Each month e-News highlights broadband events from the previous months…

News from the Blandin on Broadband Blog

Broadband in Rural America

The Daily Yonder ran a series of articles in August focused on three aspects of broadband in rural America.  They started by looking at the discrepancies between rural and urban access. They ranked states by gap between rural and urban access; Minnesota did not fare well. http://wp.me/p3if7-2kfThey also looked at adoption rates; they found that the gap between urban and rural adoption has not changed over the years. A glimmer of hope, the Blandin Foundation http://wp.me/p3if7-2kO was able to close that gap working with rural communities in the ARRA-funded Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC) project. Finally the Daily Yonder looked at the economic impact of broadband and found there was a correlation between broadband and median household income, employment and number of local businesses. http://wp.me/p3if7-2ld

Minnesota Broadband Task Force: Working on Telecom Tax

The Task Force met in Red Wing and learned about the Red Wing Ignite project, a project that promotes and supports Gigabit broadband connectivity. They also heard from Minnesota State Senator Matt Schmit who spoke on the hopes and expectations for the new Office of Broadband. There was a lot of discussion on the telecommunications equipment tax. Many task force members would like the Legislature to reconsider and again make telecom equipment exempt from sales tax.http://wp.me/p3if7-2kD Task Force Chair Margaret Anderson Kelliher spoke publicly against the telecom tax. http://wp.me/p3if7-2l6

Businesses Using Technology

Harvard Business Review recently ran an article on “How to Build a High-Performing Digital Team;” it offered tips for approaching an online marketing plan. Blanidn on Broadband built upon the article to add some tips for smaller businesses in smaller communities. http://wp.me/p3if7-2lB The Minnesota Orchestra demonstrated that online reputation is just part of the plan; they bought domain names that would have potentially been used by striking musicians and/or their supporters. http://wp.me/p3if7-2ly(To learn more about building a digital strategy, consider attending the Rural Minnesota Social Media Rockstar Conference in Morton, MN. http://wp.me/p3if7-2ku)

Broadband News Around Minnesota

Dawson

“Tech Savvy Seniors,” an initiative of the Dawson Boyd School District, is featured in Blandin Foundation webinar on Engaging Youth in Community Technology Initiatives. The webinar also featured projects in Thief River Falls and the Twin Cities. http://wp.me/p3if7-2kA

Duluth

A Duluth resident pleads guilty to a gross misdemeanor after he threatened to blow up a Charter Communications office in Duluth last summer because was upset about his internet service.http://wp.me/p3if7-2k4

Grand Rapids

Blandin Foundation is named one of the FTTH Top 100 by Broadband Communities Magazine.http://wp.me/p3if7-2lL

Lac qui Parle County

Kansas City Digital Inclusion Fund debuts with an event that featured Minnesota’s own Lac qui Parle Computer Commuter http://wp.me/p3if7-2kR

Minneapolis

Minneapolis-based Steven Clift is honored by the White House as a Champion of Change for E-Democracy’s efforts in making government more transparent and accountable through technology.http://wp.me/p3if7-2la

Minnetonka

Minnetonka is one of 50 US cities that achieved Google “eCity” status for utilizing the Internet to identify new customers, connect with clients, and grow the local economy. http://wp.me/p3if7-2ln

Monticello

The community-owned fiber network in Monticello offers to buyout bondholders at a price greater than what their bonds are currently worth but not close to original value, in exchange from their releasing the city from further obligations under the bonds. http://wp.me/p3if7-2l0

Red Wing

Red Wing hosts an open house to celebrate their Ignite project, a project that promotes and facilitates the use of Gigabit broadband. http://wp.me/p3if7-2kD

Shakopee

Shutterfly, an Internet-based photo and publishing company, meets with the Shakopee City Council to discuss plans to build a 217,000-square-foot office by 2014. http://wp.me/p3if7-2k8

Thief River Falls

Mayor Jim Dagg talks about how technology and participation in Blandin Foundation’s MIRC project has improved the local quality of life. http://wp.me/p3if7-2lH

Twin Cities

Minneapolis-based Walden University launches an online Doctor of Information Technology program designed to enhance students’ technical expertise and develop leadership skills. http://wp.me/p3if7-2lv

The Twin Cities Daily Planet does an informal survey of teachers using cell phones as educational tools in the classroom. Some are using them; many are not. http://wp.me/p3if7-2l4

Free Art Friday is a community-driven Twin Cities Facebook Group that uses social media to encourage real world sharing. Artists hide art projects on Friday and post notes on the whereabouts on Facebook. Treasure seekers hunt for the art and report on their successes and/or misses in the Facebook Group. http://wp.me/p3if7-2kU

The Twin Cities Civic Hack Day is captured on video. http://wp.me/p3if7-2kc It’s a good opportunity to get a flavor for what such an event is like.

Online forum tools sponsored by E-Democracy lead to real world action when a house in Minneapolis is burglarized right before Christmas. http://wp.me/p3if7-2kl

Winona

Fatima Said, a project partner from Blandin Foundation’s MIRC project, is one of six recipients of the 2013 Virginia McKnight Binger Awards in Human Service and $10,000 for her efforts.http://wp.me/p3if7-2kG

Events:

Sep 10: Minnesota Broadband Task Force Monthly Meeting (Alexandria, MN) http://wp.me/p3if7-2l

Sep 11: Farm Foundation Forum on Rural Broadband (webinar) http://wp.me/p3if7-2lk

Sep 12: Blandin Broadband Community Webinar Expanding Wi-Fi Access (webinar)https://blandinfoundation.clickwebinar.com/Expanding_Wi-Fi_Access/register

Sep 19: Rural Minnesota Social Media Rockstar Conference (Morton, MN) http://wp.me/p3if7-2ku

Oct 1: Minnesota Broadband Task Force Monthly Meeting (Windom, MN)http://mn.gov/commerce/topics/Broadband/Governors-Broadband-Task-Force.jsp

Oct 10: MTA Fall Conference https://m360.mnta.org/event.aspx?eventID=81657&instance=0

Oct 29: MACTA Annual Conference http://www.mactamn.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=7

Nov 5-7: Economic Development and Broadband Conference (Chicago) http://wp.me/p3if7-2kX

Nov 12: Minnesota Broadband Task Force Monthly Meeting (Twin Cities, MN)http://mn.gov/commerce/topics/Broadband/Governors-Broadband-Task-Force.jsp

Dec 3: Minnesota Broadband Task Force Monthly Meeting (Twin Cities, MN)http://mn.gov/commerce/topics/Broadband/Governors-Broadband-Task-Force.jsp

Dec 10-12: Minnesota Government IT Symposium http://mngts.org/itsym/

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

How much broadband is enough?  This is a question that every broadband provider, state broadband taskforce, federal broadband policy maker, local broadband committee and consumer must decide?  In the public debate, this question is usually measured in the availability of residential broadband service.

We have seen a variety of answers – 4 Mbps as a minimum (FCC), 10 – 20 Mbps (MN statutes) 100 Mbps (FCC goal for 100 million US households as well as the new Alaska state plan), 1 Gbps (Google and others).  These goals are all for download speeds.  A similar debate for upload speeds – Is symmetrical bandwidth required or is 50 percent (MN statute) of download OK?  Or will 25 percent (FCC) of download speed do?

There are other considerations for measuring adequacy.

Affordability.  This is both a measure of a subscriber’s available income and the value received from the connection.

Reliability.  For a home web surfer, an occasional outage is a minor inconvenience.  For a home office worker, at a minimum, this is a major inconvenience.  For a large company, it may be a financial disaster.

Redundancy.  Some people have both a cellular wireless connection and a wired connection.  Some businesses want multiple routes into their buildings from a central office.  Some businesses want multiple fiber routes into town from different directions from multiple providers.

Latency.  Latency measures the delay in a connection, generally measured in milliseconds in a ping test.  High latency inhibits interactive applications.

So, how much is enough is a more complex consideration than just residential download speed.  The answer depends on who you are, what you use the Internet for, and how much value you derive from being online.  It is definitely more than the available residential download speed.  Economic developers need to know how their community stacks up on all of these factors.