Monthly Archives: November 2013

Dakota County extends to Goodhue and Washington Counties

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Thanks to David Asp for an update on fiber networks and fiber planning in Dakota County. David has been working to extend fiber network to neighboring counties – and then to the neighboring counties of those counties. The growth is pretty systematic. The goal is to increase the value of the network (by increasing people and places to reach via fiber) and increase redundancy. He had a couple updates on that expansion.

Dakota County is working with Goodhue County to extend the network. Here’s the gust of their partnership…

REPORT SUMMARY
Dakota County is offering a 20-year agreement to Goodhue County for use of fiber running between the two counties.

BACKGROUND
Hiawatha Broadband Communications (HBC) has installed a 144-strand fiber run between Red Wing and Hastings. Twelve of those strands have been purchased by Dakota County. Goodhue County is being offered use of two of those strands for 20 years for a one-time payment of $30,000 to Dakota

County
You can find the full document online, which would be helpful if your community is looking at similar partnerships.

Dakota County is also working with Washington County to connect their networks using the Hastings Bridge. Here are some of the working specifics of their Joint Powers Agreement…

3.   Agreement between the Parties

The intended use for each segment of the network is to enable the parties to construct and manage fiber optic communications networks for the purpose of delivering communications services among their respective institutional sites as more fully described below.

3.1    Dakota will:

  • Allow State to use a one pair of county owned fiber optic cable from the Dakota County Administration Center to the Hastings City Hall.
  • Construct new fiber between the Hastings City Hall and the south side of Highway 61 Bridge.
  • Allow State to use a one pair of county owned fiber optic cable from the Hastings City Hall to the south side of the Highway 61 Bridge.
  • Provide maintenance on its fiber segments.

3.2       Washington will:

  • Construct new fiber between the Cottage Grove Service Center and the north side of Highway 61 Bridge.
  • Allow State to use one pair of county owned fiber optic cable from the Cottage Grove Service Center to the north side of the Highway 61 Bridge.
  • Provide maintenance on its fiber segments.

3.3       State will:

  • Construct fiber optic cabling over the Highway 61 Bridge linking Dakota and Washington Service Centers.

  • Provide and manage a connection between Washington and Dakota using the counties’ fiber to provide an alternate path for redundancy between the counties.

  • Monitor the integrity of the fiber links and report any failure of those links to the appropriate organization.

  • Provide maintenance on its fiber segments.

Both projects have been in the works for more than a year. Almost an exact year ago the Pioneer Press ran an article on the Washington County partnership…

After several years of planning, a fiber-optic network connection between Washington and Dakota counties is set to be installed.

And it was October 2012 that Goodhue County reported on the opportunity…

Goodhue County is being asked to participate in a group of government agencies to jointly own part of an optical fiber run between Red Wing and Hastings.  David Asp of Dakota County will explain the benefits/costs, group membership, and what a joint powers agreement would include.

It can take a while but fun to celebrate progress!

Cooperatives for Broadband? A primer on an option for rural areas

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Bill_ColemanCooperatives are an important part of Minnesota’s economic and cultural history and, for those in attendance at the Co-op= Community Development Conference last Friday, a path to future community vitality.  I felt lucky to attend.  Mark Ritchie, MN Secretary of State was the keynote speaker and talked about the link between Minnesota’s long standing culture of community engagement, voting, volunteerism and our standing as the land of cooperatives.  Kudos to Secretary Ritchie for sticking around and participating in small group round table discussions after his speech proving that learning is a two-way street.

Here are some key things that I learned on Friday.  As I write this, I do not have access to the agenda and don’t have full names and affiliations – sorry about that!

There is growing interest in the cooperative movement by students.  Online courses on Co-ops are now emerging.

According to Ruby, there are six myths about co-ops.

  1. Co-ops are not just hippie grocery store businesses, they are all kinds of co-op businesses.
  2. Co-ops are not non-profits, they are member owned, for profit businesses.
  3. Some say that co-ops are not scalable.  There are many large co-ops – Ace, REI, Great River Energy, Mondragon.
  4. Some say that co-ops have no structure.  Wrong, they have all kinds of structures, they all have a board.  Some have a staff and a formalized management structure.
  5. Co-ops are not just for rich white people; this is wrong on all counts.  Examples include the New Era Cooperative that was formed by workers from closed window manufacturing plant, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives that organizes rural farmers, and others.
  6. Co-ops don’t have an economic impact.  Wrong again as there are over 29,000 companies and over 2 million jobs.

In Minnesota, there are over 1,000 MN co-ops, with many in the top 100.  Minnesota has more co-ops than any other state.

Kevin Edberg says that there are some co-op basics.  Here they are:

  1. A Co-op is a business, a democratic organization controlled by its members.
  2. A Co-op must have a viable business proposition to be able to compete, be adequately capitalized and be well managed.
  3. A Co-op exists to meet the needs of its owner members.  Member satisfaction is the criterion for success, not ROI.
  4. Surplus must be generated (profits) to be reinvested and finance growth.  Some surplus is returned via patronage based on member purchases not ownership share = business loyalty=competitive advantage.
  5. A Co-op needs a compelling need to attract the time and talent of existing and prospective members.  A “nice to have” purpose is not enough motivation; the “need to have” is critical.

The Cooperative Principles are well-established.  The conference organized a neat way to illustrate these principles with a quick “Seven Principles in Seven Minutes.”  Representatives from seven co-ops each talked on one of these principles with an example from their own co-op.

  1. Voluntary and open membership
  2. Democratic member control
  3. Member Economic Participation
  4. Autonomy and independence
  5. Education, training and Information
  6. Cooperation among cooperatives
  7. Concern for community

I participated in a finance session by the Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund.  While there are a few differences, the credit analysis process seemed pretty similar to any economic development fund.  The critical difference is that consideration of owner equity and commitment is replaced by the same factors applied to the co-op board and membership.

Most new cooperatives fall into three types – Housing, Food and Worker-owned.  Of course, there are also the infrastructure co-ops that provide such great services and leadership in rural Minnesota – electric and telecom co-ops.

I learned that Wisconsin Extension Service has a strong program on co-operative development so I need to check their web site for tools and information.  I also learned that Wisconsin has some rural broadband cooperatives forming so I definitely want to learn about that.

I want to take a moment to recognize that Boreal Access is a broadband co-op located in Cook County.  Their role in providing Internet access will soon be supplanted by Arrrowhead Electric Cooperative, seemingly a very nice hand-off from wireless and copper to FTTH!  Boreal Access will continue on in new and exciting ways.

Minnesota Broadband Task Force Meeting: Nov 2013 Full Notes

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I’m going to come out and say it – yesterday’s meeting was sort of frustrating to watch. The Task Force is getting to a point where they need to transition from learning and talking about topics to writing the next report and the transition did not go smoothly. (Draft report here.)

In fairness, they say poor dress rehearsal doesn’t mean poor opening night – but it seems as if half of the Task Force wanted to comb through the draft report as if it were the penultimate version. And the rest wanted to bring up topics that were new or at least not well addressed yet by the group. It seemed like there was tension between the two approaches.

Also the shadow in the room is the Office of Broadband Development Director, a position that hasn’t been filled yet. There was some discussion on the relationship between the Director of the OBD, the Task Force and the State departments (Commerce and DEED). I caught some of it on video (really audio).

The Task Force heard from local government folks – Tom Garrison and Mike Reardon – both have been on previous iterations of the Task Force. Both made the point that each community is different and so allowing for different solutions will help fill the gap.

The Task Force also heard from satellite providers today. It was nice to see how far satellite has come in terms of speed and latency in the last few years – but the upload speeds still do not meet the Minnesota Broadband goals. Continue reading →

Free webinar ‘Online Tools for Community Economic Development.’ Nov 14 3-4pm

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The next in  the Blandin Foudnation series of BCBP webinars is ‘Online Tools for Community Economic Development.’ November 14 from 3-4pm.

Technology. Nice word or nasty? Do I have enough time and resources to implement the technology I should? In this webinar find out about free technology tools including apps. We will explore if your community needs their own app? We will discuss how a community with a very small budget can afford an app. We will share facts about tablet and mobile phone usage and how you can take advantage of marketing on these devices.

Clark Smith is a Partner with Smart Solutions Group. Smart Solutions Group is a full service economic development agency that assists economic development organizations with strategic plans, executive searches, site selection and a cadre of technology tools. Clark has been in the economic development profession for 28 years and has worked at the local, state and utility levels.

Get a sneak preview by checking out the advanced Online Tools handout. Register here:https://blandinfoundation.clickwebinar.com/Online_Tools_for_Cmty_Econ_Dev/register

Added 11/13 – here’s the archive of the webinar…

Student-Senior Tech Buddy Night big success in Lake County

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magical1Last week in Lake County, high school students worked with seniors to help get them online – with one-on-one tech training and support. It sounds like the night was a big success. I wanted to share notes from one of the program coordinators…

…just wanted to share some of the photos from tonight’s big student and senior technology training night – it was amazing!! We had 20 seniors and 19 students working together tonight at THHS and I could not have asked for a more perfect evening!

For everyone else – I just wanted to let you know that we had an entire night of heartwarming interactions and personalized learning occurring in our media center all night. It was so cool to see everyone engaged, talking, laughing, asking questions and enjoying each other.

magical2Some of the many great anecdotes from the evening:  Two of our students were working with a 95 year old woman who was having trouble getting her e-mail to work. I walked through the lab as the trio was cheering on their successfully sent e-mails. It was so cute! Another girl stayed until just now (almost 8:00) with her senior partner even though the class technically ended at 6:00. They updated her iOS on her MacBook and downloaded some productivity apps, and they didn’t want to stop part way through. We had iPads, computers, smart and not so smart phones, school owned and personal laptops, kindles, and a slew of other technology all going on at the same time. We even served dinner in the “no food allowed” media center and all the equipment survived just fine. We also had a camera crew here who is filming a documentary on the broadband project, so it was a great opportunity to include this workshop as part of their story.

We are going to offer the class again in February. We have more seniors who want to attend and our students were excited about doing this again as well. It was everything I hoped for and more. Since pictures sometimes do more justice than words, I attached a few for you to see. I hope you can get a sense of how awesome the evening was from them.

 

Notes from Sen Schmit’s broadband meeting in Bemidji

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On Tuesday I was able to attend Senator Schmit’s listening session on broadband in Bemidji. About a dozen people attended, despite is being Veteran’s Day, hunting season and a snowy and slick driving day.

(Senator Schmit is visit other communities through the end of the week. Get details.)

The folks who attended were knowledgeable and passionate. Nancy Vyskocil, the the Northwest Minnesota Foundation, spoke about their work with Impact 2020. The decided to focus on three goals: education, workforce and infrastructure. Broadband fits under the infrastructure goal. I wasn’t surprised to learn that Nancy has a background in telecommunications. They reports and comments to the FCC have been very astute.

Sally Fineday, member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and broadband advocate also spoke about the needs on the reservations. Broadband access on the reservations is 64 percent; compared to 97-98 percent throughout the rest of the US.

Attendees recognized that broadband coverage is uneven. Areas served by Paul Bunyan Telephone are well served, but just a few miles outside of Crookston you might have no broadband no cell coverage. Park Rapids is OK. Northern part of county out of luck. Red Lake is not well served – it’s hard territory.

Someone noted that it would cost $11M to reach unserved areas. That covers a lot of land – but not a lot of population. But from an economic development perspective, it makes sense to serve resorts and manufacturers. It’s a high risk business model. They asked – how can we mitigate that risk?

We heard a couple of inspiring stories – from health care applications (MyChart) from Sandford. Sittsworth meets has more than 12,000 Facebook fans. (They don’t sell online – but they apparently sell the heck out of everything in the store now!) There’s a jewelry company serving 56 countries with online sales. (The Bemidji Pionneer was there to capture stories.)

That being said, there is still room for public education on benefits of broadband to boost adoption. There are businesses that are unserved and they don’t know their options. And many people noted that broadband is a barrier for education – emphasizing that big broadband is needed for education!

Someone representing satellite cooperative was there too. That helped make the case that a last mile solution will have to be technology agnostic. [I’ve been hearing more about about wireless mesh networks that seem to make sense – hoping to write more on that as soon as I find some free time!]

Folks noted that they don’t have public computers in these areas. Many communities don’t have libraries. If you don’t ‘have access to the schools there really aren’t other places to go for access, which has an impact on adoption. There’s a cycle of no demand because there’s no hope of getting it and there’s not hope because there’s no demand…

Finally people were asking about the Office of Broadband Development (OBD). Attendees recognized that it wasn’t the State’s job to build the network but hoped that the new director would be able to work with those who would build the network. They are looking for ways to make it easier to build the network and ways to reward the providers who have been striving to provide service to rural areas for a long time. Someone noted that if you’re carrier of last resort you must serve everyone. That concept has not gone to broadband. Maybe it should. Also we can’t keep throwing money at big companies if they aren’t serving the needs of the unserved.

They also want someone who will work with local leaders. OBD should be the driver of efforts coming from the locals in the field. Every community has a different solution. We need a facilitator, activist and to tell the story to the legislator. Put power in the hands of the doers.

We don’t need more tracking. We need more doing. Data is only data unless you do something with it! Need to build coalitions!

Here’s a minute of the session…

PCs for People in Kanabec

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Kanabec County PCs for PeopleKanabec County is a Blandin Broadband Community. As part of that relationship, they have been working with PCs for People to distribute refurbished computers in their area. It was nice to see the story in the Kanabec County Times…

Families lined up at Ogilvie School Oct. 7 to bring home free computers in hopes of improving overall quality of life.

Fifty-two families from the Ogilvie and Mora areas were given free computers by the Kanabec Broadband Initiative (KBI) thanks to money they received from a Blandin Broadband Communities grant.

KBI member Marc Johnson said having computers in their homes helps people more easily access social services, medical and educational resources….

The computers came from PCs for People—a nonprofit organization that collects computers from private and corporate donations, then refurbishes and redistributes them. The computers come with some basic software including Windows 7, an anti-virus and word processor.

Each family that received a computer also completed training on how to use the computers including how to avoid problems like computer viruses.

Kanabec Systems is providing technical support to these families for a limited amount of time. The families were also offered a reduced price for Internet connection from Midcontinent Communications and CenturyLink.

Broadband and Economic Development: Chicago conference notes

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Last week I attended the Community Fiber Networks conference near Chicago hosted by Broadband Communities. There was a great contingency from Minnesota at the conference and it was fun to hear about successes in Minnesota and other communities.

The best thing I heard while I was there? Blair Levin said that the US Broadband goal is to be world leaders. I haven’t heard anyone talking about being leaders in a while. So energizing. He also suggested that we quit aiming at speeds – because those are snapshots in time that are generally stale once you’ve said them out loud.

I decided not to share linear notes on the conference but maybe to simply pull out some tips and trends that caught my attention. I’ve tried to organize my thoughts a little!

Business Case is Key

  • Broadband Communities Magazine hosts a FTTP Financial Analysis tools – you can access them for free if you subscribe to the magazine, which is also free. They look good to me although I am not qualified to really speak to the quality of such tools.
  • Not every community needs to build a fiber network – but to survive they need to do something to encourage better broadband. Creating fiber/broadband-friendly policies is a first step.
  • The City Investment in Kansas City (Google Network) $3M; the ROI in Kansas City was $265M!
  • Sometimes it’s necessary to look at reduced and eliminated costs from a community budget when factoring ROI and creating a business case to build/encourage a fiber network.
  • Balancing Sustainability with Community Benefit can be tricky. The shorter ROI is reached when you serve Anchors, Enterprises, Larger Business and Wholesale. The longer ROI comes with reaching unserved, undeserved, residential and small business.
  • When looking at building better broadband, Chicago knew money would be tight so they looked at their assets (rights of way, towers…) and used them to negotiate.
  • The National Public Safety Network will be funded with $7B from the spectrum auction. There must be a way to tie into it – perhaps through the hook of rural health.
  • There is real potential in the library white spaces pilot project. The idea is to use the old TV White Spaces to connect remote libraries. Now those white spaces are not accessible in the same way WiFi is – so you can’t get connected with your smartphone – but use the white spaces almost like a WAN to reach the remote libraries and set up WiFi at the libraries. It’s a nice mesh network to serve a wider audience. Also while the E-Rate has traditionally been library-school only networks, there’s a push to open them up to wider uses.
  • The onus is going to fall to the Cities to get the work done. (I might broaden that in rural areas to be County. Wthout County – or Regional – support the spaces between the Cities remains off grid!)

Innovation is ROI

  • Building a Gig community is 10 percent technology and 90 percent sociology.
  • A coworking center is a necessity for a Gig community to succeed. (Really interesting snippets of what a coworking site can be like.)
  • The killer app for building broadband? Money! KC’s ROI (3 to 265) helps prove the business case but you still need money to get started.
  • Local governments (well – all governments) need to go digital to push citizens to use technology and recognize cost savings. (One big note here: on the drive home Bernadine Joselyn read loud a story about putting unemployment application online only. I am an advocate for moving transactions like that online – but I think starting with a demographic that is least likely to have the access, device or skills to complete the transition is setting the process up to fail. Or setting up the users to fail.
  • The network needs to be accessible (affordable) to emerging businesses not just established businesses!
  • Innovation is easy. Execution is hard. And the execution will happen at State not Federal level.

I also have Bernadine’s presentation from the conference:

Top Digital Cities – None in MN

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Government Technology recently released their list of Digital Cities winners. I was looking forward to see which Minnesota cities made the list. It was a pretty quick look. I didn’t see any.

Eden Prairie has been recognized in 2011 and 2012; St Paul recognized in 2005 and Minneapolis in 2002. So we have received nice nods in the past – but not this year.

According to Gov Tech…

Many factors play into the judging process, including progress on information and communication technology practices made over the past year, return on investment, and a city’s demonstrated ability to innovate and leverage creative practices.

Here are some of the ideas that caught the attention of Gov Tech…

In Boston

Taking top honors for large cities, Boston implemented a number innovative projects in 2013 such as its Open Government platform, a site offering residents the ability to see city data through interactive maps, digital databases and user-friendly financial city performance records.

In Irving Texas

Irving garnered acclaim for its innovative use of data to streamline many of its services in cost-effective ways. In 2010, the city installed and implemented Information Builders WebFocus, a performance product used as a way to record and report business intelligence and performance management data.

In Avondale, AZ

Avondale’s CIO Rob Lloyd credited three initiatives that were strong achievements for the city: citizen engagement efforts, the city data center, and mobilizing Avondale’s workforce. Speaking on the city’s engagement efforts, Lloyd pointed to A-Voice, Avondale’s online site for resident feedback and dialog, hailing it as a milestone achievement.

“A-Voice was a feedback program to connect with citizens online,” Lloyd said. “We used it as the city of Avondale developed and refined its 2030 General Plan, which then passed with over 80 percent voter approval.”

In Palo Alto, CA

Reflecting back on the year, Palo Alto, Calif., CIO Jonathan Reichental credited the city for innovative work on two key projects: PaloAlto311, the city’s online reporting site for infrastructure issues, and its web platform for near real-time notifications on city permits.

PaloAlto311 was released in 2013 as a way for community members to report infrastructure issues such as potholes and graffiti from laptops or smartphones. Within just a few weeks, hundreds of citizens downloaded the app, reporting numerous infrastructure issues.

MN EMT Device: great for healthcare and economy

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Minneapolis St Paul Business Journal recently featured a medical device product that helps paramedics minimize time on paperwork and maximize time prepared to help…

Ten years ago, Hennepin Emergency Medical Services paramedics spent up to an hour after each call documenting patient information on paper, using notes they scribbled on scraps of paper and the backs of their gloves. But since 2004, patient documentation has become so fast that responders can be ready for a new dispatch call in an average of 17 minutes after dropping a patient off at the hospital.

“This makes it far easier for the providers to document and document well,” Hennepin EMS Operations Supervisor Robert Ball said, pointing to Safety PAD, a tablet-like device that first responders use to record patient information in real time in the field. A central database then collects the patient information for hospital use.

Safety PAD is the invention of Minneapolis-based Open Inc., which sells the technology nationwide. CEO Mike Vukovich founded the company in 1993 to create technology so EMS agencies could focus less time on paperwork and more time on patients.

It turns out the company note only helps healthcare – they’ve also been a boost to local economy…

His company landed a new major market every year for the past six years and increased revenue by nearly 30 percent in 2012.

Minnesota Broadband Task Force Meeting November 12: Agenda

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The agenda is out for the next meeting of the Governor’s Task Force on Broadband. I plan to attend and take notes…

Governor’s Task Force on Broadband – November 12, 2013
TIES Event Center, Summit Room*
1640 Larpenteur Ave. N., St. Paul, MN 55108

10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

  • 10:00-10:15 Welcome/Introductions/Public Comments/Approve minutes from October 1, 2013
  • 10:15-11:00 Satellite Industry Presentation and Demonstration
    • Introductions by Lisa McCabe, Satellite Communications and Broadcasting Assn.
    • Dan Reno, Hughes Network Systems, Senior Director of Sales, North America Division
    • Steve Shute, National Sales Manager, ViaSat, Inc.
  • 11:00-11:30 League of Minnesota Cities /Minnesota Association of Community Telecommunications Administrators (MACTA) Presentation
    • Introductions by Laura Ziegler, League of Minnesota Cities
    • Mike Reardon, President of MACTA
    • Tom Garrison, Communications Director, City of Eagan, and Telecommunications Task Force Chair, League of Minnesota Cities
  • 11:30-12:45 Working Lunch: Incentives/Best Practices Subgroup discussion with full Task Force
  • 12:45-1:45 Walk-thru of Draft Report
  • 1:45-2:00 Update/Next Meeting Agenda/Wrap-up
  • 2:00 Adjourn

*Park in main lot off of Larpenteur Avenue and enter building through the glass entry doors that face Larpenteur into the new event center where the Summit Room is located on first floor.

Social Media Breakfast comes to Pipestone

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I’ve written about Social Media Breakfasts popping up in rural communities in Minnesota. (Most recently in Itasca County.) Pipestone County Star Online reports the good news that Social Media Breakfasts are coming to that area November 12!

The Pipestone Emergency Services Building (EMS) will be the place to go for an hour on the second Tuesday of each month for those interested in maximizing their time spent on social media sites to market their business, a product or themselves.

Pipestone’s first Social Media Breakfast will take place Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 a.m. The 9 a.m. speaker for the inaugural meeting will be Sarah Kuglin of Redwood Valley Technical Solutions, a web design, social media and online marketing company in Redwood Falls.

“Business owners or anybody who has an interest in social media to market something should come to this,” said Jackie Turner-Lovsness, program officer for the Southwest Initiative Foundation (SWIF).

Social Media Breakfasts are spent teaching, sharing and learning social media best practices through panel discussions, presentations, case studies, debates, and breakout sessions.

Expertise wanted: Tech Advisory Committee

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It would be nice to have someone interested in broadband and access for rural areas involved with this group…

TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
658 CEDAR STREET
ST PAUL, MN 55155
651-556-8027
M.S. 16E.036  2011
Appointing:      Governor
Compensation: None
Vacancies:        One (1) –          Business Planning Representative

Advise Chief Information Officer on: development and implementation of state information technology plan, critical information technology initiatives for the state, standards for state information architecture, identify needs of state, strategic portfolio management, management of state enterprise technology fund, effectiveness of office.  Membership includes: one member designated by MN Association of Counites; six members appointed by the Governor, who are actively involved in business planning for state executive branches; 1 member appointed by the Governor, representative of Union that represents state information technology employees; and one member appointed by the Governor who is a representative of private business.  Meeting schedule includes quarterly, two-hour meetings, held at 658 Cedar Street; Blazing Star Conference Room.

Get more info: http://www.sos.state.mn.us/index.aspx?page=308

Uneven broadband distribution in rural areas: who’s to blame?

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Robert Bell has an editorial in the Daily Yonder this week on the impact the “telecom cartels” have on rural areas. Some folks may recognize his name from his work with the Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC) project; he is involved with the Intelligent Community Forum.

The U.S. tolerates a much higher level of inequality in broadband distribution – as it does in most social matters – than most industrialized nations. Market forces rule, and markets where providers can make lots of money win out over thinly populated regions that cost too much per user. Most other industrialized nations try to make up the difference with public spending, but that still runs against the grain in America.

This would not matter much, except that it leaves people in rural places at the whim of economic cartels, as I learned vividly during my workshop. The City of Lafayette has exceptional broadband because it built a fiber-to-the-premise network beginning in 2004. Its reward was the chance to fight a $4.5 million legal battle with incumbents to win the right to compete and deliver a network.

Since they failed to shut down the city, the incumbents went to the legislature, where they succeeded in guiding the Local Government Fair Competition Act into law. It should have been called the Cartel Protection Act, because the law blocks every other Louisiana municipality from owning and operating a network offering service to the public – which effectively frees the incumbents not to compete where they don’t want to.

By rights, telecom providers should be the best allies of Intelligent Communities, which are communities that have taken conscious steps to prosper in a broadband economy. I salute those telecom companies with the vision and courage to be exactly that. But so many of them seem to prefer the economics of the cartel. When the guys with the money can also control politics to protect their interests, progress stops. Or it would if the cartels had things all their own way.

His points are interesting. I might bump up his concern to ask policymakers to look at what happens when communities are left hostage. Some telecoms are great and play part in the economic development plan; some are not. But in the spirit of marketplace freedom communities should be able to step up and provide services not provided by the private sector without risk of litigation.

Klobuchar and Franken write to FCC about Transformation Order on Rate of Return carriers

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Yesterday U.S. Senators Klobuchar and Franken sent a letter to FCC Chair Wheeler on their continued concern about the impact of the FCC’s Transformation Order on Rate of Return carriers and their ability to further invest in their networks.

Here’s an excerpt of the letter…

We write to you today to request that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) remain committed to recognizing the importance of investing in rural America. We urge the FCC to continue reviewing the reforms to the Universal Service Fund (USF) and their impacts on small rate-of-return regulated telecom carriers and the rural consumers they serve in Minnesota.

Since the initial 2011 USF reform order, the FCC has made significant progress in the deployment of broadband to unserved customers in rural areas served by price-cap carriers through the Connect America Funds. However, there is continued concern about the impact of the reform order on rate-of-return carriers and their ability to further invest in their networks and bring high-speed broadband to the areas  they serve. The 2011 order has caused uncertainty for these companies. Of particular concern are the impacts of the Quantile Regression Analysis on capital investment and financing for broadband deployment. While the FCC has taken some steps to provide relief from these negative impacts, the Commission should continue to move forward on addressing any lingering uncertainty.

A reminder for folks who don’t eat and sleep telecom regulation – the Universal Service Administrative Company has a nice cheat sheet of definitions…

Price Cap Carriers

A price cap carrier is a carrier not subject to rate base/rate-of-return regulation. A price cap carrier is limited in its ability to raise rates on the basis of a formula defined by the FCC. The extent to which a carrier can raise rates depends on its growth in expenses and a productivity growth factor.

Rate-of-Return Carriers

A rate-of-return (ROR) carrier is one that is allowed to set rates on its various products and services so that it earns no more than the rate-of-return authorized by the FCC. FCC rules define the rate base (specified plant items) upon which a carrier is allowed to earn a return.