Monthly Archives: June 2016

Hillary Clinton outlines tech priorities: what it means to broadband adoption and deployment

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Earlier this week, Hillary Clinton unveiled her Initiative on Technology and Innovation [I took some liberties with formatting]…

Today, Hillary is announcing a Tech & Innovation Agenda with five key parts.

  • First, her plan will leverage technology to create good-paying jobs on Main Street—through new commitments in computer science and STEM education, support for entrepreneurial ecosystems, and other policies to build the human capital pipeline.
  • Second, her plan will deliver high-speed broadband to all Americans, hook up public places like airports and stations—and enable them to offer free WiFi—and lay the groundwork for the next generation of the mobile internet and the Internet of Things.
  • Third, her agenda will ensure America remains the global leader in technology, by promoting more high-tech exports and ensuring the free flow of data.
  • Fourth, her plan will establish rules of the road to support innovation—rules that foster healthy competition, reduce barriers to entry, and effectively protect intellectual property—while safeguarding privacy and security.
  • Fifth, her plan will make our government smarter, more efficient, and more responsive, using new technologies to deliver real results for the American people.

Her plan includes everything from greater funding for STEM, entrepreneurial startup funds, lead international joint tech governance and promote cyber security. For the purposes of this blog, I thought it would make sense to pull out the sections that very directly address broadband adoption and deployment. (Although I really like the idea of integrating technology into difference sectors and different sectors into the tech arena.)

INVESTING IN WORLD-CLASS DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Hillary believes that high-speed internet connectivity is not a luxury; it is a necessity for economic success and social mobility in a 21st century economy. Despite considerable progress and private investment in the last eight years to close the digital divide, there remains work to be done. Millions of American households, particularly in rural areas, still lack access to any fixed broadband provider,[15] around 30% of households across America have not adopted broadband (with much higher levels in low-income communities),[16] and American consumers pay more for high-speed plans than consumers in some other advanced nations.[17] For years, Hillary has fought to deliver connectivity to all Americans. As President, she will finish the job of connecting every household in America to high-speed broadband, increase internet adoption, and help hook up anchor institutions so they can offer free WiFi to the public. Hillary will also take action to help America widely deploy 5G technology—the next generation wireless service that will not only bring faster internet connections to underserved areas, but will enable the Internet of Things and a host of transformative technologies. Hillary will:

  • Close the Digital Divide: Hillary will finish the job of connecting America’s households to the internet, committing that by 2020, 100 percent of households in America will have the option of affordable broadband that delivers speeds sufficient to meet families’ needs.  She will deliver on this goal with continue investments in the Connect America Fund, Rural Utilities Service program, and Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), and by directing federal agencies to consider the full range of technologies as potential recipients—i.e., fiber, fixed wireless, and satellite—while focusing on areas that lack any fixed broadband networks currently. Hillary also backs the FCC’s decision to extend Lifeline support to broadband, and she will work to connect this policy with community-based programs that help citizens with enrollment, offer digital literacy training and expand access to low-cost devices.
  • Launch a “Model Digital Communities” Grant Program: By leveraging the $25 billion Infrastructure Bank she plans to establish, Hillary will create a new competitive grant program to give cities, regions, and states incentives to create a “model digital community.” The end goal is simple: encourage localities to undertake actions that foster greater access to high-speed internet for their residents at affordable prices–whether through fiber, wireless, satellite, or other technologies. Regions would come forward with proposals, and grants would be awarded based on impact assessment. Qualifying proposals might seek to:
  • Reduce regulatory barriers to the private provision of broadband services: Localities may seek to stimulate more investment by current or new service providers by streamlining permitting processes, allowing nondiscriminatory access to existing infrastructure such as conduits and poles, pursuing “climb once” policies to eliminate delays, or facilitating demand aggregation.
  • Coordinate the development of broadband infrastructure with other municipal services: Localities may seek to develop information and maps about existing infrastructure and pursue “dig once” policies, where the development of broadband infrastructure (i.e., dark fiber) is coordinated with the development and maintenance of other municipal infrastructure and joint trenching is enabled where appropriate.
  • Develop public-private partnerships for broadband: Hillary will explore ways that targeted uses of the Infrastructure Bank could favorably change the economics of private capital investment in existing or new broadband networks. This approach opens the door to upgrading networks, filling gaps in underserved areas, and new models of public-private partnerships, such as in Huntsville, Alabama and Westminster, Maryland.
  • Connect More Anchor Institutions to High-Speed Internet: To fully realize the benefits of the internet today, people need a “continuum of connectivity”—the ability to get online in their homes and offices, but also in schools, libraries, transit systems, and other public spaces. Over the last few years, the E-rate program, launched under President Bill Clinton and updated under President Obama, as well as the BTOP program, have brought ultra-speed, fiber-optic broadband to schools and libraries nationwide. Hillary will expand this concept to additional anchor institutions by investing new federal resources. This would enable recreation centers, public buildings like one-stop career centers, and transportation infrastructure such as train stations, airports, and mass transit systems, to access to high-speed internet and provide free WiFi to the public.
  • Deploy 5G Wireless and Next Generation Wireless Systems: America’s world-leading rollout of 4G wireless networks in the first half of this decade has been a success story for policy-makers, industry, and American consumers. The Obama Administration played a key role by repurposing spectrum and auctioning licenses, as well as by making new spectrum available for unlicensed technologies. Hillary will accelerate this progress and help foster the evolution to 5G, small cell solutions, and other next-generation systems that can deliver faster wireless connections. Widely deployed 5G networks, and new unlicensed and shared spectrum technologies, are essential platforms that will support the Internet of Things, smart factories, driverless cars, and much more—developments with enormous potential to create jobs and improve people’s lives. Hillary will:
  • Reallocate and Repurpose Spectrum for Next Generation Uses: Hillary will enhance the efficient use of spectrum by accelerating the process of identifying underutilized bands, including ones now used by the federal government, that can become more valuable under revised regulatory regimes. She will focus on the full range of spectrum use policies—including new allocations for licensed mobile broadband, as well as unlicensed and shared spectrum approaches. She believes that creative uses of shared/non-exclusive uses of spectrum could unleash a new wave of innovation in wireless broadband technologies and the Internet of Things, much as WiFi did in the first generation of digital services.

  • Foster a Civic Internet of Things through Public Investments: Hillary will dedicate federal research funding to test-bedding, field trials, and other public-private endeavors to speed the deployment of next generation wireless networks and a civic Internet of Things. Governments around the world are already investing billions of dollars in developing and commercializing 5G technologies, and Hillary wants American companies to lead the world in wireless innovation. Her investments will aim at using advanced wireless and data innovation to drive social priorities in a range of areas, such as public safety, health care, environmental management, traffic congestion, and social welfare services.

 

Latest Akamai broadband speed report is out (Q1 2016) – MN ranks between 18-30 depending on category

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The latest Akamai report is out – Q1 2016. They measure worldwide broadband adoption and speeds. Here’s the high level look at what’s happening…

 

The global average connection speed increased 3.5% quarter over quarter, to 5.1 Mbps, while the global average peak connection speed grew 12% to 32.5 Mbps. At a country/region level, South Korea continued to have the highest average connection speed in the world, despite a 2.1% decrease from the first quarter to 23.1 Mbps, while Singapore maintained its position as the country with the highest average peak connection speed after a 12% quarterly jump to 108.3 Mbps.

Globally, 4 Mbps broadband adoption was up 1.1% from the first quarter to 64%, with South Korea and Bulgaria having the highest levels of adoption at 96%. Despite small quarterly decreases in adoption in the second quarter, South Korea unsurprisingly led the world again in broadband adoption for the 10 Mbps, 15 Mbps, and 25 Mbps thresholds, with adoption rates of 75%, 53%, and 29%, respectively. Global 10 Mbps, 15 Mbps, and 25 Mbps broadband adoption grew very modestly, posting gains of 2.1%, 2.5%, and 7.5% at each threshold and reaching adoption levels of 27%, 14%, and 4.9%, respectively.

Akamai tracks “top 10” locations for varies speeds. Unfortunately Minnesota does not rank in the top 10 – and frankly hasn’t for years. Fortunately, the folks at Akamai are kind enough to delve into their research to share with us where we land…

Here are the Minnesota stats:

  • Average: #18, 15.8 Mbps (+5.7% QoQ, +24% YoY)
  • Average Peak: #25, 66.7 Mbps (+8.0% QoQ, +19% YoY)
  • 4 Mbps Broadband: #28, 85% adoption (+2.2% QoQ, +7.6% YoY)
  • 10 Mbps Broadband: #30, 54% adoption (+4.1% QoQ, +22% YoY)
  • 15 Mbps Broadband: #22, 35% adoption (+6.7% QoQ, +54% YoY)
  • 25 Mbps Broadband: #18, 14% adoption (+12% QoQ, +87% YoY)

Our speeds are getting faster – but our rankings are more volatile – and volatile might be over stating it. We wiggle between 18-30 depending on what you want to measure. We’re just not seeing a lot of movement forward there. It’s as if the rest of the world has moved the goalpost and we’re still aiming for lower goals. Maybe the recent change in speeds in the legislature will make a difference. (The 100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up by 2026.)

Akamai MN Ranking Q1 2016

Akamai MN Ranking Q1 2016

Akamai MN Speeds Q1 2016

Akamai MN Speeds Q1 2016

 

RS Fiber communities received city of excellent award

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Fun (and well deserved) news from RS Fiber …

The 10 cities that make up a portion of the RS Fiber Cooperative received the “City of Excellence Award” at the League of Minnesota Cities Conference held recently in St. Paul.

The award, presented June 16, recognized the communities of Brownton, Buffalo Lake, Fairfax, Gaylord, Gibbon, Green Isle, Lafayette, New Auburn, Stewart, and Winthrop for their collaboration in working to bring high-speed broadband Internet to their communities.

According to the League of Minnesota Cities, the award is given in three separate population categories. To be considered for the “City of Excellence Award”, cities must self-nominate a project, program or initiative that was administered to achieve one or more of the following: improvement of the quality of a city service, development of an effective or innovative way to solve an old or common problem, modification of a program from another community or organization to fit city needs, discovery of a way to save the city money without compromising service results, and/or creative involvement of city staff or citizens in making a decision.

 

DSL Ring innovation boosts bandwidth speeds – CAF II recipients apparently interested

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Telecompetitor reports…

Seven winners of Connect America Funding, including some of the largest U.S. carriers, are exploring DSL Rings technology developed by Genesis Technical Systems as a means of boosting the bandwidth of installed copper telephone wiring. Genesis has spearheaded the creation of an industry group, to be known as the Residential Access Carrier Consortium, in support of DSL Rings technology.

“The idea behind [the consortium] was to get economies of scale,” said Genesis CEO Peter Khoury in an interview with Telecompetitor.

Genesis announced this week that Cincinnati Bell achieved home broadband speeds of up to 200 Mbps symmetrically using the DSL Rings technology. According to Khoury, other companies looking at the technology include AT&T, CenturyLink, Verizon and Windstream “to name a few.”

The speeds that carriers will actually be able to provide individual customers using DSL Rings will depend on a variety of factors, but even for customers in rural areas with long copper spans to the central office, Genesis expects to be able to deliver speeds of 20 Mbps downstream and 4 Mbps upstream.

They use a process called bonding. You can read the Telecompetitor article for the description – although it sounds like the name says it all – they bind the copper/fiber lines together for better throughput. Here’s a little bit on the numbers…

More distant customers will be served using ADSL 2+ while closer customers will be served using VDSL, Cooke explained. According to Cook, ADSL2+ can support 15 Mbps per pair downstream over a distance of two kilometers. Multiplying that by 24 pair yields total bandwidth of 360 Mbps for a small group of homes to share, while total upstream bandwidth would be in the range of 24 Mbps to 48 Mbps.

The upshot, Cooke said, is that “the telco could sell services to each home at 20 Mbps downstream and 4 Mbps upstream and whenever bandwidth is available, you can burst up to 100 Mbps [downstream].”

Customers close enough to the central office to be served using VDSL2 might be able to burst up to 200 Mbps downstream when bandwidth was available, Cooke said.

Sounds like a great innovation. There are two factors that I think might interfere with speeds in rural areas – distance and multiple customers. Distance will slow down speeds and so will shared connections. So if you live in an area where your connection slows down once kids get home from school, you understand the issue. The originating speeds, however, are higher so there should be some improvement.

 

The definition of broadband for sake of CAF II funding is 10 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up (10/1). So these speeds will be sufficient for those requirements. The definition of broadband (or speed goal) in Minnesota is 25/3 by 2022 and 100/20 by 20126. It sounds like this solution won’t meet those requirements.

Tech-focused AmeriCorps opportunities in the Twin Cities

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Geographically I know this might not be the best fit for everyone – but it might be a good fit for some. I’ve gone to the post-appointment showcases where students get to talk about their projects and I have been very jealous of their opportunities…

The Community Technology Empowerment Project (CTEP) AmeriCorps is currently accepting applications for positions starting in September, 2016 and ending in August 2017, and we want your help spreading the word!

We have just 9 of 35 positions remaining. You are the best ambassadors for our program and we would like your help sharing about our program through social media and word of mouth.

If you refer an applicant that ends up joining the program, we will mail you a $50 gift card to the store of your choice as a thank you from CTEP!

Please post this link to your social media networks. Feel free to use your own blurbs, or to use one of the options below.

Facebook or LinkedIn

  • Do you know some computer basics or how to use a cell phone? Do you like to teach? Share your skills with the world through SPNN’s AmeriCorps program. Check out what their members have to say about CTEP AmeriCorps and join today!

Twitter

Thank you so much for helping us share our program!

Ongoing role of the US Department of Commerce on the Internet

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The Department of Commerce just released a report, “Enabling Growth and Innovation in the Digital Economy [is] a chronicle of the Commerce Department’s efforts in support of the digital economy over the course of the Obama Administration.” It’s gets into the weeds but it’s a reminder that nothing just happens. Things are planned. Someone thought (still thinks!) about domain name structures. Someone thinks about cloud computing standards. Someone thinks about protecting intellectual property in a world of open source.

It’s the kind of report I can gloss over or lose a week investigating. I think it’s valuable to pull out some aspects – and to know about if/when you ever need to a deep dive into the weeds. I’ve done my best below to annotate it.

It quantifies the impact broadband has had on the US economy…

In the United States, the digital economy has had a staggering impact on jobs and growth.  In 2014 alone, the U.S. exported roughly $400 billion in ICT-enabled deliverable services, which accounted for more than half of U.S. services exports.1  The digital economy has increased total U.S. real GDP by more than a percentage point annually and has added millions of new jobs.2  Virtually all industry sectors, from manufacturing to financial services, education, agriculture and health care, have benefited from the adoption of digital technologies, applications, and services.

Introduces six principles DOC uses for broadband/technology policy development – potentially a best practice list for anyone looking at broadband/technology projects…

Indeed, all of the Department’s efforts are firmly grounded in a core set of principles for policymaking in the digital economy, many of which echo, if not exactly mirror, those of the OECD Principles.  They include:

• Multistakeholder Internet policymaking and standards development, in which all stakeholders may participate in open, transparent, and consensus-driven decision making processes;

• Strong protections for intellectual property, balanced with appropriate exceptions and limitations, such as fair use, which encourage investment and content creation in the digital environment;

• Open and voluntary technical standards, allowing for digital technologies and services to interoperate, and digital entrepreneurs to innovate more easily and to build off existing infrastructure;

• Focus on the user, ensuring that users’ interests are paramount, and that users have the skills, education, and access necessary to reap the benefits of digital technologies;

• Public/private partnerships, which bring the resources and reach of the government to supplement private sector investments and activities;

• International engagement, recognizing that the Internet is truly global, and that for it to continue to serve as a source of economic growth and social development, the United States must actively promote a vision of the digital economy consistent with open and democratic values.

Here’s a glimpse at the Table of Contents – what you think it most important really depends on your needs today. The report reads like a textbook and would serve well as a reference if, as I said, you need to make a deeper dive or find a connection related to a specific topic…

 The Free and Open Internet

  • Ensuring the Global Free Flow of Information Online
  • Advancing the Multistakeholder Approach in Global Internet Governance
  • Privatizing the Management of the Domain Name System

Trust and Security Online

  • Strengthening Consumer Privacy Protections
  • Supporting Security in the Digital Economy

Innovation and Emerging Technologies

  • Protecting Intellectual Property for Creators, Consumers and Innovators
  • Facilitating Open Data and Standards for Interoperability

Access and Skills

  • Supporting Internet Access and Adoption across America

 

Lincoln County is looking into broadband

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According to the Marshall Independent…

The big word at the county level is “broadband,” and the byword is “fiber to dwelling.” Vince Robinson of the Lincoln County Enterprise Development Corporation appeared before the Lincoln County Board at its Tuesday meeting to discuss the project that would bring high speed Internet to southwest Minnesota, particularly Lincoln County.

“Fiber to dwelling is preferable, but can be expensive,” Robinson said. “Sometimes you have to go wireless.”

Handouts were distributed explaining what broadband is and talked about the governor’s efforts to serve more Minnesota communities.

Robinson added that the qualifications for funding have changed a bit. It is being focused on those who are unserved more so than underserved. He said he was there at the meeting to see if a couple of commissioners wanted to join the talks with the server companies to see if they could dangle a big enough carrot. This generated some discussion about the efforts to achieve better service in southwest Minnesota.

“We want them to send someone out to talk to our group about what’s out there and research resources,” Robinson said.

“It’s something I want to learn more about,” Commissioner Don Evers said as he and Commissioner Mic VanDeVere volunteered to represent the board at those meetings.

How could the 2016 election impact Net Neutrality?

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Last week I wrote about the latest Net Neutrality news – US Court of Appeals leaned toward Net Neutrality when they called broadband a utility. Some folks were happy. Some were not. Few folks thought this was the sound of the fat lady singing. Brookings recently published an article that draws out a few potential scenarios for what could happen next. The perspective I found most interesting was – how will the election this fall have an impact…

Electoral outcomes in November could change legislative prospects or further foreclose them, depending on how many House and Senate seats each party holds in the next Congress. Here, the best scenario for opponents of the new status quo would be the election of more Republicans to Congress and Donald Trump to the presidency. Unlike President Obama, President Trump might sign legislation modifying net neutrality rather than veto it with no possibility of having that veto overridden. President Trump could also appoint a new FCC Chairman, creating a Republican majority that could nullify the DC Circuit’s net neutrality decision.

But if Hillary Clinton emerges victorious instead, any legislative or FCC reversal becomes highly unlikely, since Secretary Clinton is on record as favoring the net neutrality approach of the current FCC. In turn, her election could raise the stakes for a final Supreme Court decision, which could occur two or three years from now if the appellate process runs its course and the Court returns to nine sitting justices.

Broadband scenarios that work in rural areas: cooperative approach

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How does a rural community – currently served by satellite broadband – leap frog to fiber services? The answer is different for every rural area but the answer in Southern Arkansas was – weild the power of the cooperative. It’s a scenario that might work well in some parts of rural Minnesota as well.

Telecompetitor tells the story…

A rural telecom service provider and a neighboring rural electric power cooperative are coming together to bring gigabit broadband to parts of rural Arkansas. The rural telco is South Arkansas Telephone (SATCO) and the power company is Ouachita Electric Cooperative (OECC). The telecom, utility partnership has formed a new company called Arkansas Rural Internet Service (ARIS) – and according to ARIS Director Mark Lundy, each owner has a 50% share of ARIS.

There was an incumbent. In fact it was one of the large price cap carriers but that didn’t deter the partnership. Each brought something to the table. The provider had experience with broadband deployment. The electric coop had customer base and experience with other community services…

Although the economics of deploying FTTP in a rural area like south Arkansas can be challenging, the ARIS partnership had several things going for it to help minimize costs. SATCO had previously won a broadband stimulus award to install a 300-mile fiber optic artery across southern Arkansas, which should help minimize the cost of connecting to the Internet. The FTTP network also will help support a smart metering initiative for OECC – and OECC is considering offering smart metering capability for local gas companies.

In addition, because people in the target area are buying satellite broadband and video through OECC, the partners have a good idea how much revenue they might expect to generate from the new network, which will support voice and video as well as broadband service. …

The ARIS partnership is the latest example of how a telecom and utility company can come together to bring broadband to high-cost rural areas where it might not have been feasible for either company to tackle the task on its own. Telcos and utilities have used a variety of models in pursuing broadband goals. In Indiana, for example, broadband opportunities drove a telco and utility to merge with each other.

Again each area is different, but a scenario of a experience provider, committed coop and a vision could be right for some Minnesota communities.

How, what, why did Lake County become a broadband provider?

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Folks who follow broadband in Minnesota know that Lake County has been a saga. The National Association of Counties recently featured their story in their newsletter. It’s fun to see how the story reads today.

Why did they do it?

Lake Connections, a county-owned, privately operated company [that] has buried or strung 1,200 miles of fiber-optic cable throughout this rural northern Minnesota county. It’s given the county some of the fastest, most reliable internet access in the state, perhaps the nation, according to Commission Chairman Rich Sve.

“It gets to the point of what counties do,” he said of getting into the telecommunications business. “What is the need of our people? And this is a perfect example, because for me it’s not that you are able to get on your Facebook or you’re able to play a game. It’s what the future’s going to hold, it’s about health care. We talk about elderly people being able to stay in their homes longer because of these real-time connections that are coming.”

How did they do it?

Lake Connections was made possible by federal stimulus funds, awarded in 2010, from USDA’s Rural Utilities Service under its $3.5 billion Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP). The county received a $10 million grant and $56.5 million in low-interest loans, and invested $3.5 million taxpayer dollars in the project.

What did they do?

While getting the money for the project wasn’t exactly easy — it took two tries to make a successful application — it turned out to be easier than getting the system to where it is today. The county’s application eventually was accepted after the project was expanded to include parts of neighboring St. Louis County.

There were complications along the way that both increased costs and threatened funding. There was some opposition from private providers, county officials said. And then, there was northern Minnesota’s brutal winter weather, which effectively makes for a six-month construction season. At one point, the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) cut off the project’s funding because the project was behind schedule.

The biggest challenge was morphing from a system that was intended to mostly hung on utility poles to one that’s about three-quarters buried. As originally planned, fiber optic cable would be attached to 30,000 poles, said Jeff Roiland, Lake Connections general manager. The current system uses 5,000.

And back to the why … or maybe to the did they meet the needs of their people?

Lake Connections is already benefiting the economy on a smaller scale. The company interviewed several customers, commercial and residential, and their testimonials are on the website.

Office of Broadband Development: 2016 Broadband grant webinar notes and future dates

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OBD 2016 funds PPTToday the Office of Broadband Development hosted their first webinar on the 2016 grant funds. The session lasted an hour and they were gracious to share their PPT with me.

Here’s the super high level look (taken from a slide):

Border to Border Broadband Development Grant – Overview

  • $35 M one-time appropriation
  • $5 M for underserved, $500,000 for low income, remainder for applications for unserved areas
  • Distributed in single competitive grant round • Technology must be scalable to at least 100Mbps Up/Down
  • Cap of $5M per grant award
  • At least 1 to 1 match (50% of eligible expenses) required (More points awarded for higher match)
  • Grant awards will be geographically dispersed
  • All invoiced work must be complete by June 30, 2019

Check out the PPT for more – or even better attend a future webinar. They will be having three more sessions:

  • Thursday, June 30, 8 to 10 a.m.
  • Wednesday, July 13, 9 to 11 a.m.
  • Wednesday, July 13, 1 to 3 p.m.

To register, please send an email with your contact information (name, organization/community, address, email & phone #) to David.j.Thao@state.mn.us, or call David at 651-259-7442.  Please indicate which session you will attend. You must register to receive instructions on how to access the meeting and materials.

If you have questions about the grant program in general, please contact jane.leonard@state.mn.us or 651-259-7635

 

Rep Sanders questions MN VoIP Legislation – did it go far enough?

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According to a letter to the editor in MinnPost, Representative Tim Sanders says…

Minnesota had a real opportunity to bring our telecommunications regulatory structure into the 21st century this session by joining 34 other states in saying no to state-specific regulation of voice-over-Internet protocol services (“VoIP”) and other IP-enabled services. I was proud to author the original legislation (HF 776) and join with Sen. Dan Sparks (SF 895) in a bipartisan effort to help spur more telecom investment in the state.

This VoIP-IP legislation, which had bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate, made its way into the final deliberations of the Supplemental Budget Bill that included $35 million for the state’s broadband fund. Unfortunately, however, because of Gov. Mark Dayton’s adamant and unfounded opposition, those provisions were removed from the Supplemental Budget Bill on the last day of the recently concluded legislative session. It’s ironic that while the Dayton administration continues to call for more funding for the state broadband fund, it takes a “ regulate first” approach to the kinds of services that foster more broadband deployment and bring innovation to industry and consumers alike. It is the exact same VoIP service that the governor, my colleagues in the Legislature, and other members of the state government currently enjoy in their own offices.

I’m impressed that a pretty wonky optic has spurred some discussion in the comments. Here are a few counterpoints (that relate to the issue)…

VoIP is a land line in the sense that as an internet service it would use either existing cable or phone lines. However, somebody still has to build and maintain those lines and infrastructure which is why the public utility model worked so well for establishing traditional phone service in the first place. So yeah, if everyone is using Comcast or Centurylink lines but not enough people are paying Centurylink or Comcast to use those lines eventually the infrastructure eventually degrades.

Most if not all of the State Government offices actually switched to VoIP a few years ago. While it has worked well by and large there have been some notable outages and glitches that simply didn’t happen with traditional land lines.

And…

But if you grew up during a time when ‘dial tone’ was the most reliable technology in the world, and note how much less reliable internet service is today, then you might find continued regulation of VOIP services to be just the thing you want to ensure that industry is held to a high standard for a technology that is likely going to eventually be relied upon for emergency services (via VOIP 911 calls), and provides much greater opportunity for the harvesting of personal information than Plain Old Telephone Services (POTS) ever did.

And…

The AARP is rightly against bills like this, and against eliminating land lines that do such lovely things like provide fantastic sound and automatically tell the 911 operator where you’re making your call from (down to the apartment number!). There are significant ways in which the internet is more complicated, more unstable, more expensive, has more built-in obsolescence and fewer helpful services than traditional phones.

Rep Hoppe re-supports incumbent challenge process in broadband grant program

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In a rebuttal to a previous letter to the editor, Representative Joe Hoppe posts a letter to the editor in the Brainerd Dispatch supporting a broadband challenge process for incumbents when someone submits a proposal to serve their area or an adjacent area…

It seems to me that a challenge process might prevent broadband grants from being awarded to areas eligible for a federal broadband grant program or, more importantly, from being used in an area that already has broadband available. The letter writer may think it makes sense for limited public dollars to be awarded to duplicate existing broadband services, but I do not and apparently neither does the Democrat-controlled Senate or the governor who signed the broadband legislation and agreed to the funding level as well as the challenge language.

If we are going to use taxpayer dollars to bring broadband to rural areas as this program purports to do, the focus should be on those who cannot get broadband service due to lack of coverage and not those areas that are already eligible for federal funding or that have broadband available. It is time to stop making broadband a political issue. There are legitimate needs in Minnesota, unfortunately rhetoric doesn’t help move things forward.

I think it all depends on your definition of broadband – and I think that highlights a nerdy but important change in the latest round of broadband funding. Unserved areas will be defined by areas that have service less than 25 Mbps down and 3 up. Underserved areas have service less than 100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up. Many providers (especially in rural areas) do not offer speeds of 25/3 or 100/20. And federally funding does not require those speeds.

This is a good way to help providers to step it up. Federal funding is great – but not if it doesn’t support speeds that make a difference.

BBC Update on Martin County: App Camps and Community Calendars

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KarlSamp2Thanks to Karl Samp for updates on what’s happening with Martin County. Karl has been working with Martin County as part of their participation in the Blandin Broadband Communities program…

All projects from Martin County have been a big success. The WiFi project got a little bit of a slow start but it is now gaining momentum.  

The App Camp ran twice; in fact they may apply to expand and bring it to more schools and different ages. They are seeing some nice changes in students’ attitudes and interests.

The Community Calendar in place and getting used by partners and community. They may apply for some funds to enhance that site, and make it more visual and responsive.

Business classes and Coffee Connection education events have been very well attended.  Three school districts committed to matching, a $5000 grant for technology/device upgrades for their schools. I recommended that Martin County look at the MACLEP Excellence in Community Development Work Award. They have done a great job of engaging (and keeping engaged) various sectors, including providers, schools/higher education, government, businesses, nonprofits and collaborating across those sectors.

The community calendar and digital safety/literacy/anti cyber-bullying education are projects that Martin County will likely focus on for the future.  

The Broadband Feasibility Study will be presented this week in Fairmont; they hope to find a local partner in applying for DEED B to B grant funds to build out, in addition to Frontier using CAF funds for service expansion around Fairmont.

 

BBC Update on Redwood County: Ditigal training, new equipment, looking at state grant

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KarlSamp2Thanks to Karl Samp for updates on what’s happening with Redwood County. Karl has been working with Redwood County as part of their participation in the Blandin Broadband Communities program…

The Redwood Area Hospital project is moving along nicely. All partner agreements signed and needed hardware purchased at remote sites. AVu coming 7/9-10 to load software and they hope to be operational by end of July.

All projects have gone well. The Redwood Connect Lunch N Learn series began in February and runs through July with the first series of classes.
Attendance has been up and down at classes but by and large, good. The Redwood Connect Technology Training Center located in the lower level of the Redwood County Court House has been working well for both the public training classes, and those offered to County Employees. They are getting limited response from County employees on training opportunities.

The County has access to a potentially larger facility located in the Government Center, and may move the training center in to this space so they can add stations (only room for 12 now) and maybe increase employee participation as well as public access!

GIS is in the testing phase, and their Technology Community has been discussing which layers will be available for free and those that will require a subscription. They should be up and running by Fall.

The Library says their 20 new computer stations and two pads are getting steady and regular use. Lots of positive comments. They are considering and will probably apply for a tablet check-out initiative and Terri has been in touch with other Plum Creek Librarians about their projects (Clint in Nobles and Tammi in Jackson- very helpful.)

Community Ed ECFE found the additional funding to go into all 3 preschool classrooms (Blandin funded only two of the rooms). Classes have been able to run regardless of paid attendees because of grant. Only one class cancelled.They are considering applying for one more grant to expand training.

RedRock Central School District says their new 20 Chromebooks are being used for training sessions, and some one on one training so far. Their students and business owners are loving the exposure and use of their new 3-D printers. An educational opportunity for both students and the public to develop prototypes and products!

Julie Rath with the Redwood County EDA will initiate conversations with local providers about B to B state DEED Grant opportunities. She is also using their marketing funds to promote the Lunch N learn Series and gearing up for the second series of classes that will run from August through December. They are adding in Computers & Coffee from 8 – 9:30 the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month and the Lunch N Learn will continue on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. A broadband usage survey will be conducted in the next month or so via online survey gathering information from residents across the County so they can better determine the need and map where the un and underserved areas are and then share that with providers as they embark on applications for the Border to Border Broadband funding. The grand prize winner from the completed surveys will win a new Ipad!