Monthly Archives: October 2011

Advice from Commissioner Copps – Get Organized to Effect Change

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This week I was lucky enough to be invited to attend a small meeting with FCC Commissioner Copps. The meeting was hosted by the Center for Media Justice and the Main Street Project. (I want to especially thank amalia deloney for the invitation.)

It was a nice complement to the public hearing session hosted by the same groups last year. Last year Commissioner Copps and Commissioner Clyburn listened for *hours* as folks share their news, views and stories. It was an amazing turnout!

This meeting was a much smaller group and the topics were narrower in scope but included diversity in media ownership and representation, Low Powered FM Radio and policies to promote greater use of technology (broadband, telephone, radio) such as Net Neutrality and Universal Service Funds.

Commissioner Copps was generous to allow me to record the session. I didn’t catch the intros, because I wasn’t sure that everyone wanted to be archived – but I think his comments drew upon the remarks from the folks in the room.

I also took some very quick notes on the comments that just stuck out for me. So for a very high-level Reader’s Digest version I will include those notes below. Commissioner Copps will be done with his tenure at the FCC at the end of the year. I got the feeling that he was imparting some good advice on his way out to help community leaders work with the FCC in the future – and maybe to push the FCC to work harder. His key tip – Get Organized to Effect Change!

 

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Broadband Pre-Conference Webinars Coming Up

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Leading up to the Fall Broadband Conference, Blandin will be hosting a series of free webinars. In the past these sessions have been a great way to bone up on topics before the conference and/or a good taste of the type of topic that might come up at the conference. The first session starts next week. I hope you’ll register and put the others on your calendar…

Pre-Broadband Conference Webinar – Critical Broadband Policy Issues
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 – 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

We kick-off this year’s pre-conference webinar series with JoAnne Johnson from U-reka Broadband Ventures.

JoAnne will tackle policy issues at both the Federal and State level:

  • Federal policy – The Universal Service Reform Discussion: Who is lining up where and why?
  • State policy – How do we move policy creation to strategy implementation and why hasn’t anything happened?

Please register. https://blandinfoundation.ilinc.com/register/rryczwv

Pre-Broadband Conference Webinar – Mobile Broadband – Is it enough?
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 – 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

The US Broadband plan establishes a 4 Mb goal for those lacking access to networks meeting the 100 Mb goal. Many assume that this goal will be met with mobile broadband networks. Will this be adequate to participate in today’s bandwidth intensive world?

Join Jeff Carlisle from LightSquared and Bob Bass from ATT in the exploration of this question.

Please register. https://blandinfoundation.ilinc.com/register/jjszfrm 

Pre-Broadband Conference Webinar – Public-private partnerships in broadband
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 – 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

With stimulus funds allocated and clear understanding of the difficulties in obtaining strictly market-based funding, how can underserved areas reach their broadband goals? What are some successful models of public private partnerships?

Bill Coleman of Community Technology Advisors will present this topic.

Please register. https://blandinfoundation.ilinc.com/register/wwvhkfv

Pre-Broadband Conference Webinar – Community Transformation via Technology
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 – 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Communities want broadband networks to support economic vitality. Assuming infrastructure investments are made, what are the next steps to transform the way communities function in a broadband-based world?

School superintendents Matt Grose and Mark Adams from the Itasca Area Schools Collaborative and Paul Thon from Cisco will talk about the work they’re doing to bring technology to Itasca County schools and the communities in which they reside.

Please register: https://blandinfoundation.ilinc.com/register/rrychss

Broadband applications in Windom Schools

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On our tour of MIRC projects, we visited the BARC (Business Arts & Recreation Center) in Windom, Minnesota. The Center is an old school that has been renovated and super wired for multiple purposes. I’ve written before about their remote interpreter training classes. Last week we learned about more uses in the K12 environment. Teachers are using videoconferencing to attend professional development courses without travel. They are also able to access files remotely. The school is hoping to create an environment where each student has an iPad – part of that transition is helping teacher and parents get experience using the tools.

The technology is also available for lifelong learners. We learned about seniors are using videoconferencing and Skype to keep in touch with friends and family.

CenturyLink offers low-income Internet option

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CenturyLink is now offering low-cost Internet access for low-income households. According to their press release…

To help get more low-income households online, CenturyLink is offering discounted High-Speed Internet service starting at $9.95 a month, plus applicable taxes and fees, to eligible consumers in the 37 states where it has local operations. The service provides access up to 1.5 Mbps downstream capability. Higher bandwidth services, where available, are offered at a comparable discount.

CenturyLink also is offering program participants an Internet-ready netbook computer for $150, plus taxes, shipping and handling. The new equipment includes access to CenturyLink@Ease™, a comprehensive suite of backup, security and support services.

They will also be offering digital inclusion training in some communities. Minnesota isn’t listed yet but CenturyLink will partnering with community groups in Minnesota to offer free computer learning programs. The Minnesota locations will not be announced until after January 1 2012.

Participation in CenturyLink Internet Basics is determined by the criteria for the Lifeline Affordable Telephone Service.

Broadband Access Project at Sabathani

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There’s a nice update to the University of Minnesota’s BTOP (ARRA-funded) project in the online Southside Pride newspaper.

You can read the article to learn more about a successful project they hosted this summer, but I thought the following snippet would be most interesting to readers as it gets to the root of the collaborative benefits of the BAP project; something we’ve seen with the MIRC (Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities) initiative as well…

When the University of Minnesota upgraded Sabathani’s third-floor computer lab with new computers last year to launch a Broadband Access Project (BAP) center in the South Minneapolis community, the relationship also gave staff the chance to close the curriculum hole.

According to Cheryl Vanacora, training and curriculum coordinator for the BAP, the University collaborated with HYP to provide instruction to the teens in publishing, online photo-editing and photography basics. They used programs including Adobe Illustrator, Pixelar and Microsoft Publisher.

Sabathani is one of 10 community organizations in Minneapolis and St. Paul participating in the University-sponsored BAP, which brings internet access and computer skills training to urban communities.

Northern Regional Broadband Networks Forum Notes & Presentations

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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.)

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Blandin Broadband eNews October

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News from the Blandin on Broadband Blog

MIRC Projects Highlighted
Last week, the Blandin Foundation hosted NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) consultants on a tour of some of the ARRA-funded Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC) initiative projects. The tour headed west from St. Paul including stops in Windom, Ortonville, Madison, Morris, Willmar and a few places in between, hearing from broadband adoption programs in the various communities. http://wp.me/p3if7-1pY Stories from the trip will be posted on the blog over the next couple of weeks.

Fall Broadband Conference – Nov 16-17
The Blandin Foundation and Connect Minnesota are joining forces to provide conference goers a snapshot of policy and progress being made both inside Minnesota’s borders and on the national level at the Policy and Progress: Border to Border Broadband conference held November 16-17 in Duluth, Minnesota. http://tinyurl.com/44qgnxg The event will include a series of pre-conference webinars and a broadband film fest at the event. http://wp.me/p3if7-1q6

Who isn’t Online?
Over the summer, Connected Nation interviewed 12,000 US residents about their broadband adoption. In September, they released the first of many reports on their findings; this one focuses on low-income families with children. They report that 37 percent of low-income minority households with children have broadband at home and only 40 percent have computers at home. In fact, for low-income households, the cost of access and computer ownership is the most-cited reason why they do not adopt broadband. http://wp.me/p3if7-1pr

AT&T T – Mobile Merger
The AT&T/T-Mobile Merger continues to attract attention. http://wp.me/p3if7-1oF Yesterday, the Center for Science, Technology, and Public Policy hosted a lecture featuring former Congressman Rick Boucher and amalia delony, grassroots director for the Center for Media Justice discussing the impact of the proposed merger, especially on rural areas and low-income residents. http://wp.me/p3if7-1qp

Local Broadband News

Albert Lea
The Albert Lea City Council approves another move toward sharing information technology services with Freeborn County, which is expected to save the city more than $6,000 a year. http://wp.me/p3if7-1p7

Anoka
Anoka County celebrates the groundbreaking of their ARRA-supported fiber deployment. http://wp.me/p3if7-1p5

Blue Earth
Save Rural Broadband works with Blue Earth to produce a video extolling the virtues of broadband. http://wp.me/p3if7-1pj

Lake County
Minnesota PUC approved Lake Communications’ application for the authority to provide broadband fiber optic service in Lake and St. Louis counties. http://wp.me/p3if7-1oX

Park Rapids
Paul Bunyan Telephone is expanding broadband to 4,000 homes in Park Rapids thanks to a $17 million loan through the USDA’s Rural Utility Service. http://wp.me/p3if7-1pQ

Red Wing, Lake City, Plainview, Elgin, Eyota and Dover
HBC’s (Hiawatha Broadband Communications) fiber access network plans an extension to cover a wide swath of Southern Minnesota, including Red Wing, Lake City, Plainview, Elgin, Eyota and Dover. http://wp.me/p3if7-1pd

Redwood County
Redwood County decides to move forward with a fiber optic feasibility study. http://wp.me/p3if7-1oC

Roseville
Terre Hauser, from the City of Roseville, speaks at the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors Conference in San Francisco about collaboration and shared IT services among Ramsey County communities. http://wp.me/p3if7-1pn

Silver Bay
A Lake County Commissioner urges for improved wireless broadband for public safety, especially to support emergency personnel combatting forest fires. http://wp.me/p3if7-1pL

Stearns County
Stearns County’s web site is named the best county government web site in the country in the Center for Digital Government’s Best of the Web awards. http://wp.me/p3if7-1oy

Trout Lake Township
Paul Bunyan Telephone is expanding fiber service to Trout Lake Township. While construction is expected to begin next Spring, service may be three years away. http://wp.me/p3if7-1pV

Twin Cities
Comcast is offering fast Internet access to low-income Twin Cities families for $10 a month. http://wp.me/p3if7-1p3

(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

October 6-7 – MN Telecom Alliance Fall Conference (Minneapolis) http://tinyurl.com/3jp7qq9

October 13 – Minnesota Association of Community Telecommunications Administrators Annual Conference (Lake Elmo, MN) http://tinyurl.com/25re5wp

November 3 – Tekne Awards (Minneapolis) http://www.tekneawards.org/

November 12 – CityCamp Minnesota (Minneapolis) http://citycamp.govfresh.com/

November 16-17 – Policy & Progress: Border to Border Broadband (Duluth) http://tinyurl.com/44qgnxg

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.)

Stirring the Pot

Several folks from Google were on the agenda at last week’s NATOA conference. I have to say that the more I heard from the Googlers, the less I liked them! Smugness filled the room whenever Google was talking. We learned that Google people are really smart. And that they work really fast. And that their new network will be the model of best practices despite never having built a network before. And that they are really, really smart.

All of which may be true. On the other hand, one Googler stated that satellite broadband was “good enough” for rural consumers, so maybe not so smart after all. That remark brought boos and hisses from my corner of the room.

Another Google representative bragged aggressively about Google Speed – which describes their fast pace of action at Google. Based on their implementation so far, I am skeptical. Google announced their community fiber project in February 2010 and took more than a year to announce Kansas City, Kansas as their partner. Seven months after the announcement, they have yet to break ground. NTIA and RUS and hundreds of project partners around the country are moving at least as fast in a much more complex financial, legal and regulatory environment.

Regulation and permitting was a point of emphasis for Google. Interestingly, Google estimates that they can save 3 – 5% of fiber network construction costs by working with the local government to efficiently permit and inspect the project. They did not give much detail on how the savings might be accomplished or whether Google’s savings are simply costs transferred to Kansas City. Google emphasized Kansas City’s single layer of regulation as a key factor in their selection. Heads seemed to be nodding in agreement around the room.

This contrasted to an earlier discussion at the conference over the wireless industry’s complaints about tower siting and permitting processes. The industry’s testimony to the FCC brought howls of protests from local representatives. “We are not the problem” was the consensus of the attendees. Considering the importance of broadband deployment to communities, I do wonder about the minimum goal of the regulators and whether their goal should move from “not the problem” to “infrastructure investment enabler”. When Google came a calling, we all jumped as high and as fast as possible. I wonder how we treat our local providers.

Speed and ease of implementation can be a competitive advantage. Clearly, Google considers it to be an important factor in its business. How does it work in your community?

Bill Coleman helps communities make the connection between telecommunications and economic development. As principal in Community Technology Advisors http://tinyurl.com/3f4dx7g for ten years, he assists community, foundation and corporate clients develop and implement programs of broadband infrastructure investment and technology promotion and training. Bill is working with the Blandin Foundation on the MIRC Initiative http://tinyurl.com/2c6mhh4, Community Broadband Resource Program http://tinyurl.com/cseu7e and other broadband projects.

Broadband adds 0.3 percent to a nation’s GDP

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Thanks to Ann Higgins on the heads up the Speeds Matters article on a new report on the economic impact of broadband…

A new report found that doubling broadband speed adds 0.3 percent to a nation’s gross domestic product. The report by Chalmers University of Technology of Gothenburg, Sweden, international consulting firm, Arthur D. Little, and Mobile giant Ericsson, looked at broadband speeds in 33 developed OECD nations. This may not sound like much, but in the wealthy countries this amounted to an average $126 billion, or one-seventh the average growth rate.

It helps to make the case that broadband isn’t a cost; it’s an investment.

Notes from Telecommunication Mergers and the Public Good Talk

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Today the Humphrey Institute hosted a discussion on the AT&T T-Mobile mergers. Here is the description from the UMN web site…

The Center for Science, Technology, and Public Policy (CSTPP) will host a lecture featuring two very different views about possible mergers in telecommunications giants AT&T and T-Mobile from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Monday, October 3, in the Wilkins Room (Room 215) at the Humphrey School. Former Congressman Rick Boucher, now a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Sidley Austin, and amalia delony, grassroots director for the Center for Media Justice will discuss their differing views of the proposed merger and take questions from the audience. Steve Kelley, director of CSTPP, will moderate the discussion.

It was an interesting discussion in many ways because the two main speakers agreed on so many points so unlike many debates today it wasn’t like trying to bring black to white or white to black. There was careful consideration of the nuance, details and ramifications of the decisions being discussed. I’ll include my pretty full notes below but I thought I’d include a quick list of pros and cons. (These are as stated by the speakers – not my personal pros and cons.)

For the Merger:

  • It’s a good way to get to 98% broadband coverage in the US in the next 5-6 years without government spending.
  • T-Mobile will probably be sold anyways the parent company is no longer interested in the American market
  • 4G is broadband; it is faster than most rural communities experience now

Against the Merger

  • A merger will mean a loss of jobs. T-Mobile’s workforce is 48% minorities
  • AT&T is not known for quality customer service while T-Mobile is the most low-income-friendly with prices and service locations
  • 4G may be broadband, but access through a smartphone alone is not enough. You can’t fill out a college application on your smartphone. People need

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60 Percent of Small Businesses Don’t Have a Web Site

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Google was in town last weekend to offer free classes and advice to Minnesota businesses. I actually attended part of the session. And I must admit that statistics “60 Percent of Businesses Don’t Have a Web Site” caught my attention – as it apparently caught Minnesota Public Radio. (I remember that students working in rural Minnesota had reported more as anecdote that 30 percent of the businesses they searched weren’t on Google. So the percentage seems high – although small business could mean anyone down to one-person part-time businesses)

I suspect that few folks in the room – and MPR reports it was 900 people over two days – had a web site or knew how to build one. The sessions included many basic online marketing classes and the event was cosponsored by someone who has a Content Management System; it also included Google staff who were available for one-on-one questions.

I spoke to some of the Google folks and it seemed like they were most prepared to answer basic questions – but again that was, for the most part, their audience.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I’ve just landed after a week of touring MIRC (Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities) projects in rural Minnesota. We toured a fraction of the projects that are underway – but got a good flavor of the offerings, including several of the training programs available:

  • University of Minnesota Extension is working with MIRC demonstration communities to provide hands-on training to businesses on all aspects of online marketing.
  • Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace has offered a range of webinars and some on-site training on online marketing and smart grid technologies – especially aimed at the renewable energy marketplace and businesses serving them.

In my limited exposure these local folks were offering information and tools to folks in rural areas at least as valuable as the Google training offered in the Twin Cities. For folks who take advantage of the opportunities, it can be a leg up on those 60 percent of businesses who aren’t online.

A nice addition to the rural areas is the training developed through MIRC for folks who aren’t ready to hear about web sites yet.

  • DEED (Department of Employment and Economic Development) has created a series of online classes to help folks who are entirely new to computers and may have low English and/or literacy skills. The classes are self-paced designed and can be made accessible in places such as libraries and workforce centers where new computer users may be looking for help.
  • The Learning Commons developed another series of classes that target folks who know how to use a computer – but not how to use programs such as word processing that might help them be more attractive to potential employers.
  • Atomic Training has also joined the lineup by offering free access to a wide range of online computer training classes.

For someone who is normally behind a computer myself, it has been interesting to see folks who aren’t to tethered at Google and then the MIRC projects – but also heartening to learn about opportunities for digital inclusion and advancement in rural and urban settings.

Bigger, Better Broadband: a Video retrospective produced by you!

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As a reminder, the Fall Broadband Conference is happening November 16-17 in Duluth. We’re working with Connect Minnesota. The conference will focus on the ARRA Broadband funding efforts that have been underway in Minnesota.

To help highlight the great activity in the state, we’re doing something kind of fun – a film fest! And we’re inviting folks around the state to submit videos…

The Blandin Foundation is looking for video shorts (less than 10 minutes) on bigger better broadband in Minnesota to showcase at a Broadband Film Festival!

The Film Festival will be part of the 2011 broadband conference: Policy and Progress: Border to Border Broadband, November 16-17. The Film Festival will take place on November 17 from 5:00-9:00 pm at the Zeitgeist small theater in Duluth, Minnesota. The Festival will feature video, food and fun.

We are looking for locally developed videos to showcase what’s happening in broadband adoption, deployment and/or policy in Minnesota. We leave the creativity up to you – we will be showing as many of the best videos intermingled with “broadband classics” as time allows at the Festival.

Here are the details:

  • What: We seek videos shorter than 10 minutes that relate to broadband in Minnesota.
  • How: Please upload your videos and send a note with your name, contact info, and link to the video to broadband@blandinfoundation.org. Email questions to kpeterson@kpgrants.com
  • Where: Please upload to YouTube, Vimeo or other online video sharing site
  • Who: Anyone in Minnesota is invited to submit a video
  • Why: Because we want to learn about bigger, better broadband in Minnesota from the people who experience it and there are prizes!
  • When: Submissions will be accepted until November 1.

If you do not have a video to submit, stay for the festival anyway. There will be hors d’oeuvres and networking time to wrap up the conference. Be sure to register.

Small print: Please do not submit videos that include adult content or language. Please respect copyright and do not include material that is not yours (that includes background music).