Monthly Archives: April 2020

Online mental health services across state lines get easier

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The Center Square reports…

Gov. Tim Walz has taken executive actions to alleviate mental health and unemployment distress during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Executive Order 20-28 clears a legal path for out-of-state mental health providers to continue administering telehealth services to their patients in Minnesota. The order also waives dental, barber and cosmetology late fees and deadlines.

“I have concluded that during this peacetime emergency, qualifying out-of-state mental healthcare providers should be authorized to render aid in our State to meet the healthcare needs of Minnesotans,” Walz wrote in his order.

EVENT April 11: Hack the Gap for Social Good – Virtual Hackathon

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I love this idea from Hack the Gap…

At Hack the Gap, we want to continue to serve where we can. As we are social distancing, we want to create a space and opportunity to connect and build solutions.

During the virtual hackathon, we welcome participants to co-create technology solutions to address the challenges and opportunities they see in their communities. We are partnering with organizations and government agencies to understand the various needs we are facing during this pandemic.

 

Blandin Broadband Leadership Webinar – Broadband 101 Archive

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Thanks to the presenters and attendees for joining the latest Blandin Broadband Leadership Webinar: Broadband 101.  Here we have the description, video archive, slides when available and chat transcript (get handouts discussed in the webinar)…

The third of ten webinars – Broadband 101 – over the next five weeks is April 7 at 9 a.m. CDT.  Join Carl Meyerhoefer of Calix and Tim Johnson of MVTV Wireless as they share their expertise in helping to create and spread a shared broadband vision in their area.

And chat Continue reading →

Blandin on Broadband eNews: MN Monthly Recap/Coronavirus Updates (April 2020)

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Blandin Broadband Leadership Webinar Series
The Blandin Foundation is hosting a webinar series – Broadband Leadership Webinar Series: Creating Successful Broadband Projects on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:00 am until April 30. https://wp.me/p3if7-5TM Here are the sessions:

  • March 31 Series Overview (archive https://wp.me/p3if7-5X3)
  • April 2 Setting the Vision (archive https://wp.me/p3if7-5Y0)
  • April 7 Broadband 101
  • April 9 Community Broadband Surveys
  • April 14 Broadband Mapping
  • April 16 Ownership Models and Provider Partnerships
  • April 21 Feasibility Studies
  • April 23 Federal and State Broadband Finance Programs
  • April 28 Local Broadband Finance Options
  • April 30 Making it Happen: Determining your Community’s Best Option

Blandin will also be hosting a webinar on Tips and Tricks of online meetings on April 8. https://wp.me/p3if7-5WZ

MN Broadband Day on the Hill
The Day on the Hill happened just as policy decisions were being made about coronavirus changes. Many legislators showed great enthusiasm for increased broadband funding, but broadband funding did not make the special coronavirus funding package. However, policymakers encouraged attendees to continue to advocate for funding. https://wp.me/p3if7-5RO Minnesota Broadband Coalition shared their notes on the day. https://wp.me/p3if7-5S1.

State Policy Issues

  • Broadband related MN bills introduced: easements, social media, data and telecom definitions https://wp.me/p3if7-5Rz

Federal Policy Issues (in reverse chronological order of post date)

Impact of Coronavirus Policies
Mid-March, we saw a dramatic change in our world with the growing danger of coronavirus in the US and increasing policies and procedures to combat the spread – most notably the recommendation to stay at home. Broadband plans a big part in allowing people to learn, earn and keep healthy at home. Subsequently there are a lot of posts this month. I’ve tried to organize them to make them most accessible:

COVID-19 Resources Available

COVID-19 Policy/Preparedness

COVID-19 Education

COVID-19 Healthcare

COVID-19 Government

COVID-19 Affordable Broadband/Digital Divide

COVID-19 Vendor News

Local Broadband News

Aitkin
Aitkin County’s Blandin Broadband Community Reflection https://wp.me/p3if7-5QI

Anoka County
Anoka County is working with Blandin on broadband improvement projects https://wp.me/p3if7-5Rk

Bois Forte, Cook and Orr
Grizzlies’ (Bois Forte, Cook, Orr) Blandin Broadband Community Reflection (St Louis County) https://wp.me/p3if7-5QU

Cannon Falls
Cannon Falls’ Blandin Broadband Community Reflection (Goodhue County) https://wp.me/p3if7-5Qa

Center City
Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is bringing addiction and mental health services online https://wp.me/p3if7-5TS

Chishom
Chisholm’s Blandin Broadband Community Reflection (St Louis County) https://wp.me/p3if7-5QM

Crookston
RiverView Health in Crookston implements telehealth https://wp.me/p3if7-5Wo

Dakota County
Dakota County outlines broadband by the numbers https://wp.me/p3if7-5R6

Ely
Ely’s Blandin Broadband Community Reflection (St Louis County) https://wp.me/p3if7-5QQ

Franklin Township
Tiger 4G and AT&T work together to get Franklin Township online https://wp.me/p3if7-5Z8

Hibbing
Hibbing’s Blandin Broadband Community Reflection (St Louis County) https://wp.me/p3if7-5QY

Iron Range
A glimpse at fiber-haves and fiber-have-nots from Aaron Brown on MN’s Iron Range https://wp.me/p3if7-5YQ

Iron Range Tourism Bureau’s Blandin Broadband Community Reflection (St Louis County) https://wp.me/p3if7-5Qw

Koochiching County
Koochiching Technology Initiative’s Blandin Broadband Community Reflection https://wp.me/p3if7-5Qn

Koochiching County approves Koochiching Technology Initiative https://wp.me/p3if7-5Q4

Le Sueur
Le Sueur County selected for Blandin Community Broadband Program https://wp.me/p3if7-5Ut

Mankato
Mankato Clinic to Offer Telehealth Visits https://wp.me/p3if7-5UE

Mille Lacs
Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative State Grant Details (Aitkin County) https://wp.me/p3if7-5RR

Minneapolis
Washburn Center for Children Adopting telehealth with help from Medica https://wp.me/p3if7-5Wr

Pandemic preparation for a local urban broadband provider: Community Networks with US Internet https://wp.me/p3if7-5YJ

Mountain Iron Buhl
Mountain Iron-Buhl teachers share their plans for online teaching but not everyone has access https://wp.me/p3if7-5Tp

Mt. Iron-Buhl’s Blandin Broadband Community Reflection (St Louis County)
https://wp.me/p3if7-5R2

Otter Tail County
Otter Tail County selected for Blandin Community Broadband Program https://wp.me/p3if7-5Sl

Pennington
Broadband coming to Pennington and Strawberry Areas of Leech Lake Indian Reservation & SE Beltrami County https://wp.me/p3if7-5PE

Quad Cities (Eveleth, Gilbert, Mountain Iron, and Virginia)
Laurentian Chamber of Commerce’s Blandin Broadband Community Reflection (St Louis County) https://wp.me/p3if7-5QA

Rochester
Family Service Rochester opens telehealth door for therapy https://wp.me/p3if7-5V1

Rock County
Rock County’s Blandin Broadband Community Reflection https://wp.me/p3if7-5Qf

Sherburne County
Sherburne County is installing conduit and becoming Telecommuter Forward community https://wp.me/p3if7-5Rf

St Louis County
East Range Joint Powers’ Blandin Broadband Community Reflection (St Louis County) https://wp.me/p3if7-5Qr

St Paul
Kindergarteners meet on Fridays for Zoom lunch at this St Paul School https://wp.me/p3if7-5YD

Swift County
Swift County’s Blandin Broadband Community Reflection
https://wp.me/p3if7-5Qj

Tower
Tower Economic Development Authority’s Blandin Broadband Community Reflection (St Louis County) https://wp.me/p3if7-5QE

Winona
Winona Engage creates online space for local community and info https://wp.me/p3if7-5So

Yellow Medicine
Midco’s plan for fixed wireless in Yellow Medicine County https://wp.me/p3if7-5Ro

Upcoming Events

  • Thursdays in April and May: Dancing Heart Live – online morning stretch with Kairos Live https://wp.me/p3if7-5Xi

Opportunities

We are looking to add MN broadband-related events to the Blandin on Broadband blog calendar. https://wp.me/P3if7-4yG If you have an event you’d like to add please send it to atreacy@treacyinfo.com

Stirring the Pot – by Bill Coleman

Community broadband advocates need to take a look at the Rural Development Opportunity Fund (RDOF) funding that will be made available via the latest FCC’s funding program for rural broadband.  Communities should engage with their preferred provider partners now to encourage them to bid for this available funding.  A preferred partner is one whose deployment plans line up with your community’s vision for future broadband service rather than a provider using these funds to meet today’s minimum broadband standards similar to the CAF II 10 Mb/1 Mb debacle.

Over $20 billion is available and only areas that lack 25 Mb/3 Mb funding, using the current FCC maps, are eligible.   Eligible areas can be found here: https://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/maps/auction-904-preliminary-eligible-areas/ along with GIS data tables.  There are large blocks of eligible areas in northeast, east central, southeast and southcentral Minnesota.  One interesting aspect of the reverse auction process will be to reward providers who commit to providing higher speeds and lower latencies.  Frankly, this whole process is very complicated.

A significant barrier to effectively using these funds is the patchwork of eligibility.  The funds would be a great building block in a collaborative funding plan, combining provider, local and state funds with federal funding to cover a wide geographic area.  County and regional broadband planners would do well to commit local funding to their preferred provide partner which would increase their ability to bid confidently on these federal funds.

Smart legislators would empower the DEED Office of Broadband to reserve some of their funds supporting providers chasing RDOF funds.  I hope that they are talking about this.  With a prospective DEED application window in September and the October FCC auction, the timing seems compatible.  Combined, these funds could be used to ensure widespread deployment of fiber to the home networks, especially since so many of the eligible areas are not idea for wireless deployment.  This would be a great opportunity to push the “Minnesota Model” to a new level of innovation.

 

Human Services Weekly Call with the Governor’s Office – broadband question with Lt Governor Peggy Flanagan

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The Governor’s Office plans to host a weekly call for MCN members and nonprofits every Monday through April 20. Today the talk was with Lt Governor Peggy Flanagan. She answered a number of questions, including on the potential funding or efforts for rural broadband.

Tiger 4G And AT&T work together to get Franklin Township online

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The Delano Herald Journal reports on a story of provider collaboration to get broadband to a community that needed, especially in an era of sheltering in place. The innovation at the most local level is great; partnering with incumbent or upstream providers at the early stage is a key piece in making the network work. …

For many people working from home and students participating in distance learning online, internet service is a necessity.

That necessity was in jeopardy for the 240 people in Franklin Township, Independence, and Greenfield who utilize Tiger 4G Internet.

In fact, it appeared as if service was being terminated all together.

Tiger 4G owner Ken Beamish said a change in terms with AT&T prompted an AT&T employee to start shutting off customers’ accounts.

The owner reached out to social media, which helped make the connections he needed…

“Enough people called (Rep.) Joe McDonald and (US Rep.) Tom Emmer, and they got involved,” Beamish said. “(Delano Public Schools Superintendent) Matt Schoen called Tom and Joe, as well.”

McDonald and Emmer are familiar with AT&T’s lobbyists at the state and federal levels and got them connected with Beamish, who was then able to get a hold of the right people at AT&T to restore service.

Those connections in turn helped the community get better connected..

He came up with a solution.

“I worked out a way with AT&T to offer a wireless program,” Beamish said. “I put a modem and wireless router in your house, just like your cell phone pulls it out of the air and your router broadcasts it.”

That results in speeds of 5 megabytes up to 70 megabytes, depending on proximity to cell towers.

He’s looking forward to keeping that service going for years to come.

NEO becomes GEO and can help with strategic hotspot placements

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I just got an update from GEOspatial Engineering & Optimization (GEO, formerly NEO) about how they can help schools and other pick the most strategic placement of hotpots based on surrounding households. I know many schools (and perhaps others) have been racing to use hotpots to get better broadband to those who need it as quickly as possible to help people keep learning and earning and living online during the coronavirus threat. Here’s what they offer…

When we do an RF design study, we have the option to locate optimum places for hotspots and identify the number of households that are covered by them.

 

This was originally designed around Ruckus equipment, but the Cisco Aironet series will work with this model.  We would recommend 2.5 and 5 ghz channels be set to the 200mw setting and using the 6 db antennas.

 

The base display shows, based on a cutoff, in this case, of 10 households within wifi range, where we should place the hotspots.  These are the purple dots.

We can see alternative locations for hotspots indicating the # of households and hotspots required to service them.  By placing the mouse over a dot, we see the number of hotspots required in that area, the square miles of that area, and the number of households served.

 

We then can come up with an optimal installation strategy – minimizing distance traveled between each installation, shown both as waypoints, and as a route map.

Rural Minnesota needs State help getting enough broadband to weather the pandemic and beyond

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Faribault.com runs an editorial from Vince Robinson, chair of the Minnesota Broadband Coalition, looking at what sheltering in place looks like for communities without adequate broadband…

Giving our children a high-quality education has long been a tradition in Minnesota. Now that our children are not at school, we’re seeing a digital divide between those who have broadband and those who do not. Some schools are more able than others to shutter and employ e-learning solutions. It is simply not a viable option for every district in the state. Even though students have connectivity at school, some do not have adequate bandwidth at home to receive and send online curriculum assignments or projects. Students without access are at a distinct disadvantage from students who have access.

This divide is also present in health care. Connecting hospitals with their patients via tablet or other smart device is next to impossible if the patient does not have access to the high-speed broadband and technology that drives telehealth services. With increased broadband and a robust telehealth program, health care providers can treat more patients and give them access to specialists in health care hub sites.

All across the state farmers are getting ready for planting season. Whether big or small, farms are modern businesses that need broadband to access markets, potential customers and real time information about weather patterns. In Minnesota, many of our farmers are competing in an international marketplace. And too many of them aren’t on a level playing field if they’re not connected via broadband.

And he offers the Legislature some recommendations in how to level the playing field…

Significant portions of the state — especially low-density rural areas — lack broadband services and have no practical way to get them. The business case just isn’t there for private providers to justify investing all on their own. In response, the Legislature created the Border-to-Border Broadband Grant Program. It is the premier program of its kind in the country and known as the “Minnesota Model.” It requires a public-private partnership that addresses unserved parts of the state by targeting grants to areas without service.

The Legislature allocated $40 million in last year’s biennial budget to the grant program. However, the Office of Broadband Development received grant applications totaling $70 million. That leaves a $30 million funding gap in the current biennium that needs to be addressed before the Legislature adjourns this year. Significant investment of at least $70 million per biennium in the future is necessary to ensure Minnesota reaches its goal of connecting all Minnesotans on time.

The Internet isn’t bogging down but people are upgrading home connections

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This article from Duluth News Tribune echoes what I’ve heard from others – that Internet traffic may be up slightly but mostly it’s just a time shift for busy periods. And the greatest bottleneck may be the network in your house (I’ve also heard server of the website you want to reach)…

“For the majority of providers, 9 o’clock on Sunday night is a crazy busy time for a network,” said Brent Christensen, president and CEO of the Minnesota Telecom Alliance, which is the trade association for 43 telecom providers throughout the region. “Probably a lot of that is Netflix, but it could also be people rushing to get ready for the next week of work and kids getting homework assignments done at the last minute.”

Most telecom companies have built networks well in advance of the pandemic that have been built to handle much higher levels of traffic than are currently being seen. When people are seeing slowdowns in their home networks, it is usually a result of much higher internet use under their own roof.

“Our backbone networks were designed for heavy usage. We engineer the networks for multiples of what’s actually being used, just to handle upticks in traffic like this,” said Christensen, whose family owns Christensen Communications in Madelia, Minn. “You will see slowdowns in your home network, not necessarily on the internet, because your home wifi network is maxed out. Take all of your laptops, then add on the internet of things, like an Alexa device somewhere in your house, or a Nest thermostat, or phones connected to the wifi in your house. You could have 30 or 40 devices in your house using the wifi, when all you think about are three or four laptops. So there’s a lot of traffic going over your home network and that’s where you’re seeing a bog down.”

An interesting addition here is the recognition that households are upgrading and going online more..

Due to that increased usage within many home wifi networks, telecom companies are seeing a demand for upgrades, and some first-time buyers of home internet. In the past, cost was always considered the main reason that people did not have internet access at home. Instead, they are learning that many people primarily accessed the internet at work, and would use data on their phones at home if they needed to get online. That has changed with more people working from home, and more students doing distance learning.

A glimpse at fiber-haves and fiber-have-nots from Aaron Brown on MN’s Iron Range

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The Daily Hibbing today posts a column from Aaron Brown, voice from the from lines of rural Minnesota and broadband advocate. He details the joys of having fiber during a pandemic…

As a result of having high speed internet my family opened our first week of “remote learning” last Monday with all the tools we needed. As a college instructor, I conducted a video conference for my students so I could explain how they can finish the course and graduate. My wife Christina, who also works at the college, was able to confer with colleagues and students as they navigated problems in their education.

Each of my three sons was able to use his school iPad to access not only his assignments, but the actual talking heads of all his teachers, who could answer any questions he might have. No, it was not the same as learning in a social environment. But it was a way to keep learning while protecting human life during a crisis. And we are grateful for that.

But there’s more than just education at stake. There’s our health and economic future: the two most important aspects of the coronavirus story so far.

And a glimpse at the other end of the digital divide…

But it is not so for many others, including some who live even closer to town than we do. The limits of cell phone hotspots and slower internet services became a living hell for many during this crisis. Schools talk about the achievement gap between students of means and privilege and those who have neither. That gap became a canyon this week, requiring herculean efforts by educators and parents. And still children and families are being left behind.

First day of online learning in MN presents challenges but keeps kids safe

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I’ve been holding onto this article since Tuesday – a recap from MinnPost on how different schools are doing with online learning in Minnesota during coronavirus threat. I’m going to include snippets based on location:

From Bemidji

‘Just one laptop at home’: Alicia Bowstring, student at Bemidji State University, and mother of a first-grader in the Cass Lake-Bena Schools district

And a popular sentiment…

no one will be docked as they — along with K-12 students statewide — troubleshoot with new technology on day one of remote learning.

From Bloomington

“That’s where this becomes challenging,” she said, noting the at-home school day was fairly hands-on for her and her husband, who are both adjusting to working remotely from home right now. “The kids know how to use Seesaw fairly well, but there’s definitely parent engagement — to upload, help them record, take pictures.”

And right around 10 a.m., when they were uploading the three questions Elijah had written, the site crashed and he lost his work — prompting a mini life-skill lesson on perseverance.

From Roseville

She says that while some degree of learning took place Monday, her mission was purely to reconnect with her students, and to allow them space to connect with each other — a much-needed return to some semblance of normalcy for many, after a stretch of no school, followed by a spring break.

She’s also being mindful of students’ lack of access to technology at home. …

“I was sad to see only my white families came on today. My students of color were not able to,” she said of the Google Meet session she hosted online.

From Minneapolis

“There’s multiple siblings in the family — all using one parent’s cellphone,” she [the teacher] said. “So there’s a lot of interruptions and phone dying and siblings coming in to ask when she’s going to be done with the phone.”

As a new parent to a 4-month-old, she’s also learning how to juggle at-home child care as she checks in with her students. For part of Monday, that meant holding her child in one arm, while he napped, and working on her computer with her free hand.

From Brooklyn Park

“I [mom who is also a teacher] chose to keep everyone together at the dining room table, so that if there’s issues I can walk around and help answer questions,” she said, adding “the older girls can help with the boys as well.” …

For her, the biggest source of concern heading into Monday was wondering how to best support her youngest son’s speech progress without access to his speech therapist at school. In the morning, his teachers reached out with some guidance and learning tools.

From Anoka-Hennepin…

Her seventh-grader logged into his device and had completed all of his classes in less than an hour, she says. Her ninth-grade son, who’s taking lots of advanced classes, worked until about 1 p.m., with a family break for lunch and a walk outside.

While the boys largely worked independently, Haglund spent the better part of her day alongside her other ninth-grader, Elaina, who has Williams syndrome and normally receives a number of specialized supports at school — things like physical therapy and speech services.

My youngest daughter goes to a charter school is St Paul. She normally loves school. Her description of online school – it’s all of the homework, none of the fun.

Pandemic preparation for a local urban broadband providers: Community Networks with US Internet

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Keeping up with broadband these days is becoming 24×7 job these days. I’m catching up a little bit over the weekend – starting with the Community Network’s podcast. This last week, Chris Mitchell spoke to Travis Carter of US Internet (USI) about what it’s like to provide broadband services during a pandemic.

First -their office is primarily working form home using Google Hangouts for meetings and a virtual private network to access local services and provide customer services. There are a few folks who aren’t working because that would break social distancing recommendations – but they are on staff and will remain so as long as possible.

They have seen a change in network traffic. It used to be that Sunday nights were the busiest time and now every day is like Sunday night. They do see an increase but it doesn’t compare with “Game of Thrones” busy. USI is focusing on keeping things running.

So why do some sites seem to run slow? It’s not the local providers. It’s because poplar sites don’t’ have the server power to handle the traffic.

The USI network in Minneapolis (with 2500 access points) is now open for free. There were about 7300 connections (at time of recording). They are running into some issues – but often that’s because people are trying to access wifi from their well-insulated, well-built home. The wifi just doesn’t move well through that barrier.

One funny note – they still have 1200 dialup customers! Not because USI can’t or won’t upgrade; they choose this level of connectivity. USI is working to see what might bring people online to a higher degree. They have tried different price points, adding television and partnering with device distributors, such as PCs for People.

Kindergarteners meet on Fridays for Zoom lunch at this St Paul School – and other perks of online learning

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I ran into my friend Molly Stucker the other day. I was walking. She was decorating her front door. Molly is a kindergarten teacher at my alma mater, Highland Catholic (Hi-C), in St Paul. Molly was changing the decoration on her door, which she does every Monday, for the kinders who are able to walk or drive by her house.

The kids stop by because each week she finds a way to include everyone’s name in the decoration. That’s one way they stay in touch. They have online assignments and stay in touch via email and video. They have moved to a flipped classroom approach. And every Friday they all meet up via Zoom for lunch. They do lessons, read stories and interact. They work on sight words, numbers and social studies. While Molly would rather be in a classroom she says it’s going well.

She does miss the personal touch. But again, they have their lunches and the front door to connect them. They have fun assignments like scavenger hunts and the parents have been very supportive.

Hi-C moved to online learning three weeks ago. So they’re a jump ahead of the curve, at least here in the Twin Cities.

The school started looking into online classes a few months ago. They trained teachers. They prepped families – making sure everyone knew what was happening with online opportunities. Translating info into Spanish when helpful. So they were prepared when coronavirus changes started happening. They made sure that everyone had the devices and broadband access they needed. (They asked families what they needed; many were OK for computer and some got an iPad.)

The school teaches kinders through 8th grade. The younger kids use Zoom. They older kids use Google Meet. The school planned on younger kids going online in the morning and afternoons for the older kids, mostly to accommodate families with more siblings that devices. Molly has been using Facetime to connect with students and families individually.

It’s a new world for sure – but it brightened my day to hear how well it’s going!

Local Officials Explain Why Broadband Has Been Essential For Emergency Response Efforts

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From Next Century Cities…

Today Next Century Cities sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging the agency to collaborate with mayors and other local officials on broadband deployment. As residents are forced to work, access virtual classrooms, obtain medical care, and more from their homes, local officials have been working tirelessly to ensure that every resident stays connected during the national coronavirus (COVID-19) shut-in.

Click here to review the letter. Next Century Cities asks the Commission to consider the following points. FCC and Congress are working to ensure that Americans have access to high-speed connectivity, but we can and need to do more.

  • Stimulus funds from the Senate bill should be used to expand the E-Rate program, allowing schools and libraries to purchase hotspots and loan those devices to Americans of all ages who do not have internet access at home. The FCC should also strengthen the Lifeline program, which was designed to keep people connected in the wake of an emergency.
  • Telehealth and telemedicine programs depend on reliable broadband networks. Building reliable networks that reach communities in remote places requires federal policies that support local solutions.
  • Local officials have the clearest view of what their communities need, yet they are noticeably absent from FCC advisory committees. Their insights would help accelerate broadband deployment.
  • The Commission should revise its definition of broadband by increasing minimum speeds to meet new market demands.

In Ammon, Idaho, broadband is essential infrastructure. Mayor Sean Coletti described how high-speed connectivity for residents and business has helped in its emergency response:

“The City of Ammon’s fiber optic utility made it possible for residents to stay at home while continuing to attend school, work, conduct business, and receive medical treatment. Ammon is home to hundreds of employees of the Idaho National Laboratory. The Lab serves as one of the nation’s premier nuclear research facilities and the fifth largest employer in the state. On March 17th, the Lab encouraged employees to work from home if possible and transitioned to ‘minimum-safe plus’ status on March 26th. Lab employees have found it seamless to convert to working from home with Ammon Fiber and the City is proud to play such a key role in keeping essential facilities like the INL operational.

“Ammon Fiber is affordable, safe, and reliable. In fact, Ammon has some of the lowest costs for 1 Gig fiber in the nation, and we have a plan to bring Ammon Fiber to all neighborhoods in the City. We believe our open-access fiber network to be a vital component of who we are, and what we will become. Our slogan is “Where Tomorrow Begins.” Ammon is committed to bringing the vision of tomorrow to its residents today.”

In Hanover, New Hampshire, near the state’s largest trauma medical center, many communities remain underserved or unserved. Julia Griffin, Town Manager, described their resident’s frustration:

“Here in rural New Hampshire, large portions of the state are woefully underserved or completely unserved by broadband. As soon as statewide school closure was announced by our Governor almost three weeks ago, my phone and email blew up with queries from Hanover residents wondering what the Town could do to improve or provide broadband services immediately to ensure that parents and their children could work and learn from home.

“Nothing like a pandemic crisis to highlight the extent to which rural America has been shortchanged.”

Aldona Valicenti, Chief Information Officer, Lexington Fayette Urban County Government, explained how connectivity, or lack thereof, impacts schools and businesses in Kentucky:

“The need for broadband is demonstrated every day during this COVID-19 crisis. Our Governor and Mayor are requiring working from home for those employees who can. Our universities and schools are continuing education even with empty classrooms. We can do that because we have broadband. Many unserved and underserved areas cannot take part. This is an urgent wakeup call for the entire nation.”

In Mount Vernon, Washington, municipal broadband allowed the local government to maintain functionality while implementing emergency response plans. According to Mayor Jill Boudreau:

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, we rely on video conferencing, completely online building permitting, online bill pay, and electronic resources in our public library just to name a few examples. The reliability and security of an institutional network has not only kept City functions operating, but our hospital, 911 center, and County government working at full capacity.”

 

Frontier prepares for bankruptcy, regrets failure to install enough fiber

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Ars Technica reports…

As Frontier Communications moves closer to an expected bankruptcy filing, the ISP told investors that its troubles stem largely from its failure to invest properly in upgrading DSL to fiber broadband.

 

They also report on the plan for recovery. It looks like they are planning to get FCC funding…

While things are bleak now, Frontier says it has a plan to improve performance in the long run. The presentation for investors said Frontier intends to “transform the business from a provider of legacy telecom services over a primarily copper-based network to a next-generation broadband-service provider with long-lived fiber-based infrastructure.”

Frontier recently hired a new CEO, former Dish executive Bernie Han, to lead a turnaround attempt. Though Frontier has failed to prevent customer losses, company leadership apparently believes a restructuring, more investment, and better management would help the ISP compete more effectively against cable and fiber ISPs. Frontier said its potential market is “an attractive investment with opportunity for capital deployment” and that its “undermanaged assets” pose an opportunity. The board of directors is likely to change significantly after bankruptcy, the company said.

After a restructuring, Frontier says it intends to “invest in high-return” fiber-to-the-home upgrades, and fiber expansions “for wireless and wholesale customers.” Frontier said it has identified about 3 million households “with attractive economics for new fiber builds.”

Frontier said it intends to get a slice of Federal Communications Commission funding that can be used to upgrade rural-broadband networks. With Frontier’s customer service also a problem, the company said it hopes to reduce subscriber losses with improvements to the installation process, equipment functionality, and customer service in general.