Today the Minnesota Ultra High-Speed Task Force spoke to the Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA) about the recommendations. (You can track the comments – mostly from the MHTA – during the conference on Twitter (#Broadband). As always those comments will become less relevant as time passes and new tweets replace the tweets from this morning.

Here is the presentation from today (thanks as always to the Task Force for sharing!):

Here are the Task Force members that sat on the panel:

Rep Sheldon Johnson (not actually a TF member)
Mike O’Connor
Gopal Khanna
John Stanoch
Mary Ellen Wells

Here are their brief notes:

JS – We spoke and more importantly listened to each other. This discussion was about more than speed. We also talked about demand and adoption. We need to boost demand to make supply affordable. We focused on communities without broadband – but some of those areas are high cost areas with low take rates. But as demand grows, so will investment.

GK – Delivery of government services rely on broadband. Many citizens now expect Amazon-type service, 24×7, online, fast service. But to provide that service, we need to be able to reach everyone through broadband – this report will help us.

MO – What do we do now? The dynamic of the group was unusual, we had our usual perspectives but we got beyond that. This isn’t as fast as some folks wanted us to go – but we got to consensus and this speed worked for everyone. We addressed some federal issues – such as symmetry. We recognized that symmetry isn’t actually required as much as having adequate speeds both down and up. Good pages to read: 56 (things to do to get to ubiquitous). Wondering what do to next – page 56+ has a list of tasks that we can work on now. Also page 80 starts the funding discussion. We need another group of people to continue this discussion.

SJ – Legislators come from difference places of understanding of broadband. I haven’t read the report yet, due to such wonderful weather this weekend, but will read it soon. Broadband isn’t so much a partisan issue; it’s rural vs urban. Getting an oversight group is important and I think there will be interest – although the biggest legislative issues is the budget.

MEW – has been involved with some measure of telemedicine since 1995. We need to find some quick wins in the next 6 months to build momentum. We don’t’ need money necessarily but we need those wins and healthcare is a good industry to have those wins.

Here are the questions:

Are speed requirements generational?
MEW – in the hospital I met a gentleman of about 75; he went online to research health options. His wife was getting eICU care.
RK – hears that doctors are getting more questions but less time and funding to answer questions.
MO – if you were studying electricity, would you study generational issues?

How do the schools currently stand?
GK – content in the classroom requires technology; teachers need it. Education will be more effective with broadband.
RK – there’s a goal of 10 percent of classes available/accessible online

How will this project get funded? Will it become a partisan issue?
SJ – it depends on whether  broadband is a want or a need and that definition has been changing. Cost will be difficult.
MO – the task force had no budget and yet was effective; the beauty of it is that if you have no budget, it can’t be cut. This task force was an exercise in leadership. We can offset funding with leadership commitment. So the MHTA could play a role here. We can start acting on recommendations now!
JS – on a jobs perspective – we can’t lose employers due to low broadband; in education there’s an achievement gap; broadband can become a solution, not an issue or purely a cost.
MO – we list a number of funding options in the report. We just need to continue to track those and have a way to work with them
RK – this can be a public-private investment; that has worked in Eagan; maybe we need to focus public money on areas where the business care isn’t there

What about the broadband stimulus funing?
JS – we were disappointed with federal definitions; they were too restrictive (need to be 50 miles from served areas; need to not have wireless or wired service. Programs that promote computer ownership could be useful. Mapping is essential.
RK – part of the stimulus money will go for further mapping

Have we looked at what other states are doing to compete with Minnesota?
MO – there was a subgroup that looked at all state reports available (@40); we borrowed the good ideas; none of the reports we read were as comprehensive as Minnesota’s. The other reports seemed to come from one side or another; Minnesota built a consensus
JS – Idaho & Utah have created tax credits to serve unserved areas

Meeting usage goals of 10Mbps by 2005 was rejected by carriers 9 years ago – how is this different?
JS – the notion of picking a speed is difficult. We came up with a speed of what we thought would make sense. The providers are less likely to set speeds; providers work more on applications and market demand.
RK – we did start by talking about applications; it was a more compelling discussion
JS – It you put a number in statute, things get stale; an ongoing entity will help keep those numbers fresh
MEW – the ranking goals may be more valuable – it keeps up
JS – in Mankato we had an epiphany that helped us focus on ranking – global ranking. If we need boost speeds beyond 10 Mbps to get there so be it
SJ – Nobody rises to low expectations

What can we do to advance the goals?
MO – page 56 or page 82; we need to do this together

Does provider consensus mean provider commitment?
JS – private providers have invested a lot of money in speeds; we have been driving speeds up. You make an investment, you hope to make money to make another investment. There are more Minnesotans on dialup than other Qwest states; they choose dialup. We also need to look at building demand.
MEW – we are getting close to the tipping point.
MO – are the providers in this deal? Yes – everyone has signed the report and is in
JS – we need to change the discussion at a federal level too; do we need to relook at USF to focus on broadband. The stimulus money is a drop in the bucket of what we need. Minnesota could have a voice in that policy discussion.