News from the Blandin on Broadband Blog

The FCC Comes to Minneapolis Twice
There were two big broadband policy meetings in the Twin Cities in August. First there was a Public FCC Hearing featuring Commissioners Copps and Clyburn and Senator Franken. The featured guests heard from a wide range of residents on their opinions on Net Neutrality. http://tinyurl.com/2bm4omp The following week, Senator Klobuchar held a meeting with FCC Chair Genachowski where they heard from MN ARRA award winners and hopefuls as well as from former Ultra High Speed Broadband Task Force members. http://tinyurl.com/2cl6xy4

International Broadband Standings
The FCC has tracked information on countries, their broadband penetration, speed goals and national strategies, when they have one. It puts the US ranking and National Broadband Plan in perspective. http://tinyurl.com/28zk5cd

Minnesota ARRA Awards
With just two more ARRA announcements scheduled (one planned for this week) http://tinyurl.com/2dlqu28, Minnesota has already been awarded $150 million with even more broadband and projects coming into the state from awards based out of other states that include a Minnesota component. http://tinyurl.com/2d565hu

Minnesota Broadband Advisory Task Force
The Department of Commerce has named the new Task Force members http://tinyurl.com/2b448xh. They held their first meeting soon after their names had been announced. http://tinyurl.com/2acy4ls

MIRC Update
The MIRC (Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities) Partners http://tinyurl.com/2c6mhh4 met in August. http://tinyurl.com/2apgyz6 One notable trend is the in-roads that are being built that will provide lasting channels among partners – both for broadband and ongoing collaboration.

Local Broadband News

Alexandria
Local ISPs meet with policymakers to discussion their concerns with the National Broadband Plan and its tiered speed goals. http://tinyurl.com/27zzqcr

Carver County
Carver County receives nearly $6 million to offer affordable middle-mile broadband service in south central Minnesota. http://tinyurl.com/2957feq

Cook County
Cook County celebrates the fiber optic backbone entering their area through North East Service Cooperative’s ARRA award; yet they await word on their last mile ARRA application. http://tinyurl.com/28wrubw

Duluth
Duluth takes a look at how the ARRA awards are coming into their town. http://tinyurl.com/38xbzv7

Iron Range
Aaron Brown asks local leaders to consider broadband as key tool for entrepreneurs on the Range. http://tinyurl.com/386vydg

Kittson, Marshall and Roseau County
Wikstrom Telephone Company is awarded $7.4 million grant to deploy FTTH in Kittson, Marshall and Roseau County. http://tinyurl.com/2645c6b

Lac qui Parle
Lac qui Parle unveiled a mobile computer lab. http://tinyurl.com/25hod3e LqP also celebrates their recent ARRA award announcement.
http://tinyurl.com/2encvl7

Lake County
Lake County is hoping to get good news on their ARRA application, but they are also considering a contingency plan that might include revenue bonds. http://tinyurl.com/2dbj4k9

Le Center
Hazelden uses text messages to support its treatment and recovery patients. http://tinyurl.com/25fz6bl

Minneapolis
LightSquared, a new nationwide 4G-LTE open wireless broadband provider, is coming to Minneapolis. http://tinyurl.com/28lhqu6

Pequot Lakes
Arvig Telephone is awarded more than $5 million to bring high-speed DSL broadband service to unserved establishments in its rural service territory. http://tinyurl.com/2645c6b

Rochester
Enventis Telecom has been awarded $7.2 million in ARRA funding to offer affordable middle-mile broadband service in Minnesota. The project will include connecting Rochester’s Mayo Clinic campus with 12 rural health care facilities throughout southern Minnesota. http://tinyurl.com/292gqwn

Roseau, Thief River Falls, Fox
Sjoberg’s, Inc. receives$866,000 ARRA award to offer FTTH broadband service in Roseau, Thief River Falls, and the hamlet of Fox. http://tinyurl.com/28cbbjf

Ruthton
Woodstock Telephone has received a $15 million ARRA award to expand its fiber network into 15 communities located within 3 counties in Southwest Minnesota. http://tinyurl.com/23m9knv

Sibley County
Sibley County continues with its FTTH feasibility study and holds public meetings in the area to discuss options. http://tinyurl.com/34j3v5d

Southwest Minnesota
Wireless satellite broadband provider KeyOn acquires assets from New Vision to help extend KeyOn’s network footprint in southwestern Minnesota. http://tinyurl.com/2863vry

St Paul
St Paul gets tops ranking for metro broadband, but can we trust the tools? http://tinyurl.com/36l3fjb

(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

• September 22 – Broadband Webinar: When Broadband Becomes Political: 10-Point Survival Guide http://tinyurl.com/2cx96uh
• September 28 – NATOA’s Broadband Economic Development Day (Washington DC) http://natoa.org/events/annual-conference/2010/
• October 7-8 – 2010 MTA Fall Conference: Broadband: the New Dial Tone (Plymouth MN) http://tinyurl.com/29lhnnf
• Noted Event: October 13-14 – 2010 Blandin Broadband Conference: Cultivating a Culture of Use (Baxter, MN) http://tinyurl.com/2dan72h
• November 3 – Tekne Awards – http://www.tekneawards.org/
• November 9 – 2010 MACTA Annual Conference (Lake Elmo MN) http://tinyurl.com/25re5wp

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 Blandin Broadband Strategy Board had a very interesting discussion about the changing broadband environment in Minnesota and across the USA. We have seen the adoption of the state broadband goals, the unveiling of the FCC National Broadband Plan, the funding of a variety of broadband infrastructure projects across Minnesota through the stimulus with more to come in the next several weeks. What does it all mean to leaders of communities with no or low-end broadband?

A huge number of questions emerge. Will middle mile projects spur last-mile investments to small and medium size businesses or residential users? Will new middle mile providers find enough customers and revenue to make their business successful? What will spur existing providers to upgrade networks to meet the 4 Mb/1 Mb FCC goal for rural areas? What will happen economically to those areas that do not meet or barely meet this 4 Mb/1 Mb standard compared to those cities and counties that will obtain much higher speed services over networks funded by stimulus funds? Is there an upgrade path from networks improved to meet the 4 Mb/1 Mb goal to networks that can deliver 100 Mb services in the near future?

In Minnesota, what does the CenturyLink purchase of Embarq and pending purchase of Qwest mean for those customers? Some CLECs have publicly questioned CenturyLink’s ability to manage the Qwest network. Communities wonder about CenturyLink’s ability to finance needed upgrades of Qwest exchanges in rural areas. Is more consolidation of telecom providers likely?

What does the future hold? Will there be more federal money for broadband? Will changes in the Universal Service Fund impact Minnesota’s providers in a positive or negative way, possibly hurting small landline companies while helping larger landline or wireless companies?

For community leaders, there will be a great opportunity to learn about these issues and discuss them with both experts and peers at the Blandin Broadband Conference October 13 and 14 in Baxter. If you care about broadband in your community, this is your best opportunity to learn what you need to know in this dynamic issue area. One thing that is clear in the broadband world is that those communities with engaged leadership are the ones that are seeing success; for some communities, years of hard work are now being rewarded with stimulus funding and private sector investment!