BTOP Call for Reviewers

July 10, 2009

Thanks to Amalia Deloney for the head up on this very interesting opportuntiy…

July 6, 2009 – Call for Reviewers – Broadband Technology Opportunities Program

Help America Advance its National Objective of Broadband Access for All

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of
the U.S. Department of Commerce is soliciting volunteers to serve as panelists to evaluate grant proposals for the $4.7 billion Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), an important part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

NTIA is accepting applications for its first round of BTOP grants from July
14, 2009 until August 14, 2009, and will conduct panel reviews through at least the end of September, 2009. As a reviewer, your evaluations will be an important factor considered by NTIA in determining whether to award grant funding. To be considered as a reviewer you must have significant expertise and experience in at least one of the following areas:

1) the design, funding, construction, and operation of broadband networks
or public computer centers;
2) broadband-related outreach, training, or education;and
3) innovative programs to increase the demand for broadband services. In
addition you must agree to comply with Department of Commerce policies on conflict of interest and confidentiality.

We are committed to ensuring that reviewers come from diverse backgrounds
and areas of the United States. Please feel free to circulate this “Call for
Reviewers” to other individuals or organizations that may be sources of qualified reviewers.

To apply to be a panel reviewer for BTOP, please email a resume containing
the information below to BTOPReviewers@ntia.doc.gov:
• Name
• Residence (city and state)
• Email/phone number
• Employer
• Position/Title
• Years and types of experience and positions in fields related to BTOP
activities

NTIA will examine and approve reviewer applications on a first-come,
first-served basis. Approved reviewers will be contacted to schedule participation in a webinar orientation session and teleconference panel reviews.

Although there will be no direct reimbursement for your time and expertise,
you may be assured that you will be making a significant contribution to enhancing broadband services throughout the United States. We appreciate the valuable contribution you will be making to the success of BTOP and look forward to working with you as a reviewer.

If you have questions, please send them by email to:
BTOPReviewers@ntia.doc.gov.
For additional information, please see http://www.broadbandusa.gov

Leave a Comment » | Funding, Policy | Permalink
Posted by Ann Treacy

Broadband Task Force Meeting July 17

July 10, 2009

blog_taskforceJust wanted to send a reminder to folks about the Minnesota Ultra High-Speed Task Force meeting this month. (See the Agenda below.) It’s on July 17 in Mankato. I’ll still be in Ireland, so I won’t be there – but a kind friend has offered to record it for me so I’m hoping to get the notes regardless.

Also I wanted to remind folks that Blandin Foundation will be presenting a Broadband Policy Seminar on July 16 in Mankato. Last month’s session in Grand Rapids went very well. If you’re near Mankato and can make it to either meeting, I’d encourage you to go.

Task Force Meeting Agenda
Date Friday, July 17, 2009
Time 8:00 a.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Location Loose Moose Saloon and Conference Center
119 S. Front Street
Mankato, MN

8:00 – 9:00 Continental breakfast – meet and greet the Task Force – open to all

9:00 – 9:15 Opening comments; review meeting agenda
Approve meeting minutes from June 19th meeting

9:15 – 10:15 Public comment

10:15 – 11:00 How to approach aspirational speed goal
• A number stated as ”the equivalent in 2015 of XX in 2010”
• A statement about where we want to be on the rankings in the US and Globally
[Craig Taylor, Brent Christenson, Dan McElroy, Peg Werner, Shirley Walz]

11:00 – 11:15 Break

11:15 – 11:30 Symmetrical sub-group report
• Review language to cover the notion of symmetrical vs. asymmetrical speeds
[Shirley Walz, JoAnne Johnson, Mike O’Connor]

11:30 – 12:15 Role of Government – sub-group report
• Discuss and decide on language for the report
[Tom Garrison, Mike O’Connor, Vijay Sethi, Karen Smith, John Stanoch, Robyn West]

12:15 – 12:45 Break for Lunch

12:45 – 1:30 Recommendation #2 – Policies and actions necessary to achieve ubiquitous broadband – sub-group report
• Review sub-group recommendations
[Mike O’Connor, Brent Christensen, JoAnne Johnson, Diane Wells, Peg Werner, Mary Ellen Wells/Joe Schindler, Carlos Seone]

1:30 – 2:15 Recommendation #3 – Opportunities for public and private sectors to cooperate to achieve goal – sub-group report
• Review sub-group recommendations
[Brent Christensen, Steve Cawley, Tom Garrison, Tim Lovaasen, Vijay Sethi, Robyn West, Mary Ellen Wells/Joe Schindler, Diane Wells]

2:15 – 3:00 Recommendation #4 – Evaluation of strategies, financing, financial incentives used in other states/countries to support broadband development & Recommendation #6 – Cost estimate – sub-group report
• Review sub-group recommendations
[John Gibbs, Dan McElroy, John Stanoch, Dick Sjoberg, Diane Wells]

3:00 – 3:30 Recommendation #5 – Evaluation and recommendation of security, vulnerability, and redundancy actions necessary to ensure reliability – sub-group report
• Review sub-group recommendations
[Mike O’Connor, Steve Cawley, Craig Taylor, Jack Ries/Gopal Khanna, Shirley Walz]

3:30 – 3:45 Plans for Upcoming Meetings (reference Planning Calendar)
• August 21st Fergus Falls
• Expectations for reviewing updated draft of report
• September 18th Thomson Reuters
• October 2nd,16th, 30th Thomson Reuters

3:45 Closing comments, adjourn meeting

1 Comment | Blandin Foundation, Conferences, MN, Policy | Permalink
Posted by Ann Treacy

Luck favors the prepared

July 8, 2009

luckI’ve been thinking about my favorite line from The Incredibles lately – luck favors the prepared (originally from Louis Pastuer). I’ve been thinking about it in terms of the broadband stimulus funding and in terms of creating vital rural communities. I think most folks reading this will make the connection between broadband and vital – but for a quick tangible reminder, I think Steve Borsch has done a nice job talking about what you can do with broadband and why it’s important for everyone to have access.

Back to being prepared … The NTIA/RUS NOFA favors the prepared. I think most folks knew that it would. The turnaround is quick. The information they request is huge. I think the funding was/is intended to favor un- and underserved communities – but generally those people aren’t prepared. I know there’s a mandate in the NOFA to serve those populations – but in practice I think it’s set up just for that – so that outside entities can serve the community but not so much so that the community can serve itself. (Amalia Deloney sent me a critique on the NOFA that touches upon this while highlighting how the focus on rural areas may have unintended consequences.)

Now for some communities having outside service provider will work well. But for others, it doesn’t. Minnesota’s own Christopher Mitchell, just had a nice article in the Charleston Gazette that highlights the need of communities to be able to serve themselves. The stimulus funding is a perfect fit for those communities – except that I think the strenuous application process will have many selecting not to participate.

My hope is that they will pursue funding either on their own or with partners. Then my follow up hope is that even if they don’t get funding that communities (and other applicants) will use the proposal process to get prepared. It might bring some hard earned good luck!

Leave a Comment » | Funding, MN, Policy, Rural | Permalink
Posted by Ann Treacy

New FCC National Broadband web site

July 7, 2009

Thanks to Ann Higgins on the heads up on the new FCC National Broadband site. I love it!

First, I love the transparency. Second, there are loads of places on the site where they are asking for feedback. For example you can submit a question for the upcoming NTIA/RUS funding workshops.

Also if you’re creative, they are looking to host a logo contest.

They also have general information on broadband. They track the federal broadband initiatives and FCC broadband news. So information is very accessible. It will be interesting to see how the site is used in the future. I’d love to see drafts or outlines of the National Broadband Policy posted here as they work.

1 Comment | Policy | Permalink
Posted by Ann Treacy

Updated Connect Minnesota Maps

July 1, 2009

The folks at Connect Minnesota sent me this to pass on…

Connect Minnesota Updates Broadband Inventory Maps to Prepare for Federal Stimulus

Media Contact: Kasey McCrary For Immediate Release
kmccrary@connectednation.org
June 30, 2009
202-340-5776

Broadband map helps chart the course for prioritizing federal broadband stimulus funding

St. Paul, MN –Today, Connect Minnesota, a non-profit group partnering with the state, released an updated version of the statewide broadband inventory map that illustrates the extent of broadband services available across Minnesota. The Connect Minnesota map, which represents broadband availability data from 110 broadband providers across the state, is expected to serve as a key asset for the state as it prepares for federal stimulus funding to support broadband investment.

The Connect Minnesota broadband map was created through a collaborative, public-private approach to broadband mapping, as Congress prescribed in the Broadband Data Improvement Act of 2008. The map illustrates broadband service availability at the street level, based on information from all types of providers across Minnesota, including cable, telephone, wireless internet service providers, rural cooperatives and municipalities. Most importantly, the broadband map illustrates the service gaps that remain in rural and other hard-to-reach locations.

“Minnesota has laid the groundwork for broadband expansion with this map,” said Brian R. Mefford, CEO of Connected Nation, parent company of Connect Minnesota. “The federal government has set the expectation that states must be able to illustrate the extent of broadband coverage in order to prioritize broadband stimulus investments for unserved and underserved areas. This map will provide Minnesota the opportunity to emerge as a technology leader among states, becoming one of only a handful of states that have taken this important step. Minnesota is ahead of the game.”

The Connect Minnesota map was developed under the leadership of the Minnesota Department of Commerce and as directed by the Minnesota State Legislature in 2008. Through a rigorous system of broadband data collection, GIS analysis, and data verification, Connect Minnesota’s mapping project determined that broadband service is currently available to 94% of Minnesota households statewide. This leaves 97,282 Minnesota households who are unserved by any broadband provider.

Through its interactive mapping website, Connect Minnesota solicited the feedback of consumers and businesses across the state to refine and ensure the highest level of accuracy for the broadband maps. The interactive site allows individuals and businesses to search an address and generate a list of broadband providers serving each address serving the area as of June 30, 2009.

Currently, more than $7 billion is available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) for broadband projects nationwide. In the ARRA, $350 million funds the Broadband Data Improvement Act of 2008. These grant funds are available for states to develop public-private partnerships for grassroots-driven expansion of broadband and computer use, particularly among unserved and underserved populations.

Connected Nation conducted a recent study of the impact of public-private broadband expansion programs funded through the Broadband Data Improvement Act and the ARRA. The study found that a comprehensive, grassroots-driven program for increased broadband access and use in Minnesota could result in a total economic impact of $2.8 billion through the creation of more than 48,000 jobs and cost savings in areas such as healthcare, the environment and through activities such as telecommuting.

Connected Nation is a national non-profit and the parent company of non-profit Connect Minnesota. Connected Nation works across the United States to create public-private partnerships that seek to increase the availability and the use of broadband and related technology. Through programs such as providing computers to underprivileged households and community service organizations, Connected Nation is able to effectively address barriers to adoption pertaining to affordability and tech literacy. Through its extensive national work, Connected Nation has proven that states and communities can realize a significant economic and social impact when broadband is universally available to all people wherever they may live.

# # #

About Connect Minnesota: Connect Minnesota is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the broadband-based development of Minnesota. Connect Minnesota is working in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Commerce and other public agencies as well as technology providers to develop a broadband inventory map for the purpose of improving digital inclusion statewide. For more information about Connect Minnesota, visit www.connectmn.org.

About Connected Nation: Connected Nation is a national non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that expands access to and use of broadband Internet and the related technologies that are enabled when individuals and communities have the opportunity and desire to connect. Connected Nation effectively raises the awareness of the value of broadband and related technologies by developing coalitions of influencers and enablers for technology deployment and adoption. Connected Nation works with community stakeholders, states and technology providers to develop and implement technology expansion programs with core competencies centered around a mission to improve digital inclusion for people and places previously underserved or overlooked. For more information about Connected Nation, Inc., visit www.connectednation.org.

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Posted by Ann Treacy

More problems with Mapping – due to short deadlines?

June 30, 2009

Thanks to Cor Wilson for sending the heads up on an article in Public Knowledge on the problems with mapping based on the experience in Texas and Tennessee.

The problem in Texas was that the State was that the RFP was done too quickly, it was open to nonprofit organizations only – and worst of all, that nonprofit status requirement was not clearly stated. (There’s more but that’s the Reader’s Digest version.) In the end, the contract went to Connected Nation.

In Tennessee, there wasn’t a RFP – the contract was simply awarded to Connected Nation – because they had done a good job with Kentucky and this was a similar project. Naturally “good job” is in the eye of the beholder. Also once you look at the contract it focuses on branding as being as much a primary goal as mapping.

So that’s the article from Public Knowledge.

All of this reminds me of how quickly the stimulus funding applications will go as well and how that gives the advantage to the slick – not necessarily the ones who need it. Now it’s been a big game of hurry up and wait for potential applicants – but once the NOFA is out (and shouldn’t that be today if they want to hit the before July 1 deadline?) it will go fast.

A huge part of the process is how you write the application – and I am concerned that the best and/or most deserving projects won’t have what it takes to get the best application done in time – after all that’s part of what made them the un- and underserved in the first place. If they were slick – they’d have better broadband already!

I hope that we’ll see more partnerships like the Blandin Foundation, Lake County and Hiawatha Broadband where folks with NOFA (or at least proposal) experience are partnering with the folks who need the help.

Leave a Comment » | Digital Divide, Funding, Policy | Permalink
Posted by Ann Treacy

Hayfield Broadband moves forward

June 30, 2009

According to the Rochester Post-Bulletin, Jaguar Communications, a competitive local exchange carrier based in Owatonna, will soon be offering FTTH in Hayfield, Minnesota.

It’s interesting to compare Hayfield’s path with a community such as Lake County. In Lake County, there is a community push. In Hayfield, Jaguar has taken the lead. I want to include a couple of paragraphs from the Post-Bulletin story, I think they’ve done a great job of describing the trials and tribulations a commercial provider may have to overcome before getting permission:

The final installation of the network is surprisingly easy; the planning to get to this point took years.

A new utility company must obtain permission from many state and federal agencies as well as each county, township and municipality in its territory.

In appearances at Claremont city council meetings, Hayfield city council meetings and Dodge County planning and zoning meetings, representatives from Jaguar have estimated they have dealt with more than 100 agencies or entities to get to this point.

I’m not advocating a community versus commercial approach or vice versa – I think the answer will be different for each community – but it sure seems that with both approaches the road could be smoother.

Hearing Jaguar’s story reminds me of the many conversations with the Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force on the role of government. It’s a challenging conversation for the Task Force – but clearly even if you can’t define it – government does play a role in broadband deployment.

Leave a Comment » | FTTH, MN, Policy, Rural, Vendors | Permalink
Posted by Ann Treacy

Lake County Broadband moves forward

June 30, 2009

According to the Lake County News Chronicle, the Lake County Board passed a resolution that authorizes the chairman to sign and the county to submit a Rural Broadband Access Loan and Loan Guarantee Program Application with the Rural Utilities Service.

The County Attorney still needs to approve it, but it’s on its way! You can learn more about the project on the Lake County web site.

2 Comments | Community Networks, FTTH, MN, Policy, Rural | Permalink
Posted by Ann Treacy

New FCC Team

June 29, 2009

The new FCC really started to take shape late last week. On Thursday Julius Genachowski was confirmed as FCC Chairman. As the Benton Foundation reported, that wasn’t the end of the good news for the Obama Administration. They also confirmed Commissioner Robert McDowell for a second FCC term. And Larry Strickling is now named assistant secretary of Commerce for communications and information.

Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps will return to being Commissioner Michael Copps. Obama has also nominated Mignon Clyburn and Meredith Attwell Baker for the FCC.

And while I’m on the FCC, they have recently approved the merger of Centurytel and Embarq. The criticism is that the FCC haven’t put enough demands on the merger.

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Posted by Ann Treacy

Telemedicine essential to healthcare reform

June 28, 2009

telehealthThanks to Ann Higgins for sending me word on a recent white paper, National Telemedicine Initiatives: Essential to Healthcare Reform.

This report details the value of telemedicine:

In our view, innovative telemedicine systems have already demonstrated the potential to:
• Redress the inequities in access to all levels of health resources (primary, secondary, and tertiary);
• Enhance health system efficiency, clinical decision making, and prescription ordering.
• Promote patient-centered care, at lower cost, and in local environments.
• Increase the effectiveness of chronic disease management in longterm care institutions, and especially in the home environment.
• Promote individual adoption of healthy lifestyles and self-care.

Looking at that list, telemedicine seems like a no-brainer, but there are barriers. There’s the inequity of access to broadband both in terms of access for providers and patients, there’s the cost of implementing technology solutions (or any new solutions) on the provider’s end, and (I think this is the most salient point) there’s a need to change the reimbursement scheme.

Providers are not compensated adequately for remote patient visits. (Maybe that’s why the Electronic Health Records seem to garner more attention within the healthcare industry.) So there are disincentives to promote or implement it – even though as has been pointed out telemedicine can enhance efficiency and increase effectiveness. Healthcare is sacrificing long term goals for short term compensation. One thing that strikes me when reading this is how well it fits in with the FCC’s Rural Broadband Strategy and the idea that broadband is interdisciplinary, not its own discrete subject – to use a school analogy. For so long broadband has been looked at a separate issue – it’s time to integrate.

We need to develop policies that promote the efficiency and effectiveness of telemedicine by providing adequate compensation. To me it seems like that would be time well spent. Yes it would take time and budget to assess and develop a new process – but I think the FCC Rural Broadband Strategy gives credence to the value of such strategic and integrated thinking and I think this white paper on Healthcare reform demonstrates the potential payback – both in terms of money and quality of life for patients.

Leave a Comment » | Healthcare, Policy | Permalink
Posted by Ann Treacy

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