Thanks to John Shepard for the heads up on the update on Southwest Minnesota Broadband Service. I am impressed at how smoothly the ARRA-funded project seems to be rolling out – and just as impressed with the media attention. I think it helps to increase adoption – or at least interest – to follow the progress as closely at the SW papers have done. Here’s the latest update from the Worthington Daily Globe…
By the end of January, about 300 Lakefield residents will enjoy a range telecommunication services powered by fiber-optic cables.
And here’s the tidbit that caught my eye this morning…
Personalized higher speed Internet up to 1000 Mbps is available to customers upon request.
I love my house and my neighborhood – but 1000 Mbps could have me checking out open houses!
1000Mbps is great, but is that on network or off network? I ask because if on network the ISP can supply content such as IPTV, Streaming Video on Demand and other on-net features. If off network then it becomes a waste of bandwidth because there is very little out there to serve content at that speed. With 50Mbps most people are doing ok as far as Internet use. In any event enjoy.
Henry,
I went to the source (John Schultz of U-reka Broadband, http://u-rekabroadband.com/ an early project partner on the SMBS project) for more info. Here’s his response…
“Henry is right, but the 1000 Mbps is important to those Anchor Institution customers who really need that type of WLAN connectivity.
The good news on the residential and small business side is that we have the infrastructure in place when the “Internet” catches up to these last mile networks.”
Thx! Ann