Monthly Archives: August 2013

Unhappy customer goes too far in Duluth

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An interesting story from City Pages…

Steven Saari, a 28-year-old Duluth resident, pleaded guilty yesterday to a gross misdemeanor after he threatened to blow up a Charter Communications office in Duluth last summer. The reason? He was upset about his internet service.

Last July 10, Saari was on the phone with Charter’s call center. Unsatisfied about how employees were dealing with his service problems, he said, “I guess I’m going to have to deal with the Duluth office by kicking down the door and blowing it up.”

And lest it seem like Charter is the only one with customer service issues, the author recommends…

Next time, we’d advise skipping the bomb threats and instead just threatening to cancel your service. That usually seems to work when I’m dealing with Comcast, even if I have to waste an afternoon on hold and pulling my hair out to the world’s worst muzak before I get any satisfaction.

It does make the point that people are serious about their broadband and/or service.

Blandin Broadband eNews August 2013

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BBC MapNews from the Blandin on Broadband Blog

Broadband Disrupting Education

The Minnesota eLearning Summit showcased flipped classrooms, MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course) and locally created FlexBooks (online curriculum): disruptive technologies that change the classroom, prepare students for a future workplace and help keep the US in line with global leaders. http://wp.me/p3if7-2jk & http://wp.me/p3if7-2jo Each tool requires broadband in the school and at home. The LEAD (Leading Education by Advancing Digital) Commission reinforced the message in their recent report to the FCC, Paving a Path Forward: A Technology and Education Blueprint. http://wp.me/p3if7-2jG The FCC is currently soliciting comments on modifications to the E-Rate (federal funding for broadband in schools and libraries). http://wp.me/p3if7-2iE

Broadband and State Initiatives

The Minnesota Broadband Task Force monthly meeting featured broadband providers talking about their investments and business plans for broadband in their areas. ROI is a big deciding factor. http://wp.me/p3if7-2iX The Task Force also heard from the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) about the recently announced position of director of the Office of Broadband Development. http://wp.me/p3if7-2ju Deadline to apply is August 12.

Broadband and Economic Impact

The OECD released an international report that documents a correlation between broadband and per capita GDP. The correlation between wireless and GDP was not nearly as strong as wired connectivity. http://wp.me/p3if7-2iT An interesting differentiation given that Verizon recently reported that they are moving away from wired connectivity in rural area and starting to shift to wireless services. http://wp.me/p3if7-2ik Closer to Minnesota, Bernadine Joselyn from the Blandin Foundation was featured on Gigabit Radio talking about Measuring Broadband’s impact on economic development with the Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC) program. http://wp.me/p3if7-2iO

Minnesota Digital Literacy Report

The 2012 Residential Technology Assessment from Connect Minnesota shows that approximately 22 percent of adult Minnesotans do not subscribe to home broadband service. More than one in ten non-adopters in Minnesota (13 percent) cite a lack of digital literacy skills as their main reason for not adopting. http://wp.me/p3if7-2ip The Blandin Foundation recently hosted a webinar citing some of the digital literacy efforts that seemed to be successful in MIRC communities; the webinar features the computer refurbishing and redistribution services of PCs for People. http://wp.me/p3if7-2ih

Funding Available

The USDA’s Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant Program has issued a Notice of Funding. Eligible applicants must operate a rural community facility or deliver telemedicine or distance learning services to an organization that operates such a facility. Applications are due August 12. http://wp.me/p3if7-2hW

Local Broadband News

Chaska
Chaska.net (a community run broadband service provider) is reconsidering its operations as upgrades are required to their infrastructure. http://wp.me/p3if7-2ia

Cook County
Arrowhead Electric Coop reports updates on fiber construction in the area. http://wp.me/p3if7-2hZ

Eagan
Just two months after signing their first provider, AccessEagan signs its third telecommunications carrier, opening up new broadband options for local businesses. http://wp.me/p3if7-2jL

Fond du Lac
Fond du Lac (a Blandin Broadband Community or BBC) plans to bring small businesses together to receive training and hands-on experience to show business owners how to research, purchase, market and sell online. http://wp.me/p3if7-2id

Grand Rapids
A teen tech whiz is taking over a local community exchange and shopping site. He will be integrating the site with social media channels. http://wp.me/p3if7-2jc

Hennepin County
Hennepin County is named second top digital county (for counties with population of more than 500,000) by the Center for Digital Government. http://wp.me/p3if7-2iB

Lac qui Parle Valley
The LqPV school district heads a BBC effort to expand broadband in the area. Increasing broadband hotspots and working with the school are two approaches they are taking. http://wp.me/p3if7-2j7

Lake County
Lake County and the Minnesota broadband community mourn the loss of local broadband advocate Paul Bergman. http://wp.me/p3if7-2j3

Twin Cities
Comcast plans to expand wireless access in the Twin Cities by modifying its home customers’ wireless routers so that they broadcast two Wi-Fi signals: the private Wi-Fi network accessed by the homeowners, and a separate, public Xfinity-branded Wi-Fi signal accessible to all — neighbors and passersby. http://wp.me/p3if7-2hT

Events

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.)

Bill_ColemanStirring the Pot

In the last couple of weeks I have been working with the West Central Telephone Association (WCTA) in Sebeka to prepare an application to the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA) for a Smart Communities Award.

It has been fun to work with the WCTA co-op staff to learn more about WCTA’s work in their home community and region. WCTA is nearing completion of a 100% FTTH network throughout their service area, serving the communities and countryside of northern Wadena County. They offer up to 40 Mbps Internet service to homes and businesses and gigabit services to local schools and health care providers. WCTA staff is actively engaged as a community asset – with economic development, broadband adoption and general community support activities in a long-term, continuous commitment.  WCTA is active in regional efforts to deploy and promote broadband-based community vitality.  In fact, it was relatively easy to come up with 20 pages of “good stuff”, including customer and community leader testimonials, to write about WCTA in their application to the NTCA.  If any provider is qualified for these awards, WCTA certainly is!

As I survey the Minnesota landscape and think about the work completed through the MIRC project and ongoing through Blandin Community Broadband Program, I see a good number of broadband providers of all types – for-profits, cooperatives and municipalities – that actively engage with their communities as partners.

When this happens, I see a positive, multiplier effect on technology-based economic development, broadband adoption and digital inclusion efforts. This type of partnering provides benefits for all concerned – the provider, the community as a whole, and the local residents. These providers do not receive enough positive recognition for what they are doing in their communities.

I encourage all communities and providers to explore ways to develop more effective partnerships. Even where a community may have significant dissatisfaction with their provider(s) due to available Internet speeds and/or coverage areas, there are ways to partner in identifying marketable network assets and well-served business development sites. These efforts might yield some targeted provider investment that could greatly improve a community’s economic development outlook. It should be an easy task to partner on adoption and digital inclusion strategies.

WCTA and these other providers set a high bar against which other providers can measure their own community partnership efforts!  Every Minnesota provider should get out their measuring stick!

Minnesota Broadband Task Force meeting Aug 13: Agenda

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The agenda is out for the next Minnesota Broadband Task Force meeting:

Governor’s Task Force on Broadband
August 13, 2013

Red Wing City Council Chambers,
315 West 4th Street
Ignite Building,
419 Bush Street
Red Wing, MN 55066
11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Red Wing City Council Chambers:

11:00 – Welcome, Introductions, Approval of Minutes

11:10 – Public Comments

11:20 – Welcome and Presentation by Red Wing Ignite

11:50 – Presentation by Thomas Cohen, Kelley Drye

12:30 – Presentation by Minnesota State Senator Matt Schmitt

1:00 – Large group wrap–‐up/Upcoming meeting information

1:10 – Lunch

Ignite Building:

1:40  – Subgroup Breakout Session 1 (Best Practices/Incentives and Broadband Adoption subgroups)

2:20 – Subgroup Breakout Session 2 (Mobile/Wireless and Coordination Across Govt./Monitor FCC & PUC Decisions/Cost of Broadband subgroups)

3:00 – Adjourn

NOTE: Red Wing Ignite is hosting an open house at the Ignite Building from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. with a brief program at 3:30 with Governor Dayton. Task Force members and meeting attendees are invited to stay for the open house.

Here are more details on the Open House…

Red Wing Ignite Open House

Event Location

Ignite Building
419 Bush Street
Red Wing

Date: August 13, 2013

Time: 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Event Description

Red Wing Ignite is hosting an Open House at their business accelerator on August 13, 2:30-4:30PM with a program at 3:30PM at the Ignite Building located at 419 Bush Street. Governor Dayton, Senator Matt Schmitt, and Representative Tim Kelly will be speaking at this event. The primary goal of US Ignite is to catalyze 60 advanced, next-gen applications over the next five years in six areas of national priority including: education and workforce development; advanced manufacturing; health IT; transportation; public safety; and clean energy. To meet this mission, US Ignite Partnership has entered into agreements that will bring its efforts to 25 cities across the country, and Red Wing is lucky enough to be one of them! Red Wing Ignite is a non-profit organization that provides a co-working space, business accelerator and a test bed environment for entrepreneurs, developers and small businesses. Red Wing Ignite’s goal is to help provide the needed resources to help businesses grow and flourish in our community.

U of M pushing flipped classes

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According to Minnesota Daily (the U of M paper), flipped classrooms are gaining traction at the University and professors have even started looking at MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) with five professors teaching MOOCs this summer.

“There has really been a dramatic uptick on the part of faculty that is almost a renaissance of thinking about how to teach better, and how to use new tools, that is more aggressive than it was before,” said chemistry professor Chris Cramer, who served as the faculty liaison for the University’s Office of eLearning and taught a flipped course last year.

In flipped classrooms, professors record and post lectures online for students to view outside of class. During normal class time, students generally participate in group work, hands-on activities and class discussions.

The flipped classrooms are in line with goals that Karen Hanson, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, laid out in February for the University’s eLearning initiatives, which include redesigning programs to integrate online components into courses.

It sounds as if the reaction from students has been mixed.

Jessica Wyatt, a chemistry freshman, said it’s unrealistic for professors to expect students to learn from videos at home.

“Flipped classrooms at the [University] are really obnoxious,” she said, “because you don’t get the lecture-style learning that you’re looking forward to when you go to college.”

On the other side of the spectrum, graduate student Kelsey Brown said a flipped classroom format would be attractive to her.

“[Flipped classes] would give students a lot more time to ask questions and already get familiar with the material so they can delve deeper into the [subject],” she said.

I found the comment on lecture-style learning to be surprising. At the eLearning conference I attended last week, someone noted that while MOOCs provided the world with access to the content that what would keep college is business was the relationship with fellow students and professors. But I don’t know that the relationship is developed around lectures. I think that another part of the equation is preparing students for online and other alternative teaching methods. One of the teachers in the article noted…

“I think once students start to get used to the idea of maybe learning a little bit differently … they enjoy the flipped classroom,” she said. “But I don’t know if a lot of the freshmen I teach are prepared for that.”

What would be nice would be a mix of flipped, MOOC, traditional (lecture and discussion), experiential classrooms to suit all learning styles. It’s exciting to see steps towards customized education.

Eagan’s network signs third provider to serve local businesses

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Just two months after signing their first provider, Pioneer Press reports that AccessEagan signed their third provider…

AccessEagan has signed its third telecommunications carrier, opening up new broadband options for local businesses.

AccessEagan is a 16-mile high-capacity fiber-optic network available to any telecommunications provider that wants to serve Eagan businesses.

Velocity Inc. joins Arvig and Frontier Communications as carriers on the wholesale network; the city owns the infrastructure, but private sector carriers provide all services.

Paving a Path Forward: A Technology & Education Blueprint for the FCC

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A couple weeks ago, LEAD Commission Co-Chairs spoke to the FCC about the recommendations to modernize the E-Rate program. LEAD (Leading Education by Advancing Digital) is a bipartisan group formed to look at technology in the schools. In June they released their 5-point recommendation plan:

  1. Solve our infrastructure challenge by wiring schools with high-speed broadband;
  2. Build a national initiative to put learning devices in the hands of all students by 2020;
  3. Accelerate adoption of digital curriculum and encourage continued innovation;
  4. Embrace and encourage model schools; and
  5. Invest in human capital to train our teachers.

It’s a comprehensive plan – well fleshed out in Margaret Spelling’s comments to the FCC – starting with the premise that the infrastructure must come first…

Although most of our schools are wired, they generally do not have the high‐speed bandwidth and technology they need to use state‐of‐the‐art digital learning tools. According to the FCC’s own survey, 80 percent of schools and libraries do not have sufficient broadband to fully meet their current needs; and according to EducationSuperHighway, 83 percent have outdated Wi‐Fi networks.

Inadequate high-speed Internet connectivity in the classrooms is the most immediate and expensive barrier to implementing technology in education.

She doesn’t really get into the specifics of what the FCC should shuffle around to make it happen but she does make the point that it needs to happen if kids are going to be prepared for the workforce they hope to graduate into and if the US plans to keep up with global competitors. Adequate is defined…

Our study indicates that schools will require 100 Mbps of bandwidth for every 1,000 students/staff members by the 2014-2015 school year. By 2017-2018, the required bandwidth increases to 1Gpbs. Proper technology infrastructure in schools is the 21st century equivalent of “heat and electricity.

There isn’t much discussion about access for students at home – although they do mention working on making devices affordable enough for school and home use. I understand that getting into community access might be out of scope – but for broadband proponents working through education efforts might be a way to drive greater interest in ubiquitous access.

Having been to the MN eLearning Summit earlier this week, I see what a disadvantage it is for a student to not have access at home. From the K12 perspective, I heard from many teachers who are using or thinking about moving to a flipped classroom – where students watch lectures from home and practice what they learn in class. Clearly broadband will be required – and students who have to go to the library or coffee shop to get access will be at a disadvantage. In the Higher Ed and lifelong learning world, I heard a lot about MOOCs (Massive Open Online Classes); again much easier to take if you have access at home. As education changes it seems as if the classroom becomes less important – and broadband infrastructure becomes more important.

Mediacom Upgrades Broadband Service in 22 MN Counties

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Nice to report some upgrades to broadband connections as detailed in the following press release from Mediacom…

Mediacom Upgrades Broadband Service in 22 MN Counties; Homes & Businesses Gain 105 Mbps Internet Speeds
Mediacom expands its 105-meg download speeds to 160 Minnesota communities – Worthington to Two Harbors

Network Boost Due to Company’s Investment

GRAND RAPIDS, MN – July 31, 2013  —  Mediacom Communications announced today it has given a speed boost to 73 communities in rural Minnesota where the company now provides download speeds of 105 mega-bits-per-second (Mbps) – twice as fast as the speeds available before network upgrades were completed earlier this month.

The higher-speed Internet service, Ultra 105, uses the technology known as DOCSIS 3.0 to provide Internet users with download speeds of up to 105 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 10 Mbps. Mediacom officials describe recent network improvements as investments to its fiber-based infrastructure in areas which include the Mesabi Range, Lake County, and much of western Minnesota.

“Our goal is to deliver the fastest broadband speeds throughout our Minnesota service areas because many devices are being used in homes and businesses, and each person wants to stay connected to the wealth of information that Internet apps make available,” said Mediacom regional vice president Bill Jensen. “Mediacom’s high rate of speed – 105 Mbps – ensures rapid data delivery while more people move data to and from the Internet.”

Jensen explained that Mediacom’s fiber-based network was built with the ability to scale up to the faster speeds of Ultra 105. The network investment that raised Internet speeds to 105 Mbps was made within five months of a previous upgrade that made 50-meg service available in many areas. Throughout the state, Mediacom provides broadband services to more than 200 communities and townships, and Ultra 105 is now available in 84 percent of those customer areas.

Each Mediacom Ultra 105 customer is equipped with a new, more powerful modem configured for the higher Internet speeds. The higher-speed broadband service is available to both residential and business customers.

About Mediacom:

Mediacom Communications is the nation’s eighth largest cable television company and one of the leading cable operators focused on serving the smaller cities in the United States, with a significant concentration in the Midwestern and Southeastern regions. Mediacom Communications offers a wide array of broadband products and services, including traditional and advanced video services such as digital television, video-on-demand, digital video recorders, high-definition television, as well as high-speed Internet access and phone service. Through Mediacom Business, the Company offers affordable broadband communications solutions that can be tailored to any size business.

# # #

IMPACT AREAS – investments in network technology result in Ultra 105 broadband speeds available in these areas as of July 2013:

 

Northern MN – Sturgeon Lake to Silver Bay; Grand Rapids to Hoyt Lakes

  • Carlton County:  Carlton, Cloquet, Moose Lake, Thomson, Windemere, Moose Lake Twp.
  • Itasca County:  Calumet, Coleraine, Cohasset, Grand Rapids, Keewatin, La Prairie, Marble, Nashwauk, Taconite, Harris Twp.
  • Lake County:  Beaver Bay, Silver Bay, Two Harbors
  • Pine County:  Sturgeon Lake, Sturgeon Lake Twp
  • St. Louis County:  Aurora, Biwabik, Buhl, Chisholm, Eveleth, Fayal, Gilbert, Hermantown, Hibbing, Hoyt Lakes, Kinney, McKinley, Mountain Iron, Proctor, Virginia, Midway Twp., White Twp.

Southeastern MN (Mediacom’s Lake City system)

  • Goodhue County:  Florence
  • Wabasha County:  Lake City, Mt. Pleasant, Lake City Twp
  • Western MN (Mediacom’s Benson-area systems)
  • Big Stone County:  Clinton, Graceville
  • Kandiyohi County:  Atwater, Sunburg
  • Lac Qui Parle County:  Dawson, Madison
  • Meeker County:  Cosmos, Grove City
  • Pope County:  Starbuck
  • Stearns County:  Belgrade, Brooten, Paynesville, Paynesville Twp
  • Stevens County:  Chokio, Hancock, Morris, Morris Twp
  • Swift County:  Appleton, Clontarf
  • Traverse County:  Wheaton
  • Yellow Medicine County:  Granite Falls

Southwest MN (Mediacom’s Flandreau-area systems in MN)

  • Lincoln County:  Ivanhoe, Lake Benton, Tyler
  • Murray County:  Fulda, Hadley, Slayton
  • Nobles County:  Worthington
  • Pipestone County:  Pipestone, Trosky
  • Rock County:  Luverne

Southeast SD  (Mediacom’s Flandreau-area systems in SD)

  • Bookings County:  Aurora, Brookings, Bruce, Elkton, Volga, White
  • Hamlin County:  Castlewood, Estelline, Hayti, Lake Norden
  • Kingsbury County:  Arlington, De Smet, Lake Preston
  • Moody County:  Colman, Egan, Flandreau

 

Gigabit Communities Race to the Top Program: Free Webinar Aug 13

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I thought folks might be interested in the following free webinar hosted by the FTTH Council…

Gigabit Communities Race to the Top Program
Join us for a Webinar on August 13th @ 3pm EDT

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now!

On July 23rd, the FTTH Council filed a petition asking the FCC to adopt a Gigabit Communities Race to the Top program, which has the potential to inject $1.5 billion into the deployment of all-fiber networks.

Many community anchor institutions are eligible to receive funds to support their broadband needs through separate mechanisms-schools and libraries through the E-Rate Program and hospitals and clinics through the Rural Health Care Program.  The petition filed on July 23rd, asked the Commission to devote a small portion of existing Universal Service funds to reward communities who address these multiple community connectivity issues holistically, ensuring the most “bang for the buck” by making that planning and deployment more efficient and cost-effective.

To read more about the petition, please go to the FTTH Council website or click here.

Our presenters will explain more about the petition and how you can help its adoption.