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association

The idea behind this forum is simple and essential: purposeful exchange on key issues with engaged stakeholders to create a better information future.

Wireless Opens New Doors to Education

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school

Thanks to John Shepard for sending me an article from the Worthington Globe on how wireless is changing education at District 518. The short take it – they’re going wireless. The buildings will be wireless, school computers will be able to access the wireless network and approved students wireless devices will have access as well. Students will also be able to checkout wireless devices to use at school.

I think this will revolutionize education is a good way. What’s funny is that I was just talking to my dad about these kinds of changes in the schools – based on my new favorite TED Talk on the Khan Academy. The Khan Academy is a series of videos created by Salman Khan to teach his nephews math. He posted them on YouTube and gained a following. (The videos are great – my 6 year old is learning very basic math from it, although it’s strength is more AP math.) The TED video talks about how some classes and schools have started to use the videos. So that the homework is to watch the videos; classroom time is spent working out problems online – with the teachers’ help when needed.

Combine both ideas and we’ll have kids watching the videos and doing problems on their own time in the school and beyond the walls. It’s a new approach, but one that will reach kids where they are for reasons that the Worthington Globe point out…

While the idea of cell phones being acceptable in the classroom may seem contradictory to a learning environment, Ernst believes such devices could enhance student learning if utilized correctly.

“It’s a mindset change, and we have to change the way we think,” she added. “Kids learn digitally, so we have to find ways to help them learn digitally in school. We can’t limit ourselves to what we grew up with because that’s not what’s in society today.”

Broadband Webinar – Tomorrow’s Communities April 12

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I thought folks might be interested in the following…

Free Webinar: Tomorrow’s Communities – How technologies and services will transform the way we live, work and play.  An exciting, advance look at the content of the Broadband Properties Summit

Webinar Scheduled Next Tuesday, April 12, 2:00 pm EDT (1:00 pm CST)

Content Includes:

  • The forces transforming our communities.
  • Why rural prosperity equals America’s prosperity.
  • Broadband – Key to economic growth and recovery.
  • Rebound in the housing industry.

Speakers include:

  • Moderator – Steve Ross, Corporate Editor
  • Jim Baller, President – Baller Herbst Law Group
  • Graham Richard, President – Graham Richard Associates
  • Henry Pye, VP of Resident Technology Services – RealPage Inc

Senator Klobuchar praises broadband in Southwest Minnesota

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According to the Worthington Globe Senator Amy Klobuchar mentioned local broadband success while talking to area residents over the weekend…

Klobuchar praised the efforts of the Southwest Minnesota Broadband Group, which has received federal funding in order to bring fiber optic cables to the area for broadband Internet, telephone and cable television access to local communities. The improved broadband should help the area retain its existing businesses as well as allow for further economic development.

Blandin eNews April 2011

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News from the Blandin on Broadband Blog

Minnesota Broadband Advisory Task Force
The Minnesota Broadband Advisory Task Force has been dissolved with a plan to select new members. The Department of Commerce will be looking for applications for potential members for a new iteration of the Task Force later this spring. http://tinyurl.com/3oo4lwm

Blandin Broadband Breakfast Briefing March 30
Last week the Blandin Foundation hosted an event for legislators to meet members of the Blandin Broadband Strategy Board and the Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC) Coalition to listen to their best thinking about the State’s leadership role and the road ahead. http://wp.me/p3if7-1eo Lt Governor Prettner Solon spoke and legislators received a white paper, which is available on the Blandin web site. http://tinyurl.com/4pkd2z2

Rural and Urban Minnesota are Connected
Minnesota Rural Partners published a report that demonstrates the interdependencies between rural and urban areas, indicating the investment in one area produces results throughout the state. http://wp.me/p3if7-1dk Lt Governor Prettner Solon alluded to this report while speaking at the Blandin Broadband Breakfast Briefing.

Minnesotan Creates Award-Winning Health App
Demonstrating Minnesota’s innovative spirit, Minneapolis-based John Schrom wins the Health 2.0’s Spring Developer Challenge with his app, Epicenter. Epicenter allows doctors to benchmark local patient data against a uniform dataset to identify anomalies in real-time. http://wp.me/p3if7-1e7

Community Networks are not a Fad
Another Minnesotan, Chris Mitchell with the Institute for Local Self Reliance, published a report and map that highlights the prevalence of and barriers to publicly-owned networks. http://wp.me/p3if7-1e4 He draws out the financial and policy benefits a community reaps with its own network.

MPR Lifts Local Broadband
Minnesota Public Radio has created a hub of stories, news and editorials on broadband in Minnesota, especially rural Minnesota featuring communities that are taking diverse paths to deploy and adopt broadband. http://wp.me/p3if7-1e1

Ideas to Expand Rural Broadband Access
Guest Blogger, David Fisher details six public policy changes that would expand broadband to rural areas. His suggestions urge for leadership action and public support to be successful. http://wp.me/p3if7-1dJ

Local Broadband News

Anoka
Anoka County fiber project presents to the Schools, Health, Library Coalition BTOP Summit in Washington DC. http://wp.me/p3if7-1eF

Austin
Hormel supports Austin’s application to become a Google network pilot community. http://wp.me/p3if7-1do

Breckinridge
MN2020 publishes a 90-second video on why Breckinridge, and all of Wilkin County, needs better broadband. http://wp.me/p3if7-1dO

Burnsville
Burnsville City Council approved a Dark Fiber License Agreement with TTM Operating Corporation. http://wp.me/p3if7-1cm

Dakota County
Dakota County Libraries use their broadband connections to create a RFID system that allow for self-checkout and other time and money saving tasks. http://wp.me/p3if7-1dT

Dakota County shares its principles for countywide broadband projects, which may be useful to others looking to expand broadband access and use in a county. http://wp.me/p3if7-1cW

Duluth
While Duluth wasn’t the first community to get Google support for fast broadband, it remains hopeful that the momentum to gain Google’s attention will urge them forward. http://tinyurl.com/3frfhh4

Fergus Falls
Fergus Falls hosted a telework conference, inviting many Minnesota businesses and potential teleworkers. http://wp.me/p3if7-1cJ

Lac qui Parle County
More than 38 percent of the residents in the five counties in the Upper Minnesota River basin do not own a home computer, according to information released by the Blandin Foundation’s Intelligent Rural Communities project last year. The Computer Commuter in LqP is a way to drawn people into using technology. http://wp.me/p3if7-1d5

Stevens County
Using MIRC funding, Resource Connections is putting Wi-Fi hotspots and computers in public places so that residents and visitors can get online in Stevens County. http://wp.me/p3if7-1dh

Speech specialists use broadband to work with students remotely throughout the school district. http://wp.me/p3if7-1cA

Twin Cities
The University of Minnesota ARRA-funded project progresses with the help of the Hmong American Partnership and their computer centers and employment readiness classes. http://wp.me/p3if7-1eA

Employers such as Best Buy and Medtronic and giving iPads to employees. http://wp.me/p3if7-1d0

Punch Pizza forgoes traditional “punch card marketing” and moves entirely online. http://wp.me/p3if7-1cs

(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

April 14 – Minnesota High Tech Association Spring Conference, INNOVATION IN MINNESOTA – Fueling Our High Tech Economy – Minneapolis MN http://www.mhta.org/spring_conference.php

April 27 – Phone Justice Policy Day – explore relationships to the Internet and cell phones to create phone justice policy that reflects what Minnesota communities need. http://wp.me/p3if7-1eb

April 28 – Broadband and Economic Development (Dallas) http://www.bbpmag.com/2011s/11economic-dev.php

May 7 – TISP Forum http://tinyurl.com/44b7uy9 (Minneapolis) Save the date for a discussion on broadband policy

Looking for more events? Check out TechDotMN’s calendar http://tech.mn/events/. Many events are based in the Twin Cities but it is a comprehensive list. (If you have an upcoming event, consider submitting it.)

Coleman’s Corner

The Minnesota Telecom Alliance http://www.mnta.org annual conference was a great opportunity to see new technology products, meet vendors and to hear the news of providers from around the state. The predominant discussion among the providers is the future of the Universal Service Fund and access charges. Together, these revenue streams have been critical to the ability of smaller independent telephone companies to deploy, operate and maintain fiber to the home and node networks throughout their greater Minnesota service areas. Based on the national broadband plan’s 100 Mb/4 Mb dual standard, the emerging policies will have quite an impact on the companies that serve a big portion of Minnesota’s rural communities.

Customers of Minnesota’s larger telephone companies might benefit from these changes. Current regulatory policies do little to incent these providers to invest in rural areas and the Connected Minnesota maps clearly show the impact. It is not clear yet that the proposed changes will stimulate significant investment in fiber networks in unserved areas. Some expect wireless investment will be used to meet the 4 Mb standard leaving bandwidth hungry businesses and consumers wanting.

Rural Minnesota community leaders might want to investigate the impact of these new policies on their community.

Update on Anoka County Broadband Plan

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Last week I attended the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition BTOP Summit. As I said last week, it was a great opportunity to hear from folks making policy and see what’s happening, especially with ARRA-funded projects across the country. It was also an opportunity to learn more about Anoka County – as David Minke (from Anoka) and Essam El-Beik (from Zayo) were presenting at the conference.

I captured most of their presentation on video. Most of the presentations from the day were from libraries and schools – folks who seemed unreservedly to want to be part of the local broadband project. Anoka County was a little different. Like other countywide projects, Anoka needs to get support from individual cities as well as the county, which means talking to taxpayers about investment and that can always be a challenge – but I think it helps the project leaders hone the benefits of broadband. (In fact, Lino Lakes was meeting to discuss broadband the night I met the folks from Anoka.)