It’s a rainy Saturday and I’m taking the opportunity to catch up with lots of email – and actual mail. Earlier this week I got a really nice report in the mail and I have been enjoying it. I’ll paste the official announcement below. If you haven’t received a copy please consider checking it out online or calling the folks at Blandin for a copy (218-327-8738).

In a newly released report, Live at the Speed of Light, Blandin Foundation’s Broadband Initiative makes the case for Open Access Networks as a solution worthy of consideration for rural Minnesota communities that want to retain a competitive edge in the global economy.

The report states, “Businesses must have ready access to high-speed connectivity in order to support the continued development of the services and applications that enable them to remain competitive in the global economy”….and, yet, “relying on market forces alone will not close America’s growing ‘broadband gap,’ particularly in rural areas, where low population densities present an especially challenging business case for incumbent providers who must attend to their bottom line.”

Open Access Networks are public-private partnership-based alternatives to the dominant US model of incumbent owned and operated, closed networks. Because Open Access Networks are owned and controlled independently of any service or content that runs over them, anyone can connect to the network to take or provide content or service from or to anyone they choose.