Monthly Archives: July 2015

RS Fiber breaks ground in Sibley County on July 8

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Big news (from KNUJ) for a Minnesota community that has been working hard for fiber for many years. Congrats!

RS Fiber Broadband to break ground Wednesday – KNUJ

The RS Fiber Cooperative fiber optic broadband initiative will officially break ground on the project on Wednesday in Sibley County. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 9 along Sibley County Road 8 between County Road 17 and County Road 9. The RS Fiber Cooperative and Hiawatha Broadband Communications anticipate offering services with fiber to approximately 1600 homes and businesses to cover 90 percent of the service area with high-speed wireless services by late 2015. The RS Fiber Cooperative will operate a fiber optic network for most of Sibley County and portions of Renville, Nicollet and McLeod Counties.

Blandin Broadband e-News June 2015: Broadband a utility? How to address commnity broadband…

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BBC MapMonthly Recap of News from the Blandin on Broadband Blog

Is Broadband a Utility?
Earlier this year, the FCC declared that they would treat broadband as a utility. But what does that mean? The FCC was focused on how broadband would be delivered (Net Neutrality) rather than where (increasing broadband deployment).

Want broadband in your community? Be prepared and be vocal.
The Minnesota State Bar Association held their Annual Communication Forum to discuss the ins and outs of broadband policy. Legislators advise communities to be prepared and be vocal. To do their research, understand their options and explain their needs to their legislators. The sentiment was echoed at a recent Summit on Rural America where the message was – people matter, leadership matters.

Reactions to Legislative Funding for Broadband
During the special session, the Legislature included funding for the Border to Border Infrastructure grant program in the amount of $10,588,000. This compares with $20 million last year. Rural communities reacted. Some newspapers noted any funding as a win; others noted the decline in investment as a rural loss. It is worth noting that broadband was named specifically, which means it is an issue that people watch.

Klobuchar Calls for Broadband Action
Senator Klobuchar asks Feds to make a broadband plan and look at issues such as call completion, which have an impact on rural residents.

Introducing New Minnesota Task Force Members
The Governor’s Office released the list of the latest iteration of the Minnesota Broadband Task Force. The list includes some new folks as well as many returns, including Chair Margaret Anderson Kelliher. The Task Force met and mentioned an interest in addressing affordability and updates to the Minnesota State speed goals.

A Minnesota Perspective on Broadband and the Arts
Mary Minnick-Daniels, Executive Director of the East Central Regional Arts Council gives a frontlines view on the impact of broadband on the arts in rural Minnesota. Doors are open for those with connectivity.

Minnesota Advice for the Broadband Opportunity Council
The Broadband Opportunity Council asked for advice and response to better promote and support broadband expansion. Minnesota voices chimed in:

  • Senator Klobuchar’s recommendations include promoting and strengthening existing federal programs, improving coordination with states, advancing public-private partnerships, and modernizing infrastructure.
  • Blandin Foundation recommends policies that enable, encourage and engage collaboration for both broadband adoption and deployment.

Broadband News Around Minnesota

Annandale
Before the Gubernatorial vetoes of legislative broadband funds, Annandale was in line for $2 million for broadband. Those funds were not restated in special session.

Bemidji
Bemidji-based (but farther reaching), Paul Bunyan Communications wins Most Innovative Gigabit Broadband Service for its GigaZone service. They continue to announce new service upgrades on a regular basis.

Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, Le Sueur, Martin, Sibley, Waseca and Watonwan Counties
Frontier Communications accepted $28 million in Connect American Funds from the FCC to extend broadband Internet access in  parts of Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, Le Sueur, Martin, Sibley, Waseca and Watonwan Counties.

Burnsville
Burnsville leases dark fiber to Sprint.

Dakota County
Northern Dakota County is looking at cable franchising now; they have shared documents that may be helpful to other communities.

Duluth, Monticello and Windom
Duluth, Monticello and Windom join Winthrop has Minnesota members of Next Generation Cities.

Eagan
Comcast is the current cable franchise holder in Eagan – CenturyLink is looking to have a franchise as well.

Itasca County
Itasca County is creating broadband markets that help the local area become a better business case for a provider to provider better broadband service than is currently available.

Lake County
Last month, Lake County was hustling to finish their fiber network and use up $66 million in ARRA loans and grants before the June 30 construction deadline.

Olmsted County
Olmsted County broadband coverage is less than 60 percent, unless you include wireless access, then it leaps to more than 98 percent.

Otter Tail County
Otter Tail has 65 percent broadband coverage but there are plans to improve that through a project supported by MN Broadband Fund

Pennington County
Pennington County has 92% coverage despite $15.33 per Megabit to connect to the Internet backbone

Pine County
Less than 25 percent of Pine County has access to broadband.

Events & Opportunities:

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

I sit here on deadline trying to write something interesting!  Waiting, waiting, waiting…

Some months, ideas just pop and the words emerge.  Today, not so much!  In fact, I cannot even decide on a topic!  I have no answers, only questions.

I don’t know whether to write about the tough choices that the Blandin grant review team has in comparing the value created by grant applications for fiber feasibility studies to projects that deliver wireless devices to needy school kids, or comparing local or regional economic development branding campaigns to a wi-fi hot spot at a local park.   How do you compare projects that deliver immediate, short-term results to those that may produce systemic, positive community change over the long term

I don’t know what to think about the upcoming Connect America Fund decisions by providers.  Is it a positive for larger carriers to  provide broadband almost everywhere, but only required to meet a 10 Mb down, 1 Mb up standard sometime in the next five years? How will that meet tomorrow’s needs if it does not even meet Minnesota’s standard of today?  Or should one wish for their incumbent to turn down the funds in hopes that some partnership might deliver FTTH using some combination of funds, like CAF, DEED, USDA or other source?

I don’t even know how to process the idea put forth last week by some of our state elected officials, that the call for broadband at the legislature was not loud enough.  Or that wireless is good enough for families, business, education and health care.  I have never seen more communities knowledgable, organized and calling for state partnership.  I wish the Office of Broadband staff good luck in making their future grant decisions with more and better prepared demand with less money available.  Communities can’t win if they don’t enter, but the partnership development process, much less the OBD application process, is not easy.

Luckily for me and my writer’s block, I just remembered an important dinner party lesson…  when you don’t have anything to say, just ask a question!

So I have a question for you! What broadband topics would you like to learn more about at the November broadband conference?  What great speakers can you recommend?  Maybe nominate yourself and a topic!   Tell me and our planning team how we can make it an easy decision for you to attend this event.  Send any suggestions to broadband@blandinfoundation.org .

Free Blandin Webinar July 9: Creative Spaces, Creative Places

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Free Blandin Webinar
July 9 at 3:00-4:00
Register!

Does broadband promote creativity? Not alone it doesn’t but it can be an ingredient that spurs or supports a community effort. You also need people to make it happen. In this webinar we’ll hear from people who have promoted creativity in their community at least in some part through technology. We’ll learn about what they are doing, how they started it and what it has meant to the community.

Matthew Marcus and Aaron Deacon on Kansas City Startup Village: A community situated around the first neighborhood to get Google Fiber in KC but built by local entrepreneurs to be fertile ground to grow startups from KC and beyond. They community grew organically as if something was in the air. Hear their story and think about how we can replicate that here.

Fred Underwood on Duluth Maker Space: A sustainable multi-field community workshop for local artists, inventors, experimentors, teachers, learners (Makers!) of all ages. It opened last Fall. They have classes available and open space with cool tools for folks who want to use them.  Imagine a place in your community where makers can meet and collaborate.

[Just added 7/7/2015!] Carla Lydon on East Central Regional Library: The library offers a range of services that make the library building a place to learn and use technology such as popular digital petting zoos, where patrons can get a chance to use various tablets. They also provide a range of remote services that make everyone in the community more creative – no matter where they are locates.

Next Century Cities Grows to 100 Communities including four from Minnesota

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I wanted to share the following press release with a quick note that the list of Next Century Cities now includes four Minnesota cities, which means three new additions. The Minnesota cities include Duluth, Monticello, Windom and Winthrop (which has been a member for a while).

Next Century Cities Grows to 100 Communities Nationwide Leading on Next-Generation Broadband Internet Collaborative of Rural and Urban Communities Sees Rapid Progress since October 2014 launch

Washington, DC (July 6, 2015) – Next Century Cities, a city-to-city collaborative of mayors who recognize the critical need for fast, affordable, and reliable Internet, has grown to 100 communities across the country since launching in October 2014. Boise, Idaho was announced today as the 100th city to join Next Century Cities, a bipartisan, nationwide effort that also includes inaugural members such as Boston, Kansas City, and Chattanooga, and more recent additions such as Charlotte.

“Since launching Next Century Cities in October, we’ve seen incredible demand from cities looking to lead the conversation about the crucial role next-generation Internet plays in helping communities thrive,” said Deb Socia, Executive Director of Next Century Cities. “The 100 city leaders who are part of Next Century Cities know that gigabit level Internet is critical infrastructure for their residents and are pushing to become more economically competitive now and in the future through better access to high-speed, low-cost solutions for all.”

Next Century Cities is a bipartisan initiative of mayors and city leaders dedicated to ensuring the availability of next-generation broadband across the country. As momentum grows around gigabit level Internet, more mayors and municipal leaders are joining together to show what’s happening in their communities and to join together to help one another realize the full power of truly high-speed, affordable, and accessible broadband.

Since forming in October 2014, Next Century Cities has already made exciting progress:

  • Next Century Cities launched with 32 member cities and a convening of over 100 leaders in Santa Monica, California with a welcome video by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in October 2014.
  • President Obama recognized Next Century Cities and the work being done by mayors during a January 2015 speech laying out the President’s Broadband Plan in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
  • Next Century Cities joined the Southeast Tennessee Development District to host a field hearing in Chattanooga, “Envisioning a Gigabit Future,” with private and bipartisan public sector voices discussing the need for high-speed Internet and local community choice in November 2014.
  • 38 Next Century Cities mayors and city officials sent a letter urging the FCC to grant petitions from two fellow members, Wilson, NC and Chattanooga, TN, seeking relief from state laws in January 2015. These petitions were granted by the FCC in February.
  • Next Century Cities has held major panels feature mayors and city leaders at events such as the US Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting, Mountain Connect, and the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC) Conference.
  • 35 Next Century Cities mayors and city officials sent a letter to the FCC urging uniform and accessible reporting on broadband network performance, following a GAO report showing the lack of information given to consumers in June 2015.
  • Next Century Cities also hosts monthly policy calls for its members, and distributes monthly updates publicly to keep stakeholders informed about what communities are doing to achieve next-generation Internet for their citizens.

Next Century Cities believes that there is no single pathway to a smart, effective approach to nextgeneration broadband. Instead, all member leaders and communities are committed to the following six principles:

  1. High-Speed Internet Is Necessary Infrastructure 2. The Internet Is Nonpartisan 3. Communities Must Enjoy Self-Determination: 4. High-Speed Internet Is a Community-Wide Endeavor 5. Meaningful Competition Drives Progress 6. Collaboration Benefits All

The 100 Next Century Cities member cities are listed below and more information on each member community can be found at: http://nextcenturycities.org/member-cities

[Ann’s note: I didn’t include the list – visit the site for details.]

Klobuchar says Feds need to make concrete plan for broadband

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According to the Brainerd Dispatch, on a recent trip to Northern Minnesota Senator Klobuchar spoke about broadband, the need for action and its potential role in the presidential election…

The newly-arrived presidential election season makes it a more likely time for progress on broadband, Klobuchar said, because the issue is popular in debates and campaigns. However, there is a need for concrete action along with all the campaign talk, she said.

“We need to actually put … the money where your mouth is,” she said.

Brainerd-area attendees gave anecdotes about how the lack of broadband impacts the well-being of people who need it to get information related to health care, education and business.

Richard Schulman of Leech Lake Telecommunications Company described a drought of proper Internet access on the reservation. The two-year-old company is the first tribally owned telecom firm in Minnesota, he said.

Pennington County Broadband 2014 Update: 92% coverage despite $15.33 per Megabit to connect to the Internet backbone

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penningtonI’m working on a County-by-County look at the State of Broadband in MN. My hope is to feature a county a day (in alphabetical order). In November, Connect Minnesota released their final report on broadband availability. Here is how Pennington County stacked up:

  • Household Density: 9.4
  • Number of Households: 5,836
  • Percentage serviced (without mobile): 91.64%
  • Percentage serviced (with mobile): 91.64%

Pennington is doing pretty well. And we have a unique look at the situation in Pennington because it was used as an example in the last Minnesota Task Force report to demonstrate the inequity in cost to a provider to connect to the Internet backbone based on location…

A provider in metropolitan Hennepin County currently pays about $.50 per Megabit to connect to the Internet backbone; the average cost of three providers in rural Pennington County is $15.33 per Megabit to connect to the Internet backbone.

Making the situation more challenging for all providers, there is a great discrepancy in the number of potential customers in Hennepin County versus Pennington County; population density in Hennepin County is 2,081.7/sq. mi and in Pennington County it is 22.6/sq. mi. Median income (2009-2013) also differs: in Hennepin County it is $64,403 and in Pennington County it’s $45,633. For these reasons and more, the business case for offering broadband in Pennington County Falls is far more challenging than in Hennepin County.

Using Pennington as the example also demonstrates that while it’s tougher to make a business case, clearly someone has. Pennington is better served that many other counties.

My hope is that these county-specific posts will help policy makers and county residents understand where they stand in terms of broadband access. Assuming it might get forwarded to folks who don’t eat and sleep broadband I wanted to provide a little background on broadband to help set the stage… Continue reading →