News from the Blandin on Broadband Blog

Broadband Taxes Are Painful Business and industry are unhappy with broadband-related tax changes this year. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the telecommunications industry and the Minnesota Broadband Task Force are concerned that telecom equipment sales tax might hinder broadband deployment, especially in rural areas. http://wp.me/p3if7-2hF Meanwhile Minnesota businesses that previously made money as Amazon affiliates have found that Amazon is no longer interested in working with them after changes to Minnesota’s online sales tax laws. http://wp.me/p3if7-2gJ

Rural Broadband The NTIA recently released a report that outlines the type of rural community that is least likely to be served by broadband. It turns out that very rural areas are least likely.http://wp.me/p3if7-2gO According to another recent report, this problem is expected to continue without policy to support change. http://wp.me/p3if7-2gD

Broadband Tools for Community Leaders Several tools were released in June to help community leaders understand, plan and deploy broadband. The Institute for Local Self Reliance published a wireless primer.http://wp.me/p3if7-2h2 The FTTH Council released tips on becoming a fiber community.http://wp.me/p3if7-2ht The NTIA provided updates on their programs Connect2Compete (affordable access for low income families) and EveryOneOn (digital literacy tools) to help build broadband demand. http://wp.me/p3if7-2hw

Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities As the MIRC project concludes, Blandin Foundation reports that the project was one contributing factor in Minnesota’s ability to maintain its place as a leader in rural broadband adoption and use. Broadband adoption, as measured by broadband subscriptions, increased from 64 percent to 70.6 percent in rural Minnesota during the MIRC project. In the MIRC demonstration communities, adoption jumped from 61.7 percent to 68.8 percent — close to 15 percent faster than the rest of rural Minnesota. http://wp.me/p3if7-2g5

Local Broadband News

Anoka County  Zayo put the final touches on the “Connect Anoka County” project, an ARRA-funded, middle mile network that will provide connectivity across unserved and underserved areas in Anoka County. http://wp.me/p3if7-2gG

Melrose Melrose declares itself the Minnesota’s first “gigabit city.” Local provider Arvig’s gigabit service costs $300 a month, while 100-megabit service runs $200 a month.http://wp.me/p3if7-2hl

Minneapolis Minneapolis hosts a National Civic Hack Day event that convenes techie problem solvers with civic-focused issues, resulting in new apps to help improve use of technology in local government. http://wp.me/p3if7-2fP

Monticello FiberNet, the government-owned network in Monticello, runs into financial issues but presents bondholders with a potential solution that allows them to continue to operate the network. http://wp.me/p3if7-2gz TDS, the local competing commercial provider, offers a new 100 Mbps speed option. http://wp.me/p3if7-2hn

Ramsey County The Ramsey County Board approves the sale of $7 million in bonds to assemble a modest broadband system for county business only. http://wp.me/p3if7-2fL

Rochester Rochester-based Mayo Clinic system enjoys the benefits of telehealth specifically by receiving new revenue from subscription fees that smaller hospitals pay for the telestroke service. http://wp.me/p3if7-2ge

Westbrook The Southwest Initiative Foundation helps local businesses raise funds through Kiva, an international microlending site that recently started Kiva Zip an online crowd-funding tool for businesses within the US. http://wp.me/p3if7-2hc

Events

July 23: Minnesota Broadband Task Force monthly meetinghttp://tinyurl.com/7n2syt8

July 29-30: eLearning Summit (St Paul) http://wp.me/p3if7-2dj

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.)

Stirring the Pot

As the timeless Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers played “I won’t back down,” at their Minneapolis concert this weekend –  I thought good things about all our community champions in greater Minnesota that keep plugging away on their efforts to improve broadband in their communities and the rural countryside.  (On reflection, that is a bit scary, isn’t it!)

Eighteen months ago at the Blandin Broadband Conference, audience members helped to write a MN broadband song when we could have just claimed ownership of this great song.  The crowd had no trouble singling along to this song on Saturday night!  Some of the lyrics¦

Well I won’t back down, no I won’t back down
Gonna stand my ground, won’t be turned around
There ain’t no easy way out
Well I know what’s right, I got just one life (substitute – “I got just one byte!)
And I won’t back down!”

The 4th of July is here and a reason to revisit another set of great and inspiring words, definitely more important and written by another Tom – slightly more important, the Declaration of Independence.  Jefferson wrote of unalienable rights, among them are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  As a rural farmer, scientist, voracious reader and writer, Jefferson is likely to have been an advocate for rural broadband!  And we know that Tom and the other founders, did not back down!