Today I attended the Northern Regional Broadband Networks Forum in Duluth. The interest in broadband in the business community in Duluth is clearly high – as demonstrated by the standing room only situation in the room.

It was a nice look at all aspects of broadband of the community and a nice eye opener for folks who may not be using broadband, cloud computing or social media as often (or maybe as well) as the speakers. I think it will spur folks to go home and look at how they can implement broadband tools in work, home and community.

Below are the presentations. [Added 10/5/2011 – you can access materials from the event online too. http://www.northlandconnection.com/uploads/BroadbandNetworkForumPacket2.pdf]

(Danna used a great tool called Prezi – fun to see, great for the presentation but tougher to embed in the blog. Please click to view her presentation.)

And here are the questions, which I think are always valuable. (As fun to see what folks ask as to hear the answers.)

• What speed do you need for folks to work from home?
• Don’t know minimum. Clearly need more than dialup.
• Do your work at home employees need to be near the office (to United Health Care)?
• Try to keep folks within a 60 miles radius. (Although we have exceptions – especially from folks who have moved.)
• Is there a single source online to find your speed based at an address?
• Connect Minnesota maps are pretty good – they will show providers anyways. The problem with the map is that they’re not very granular – although they go to census track in MN.
• When will the Middle Mile project be complete?
• The NESC is under construction and should be done next year – although bulk may be done by the end of the year.
• Mediacom seems to be the only game in town now, will Mediacom get on board for Last Mile?
• NESC is working with existing carriers. Frontier is the first provider to sign on.
• We really focus on Middle Mile. We provide fast, not-shared broadband but not to the Last Mile. The questions of service to the home will be up to the individual commercial provider.
• Is there a technology being developed to offer wireless to a whole city?
• Minneapolis has a private sector partners. The city prepaid for services to help that happen. It’s a tough technology – because it often comes down to the siding of the house for quality.

I did a little Tweeting during the event if you want a super quick look at the event.