Category Archives: Broadband Summit 2012

Minnesota Broadband Conference 2012: Task Force Presentation

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Mayor Ness Official Opens the Conference

Discouraging to have almost no discussion of broadband during elections. Need to make investment in rural area – need to make the point that broadband *is* essential in rural area. We need to put action behind ideas. Duluth’s broadband infrastructure allows us to compete with the rest of the world. Without that investment we would not be able to compete.

Bernadine Joselyn welcomes everyone:

It’s our 9th conference and we have 200 people registered to be here. What is the purpose of our gathering?

Last week we were in Mora talking about regional broadband development. We asked what success would look like? Fred Underwood said technology would successfully implemented because entirely invisible. When we’re no longer talking about broadband, just using it, that will be success.

The conference conversation has shifted from what is broadband? To how can I get it?

Access denied is opportunity denied.

Bill Hoffman – on Connect MN Report

Provides a sneak peek at Connect MN data on broadband availability; more info on that as soon as the press release is posted. (Expected this afternoon/evening.)

Task Force Presentations

Members of the Task Force talk about their progress…



The room brainstorms some ideas for policies that promote broadband:

  • “We need a tax break to access broadband in rural areas” from someone paying $100/month for satellite
  • “what about folks who don’t make enough to itemize tax returns?”
  • Transportation has wrestled with gas tax – what to do when it’s no longer sufficient? Might be a model for universal service for broadband

Broadband Conference Exhibitor: Localoop

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I am pleased to introduce the exhibitors for the 2012 Broadband Conference (Building our Connected Future: Minnesota’s Better with Broadband!). Today our featured exhibitor is LocaLoop.

LocaLoop Inc. offers rural areas a profitable 4G turnkey business solution to bring affordable broadband Internet to rural communities

LocaLoop’s proven 4G wireless solution enables our service provider partners to profitably sell affordable fixed and mobile broadband Internet service in rural areas.

LocaLoop leverages its patented cloud technology and business model:

  • LocaLoop’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), LocaLoopNet™ operating and customer management platform.
  • Proven 4G hardware from established vendors.
  • Network/planning/engineering/project management expertise.
  • Automated Marketing and Sales tools.

The turnkey business solution is offered in a Pay-as-you-Grow approach and as a consequence, up-front capital requirements are dramatically reduced and ongoing oper­ating costs are proportionally distributed across the subscriber base. Any local phone company, Internet provider, utility or municipality is now able to partner with LocaLoop to quickly create a profitable 4G broadband Internet business.

LocaLoop has under the synKro™ brand launched its first rural 4G turnkey joint venture (www.synkrosouthwest.com ) with Southwest Minnesota Broadband Systems (www.mysmbs.com ), covering eight rural cities in southwest Minnesota. In this region, LocaLoop’s 4G wireless broadband Internet complements SMBS Fiber to the Home (FTTH) service by reaching beyond fiber’s economic viability. Additionally, LocaLoop is providing mobility, a feature which FTTH cannot provide.

www.localoop.com
www.synkrosouthwest.com

LocaLoop Press Release:

Minnesota Poised To Lead In Next Generation Rural Broadband Adoption

LocaLoop ‘takes to the cloud’ delivering affordable 4G wireless and mobile broadband Internet service to underserved communities

Contact:
LocaLoop, Inc.
Carl-Johan Torarp
612-327-3303
cjtorarp@localoop.com

Duluth, MN — November 14, 2012 – Approximately 50 million Americans living in 20 million rural households have limited or no access to high-speed broadband Internet, according to a 2010 U.S. government study. Closing this “digital divide” must be a major driver in regional economic development and Minnesota is on the cusp of leading in the solution, according to a Minnesota technology entrepreneur.

“Now is the time for Minnesota to solve the digital divide without any need for taxpayer money,” said Carl Johan Torarp, speaking at the Blandin Foundation’s 2012 Broadband Conference being held in Duluth.

Torarp is the CEO and founder of Minneapolis-based LocaLoop, Inc., an Internet software technology company created exclusively for the advancement, management and deployment of affordable wireless broadband Internet services in rural communities.

While industry-standard 4G technology is being deployed in high-density metro markets serving tens of millions of users, extending high-speed fiber to individual homes in rural areas is uneconomical, Torarp said.  “Sweden tried, but abandoned the effort because it cost up to $5,000 per home,” he said. Major carriers will continue to ignore underserved rural markets as they concentrate on deploying 4G technology in high-density urban markets, he added.

LocaLoop’s patented technology enables a different approach, reaching remote users via relatively low cost wireless transmission sites and cloud-based business management through joint ventures with local providers to deliver both mobile and fixed broadband Internet.

“We put the network operating center, business management software and mobility ‘into the cloud’ creating an efficient, profitable turn-key platform for local providers,” Torarp said.

LocaLoop, Inc. through its wholly-owned subsidiary SynKro Southwest, LLC, recently signed a five-year contract to do just that in the Southwest Minnesota Broadband Services (SMBS) subscriber area in Jackson, Nobel and Cottonwood counties.

“Minnesota can show the way in closing the 4G availability gap for rural markets,” Torarp concluded.

About LocaLoop

LocaLoop, Inc. is the first mobile 4G service provider in America created exclusively for the advancement, management and deployment of affordable wireless broadband Internet services in rural and underserved communities. LocaLoop’s patented 4G cloud technology provides a profitable business platform in partnership with local providers while delivering an optimized broadband Internet user experience. For more information, go to http://www.localoop.com/

Broadband Conference Exhibitor: OSIG

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I am pleased to introduce the exhibitors for the 2012 Broadband Conference (Building our Connected Future: Minnesota’s Better with Broadband!). Today our featured exhibitor is OSIG.

OSIG: Open Systems Integration Group

OSIG connects broadband service providers across MN with a wide variety of products that enable them to expand and update their voice, data and video networks with the latest fiber optic technology, test equipment and construction materials in the market. We are manufacturers’ representatives for AFL, Tunnel Mill, Pulsecom, Megger, Rhino, and Thermo Bond.

Meet the representatives:

Lori Edlund

As Regional Sales Manager, Lori provides field product support to Telcos, CATV companies, engineering firms and outside plant contractors in MN, ND & SD. Lori has over 15 years of experience providing telecommunications companies with best-in-class solutions to help them meet the growing needs of their subscriber customers.

Broadband Conference Exhibitor: Working Family Resource Center

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I am pleased to introduce the exhibitors for the 2012 Broadband Conference (Building our Connected Future: Minnesota’s Better with Broadband!). Today our featured exhibitor is Working Family Resource Center.

Working Family Resource Center, a program of Lifetrack Resources, is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to strengthen individuals, families and communities. This mission is achieved by providing online educational resources to individuals through their worksites and community partners who provide supportive services to them. Whether individuals are struggling with parenting, money management, caring for aging relatives, workload demands, or health and wellness issues, Working Family Resource Center’s educational webinars, podcasts, e-newsletters and tip sheets offer practical ideas to help individuals better manage the often competing demands of work and family.

Meet the Representatives:

Beth Quist
Beth Quist, Director will be representing Working Family Resource Center at the conference. Beth has a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and is a Certified Family Life Educator. Prior to working for Working Family Resource Center, Beth spent 14 years working in the early childhood education management industry.

Ask Us About

Online Well-Being Portals! Working Family Resource Center works with employers and community partners to develop customized online educational portals that offer a variety of online resources such as webinars, e-newsletters, audio clips, and more. Topics may include Fitness for a Busy Lifestyle, Healthy Meal Planning and Shopping for Families on a Budget, Keeping Your Budget on Track for the New Year, From Stress to Resilience, and Key Strategies for Reducing Power Struggles with Your Kids.

Learn More

Corporate website www.workingfam.org

Broadband Conference Exhibitor: Power & Tel

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I am pleased to introduce the exhibitors for the 2012 Broadband Conference (Building our Connected Future: Minnesota’s Better with Broadband!). Today our featured exhibitor is Power & Tel.

Power & Tel

Power & Tel is an industry leader in the procurement, sales, material management and distribution of product solutions to the worldwide telecommunications marketplace.Allow our extensive distribution network to be your inventory. Power & Tel is your complete solution for Telecommunications and CATV products:

  • Telecommunications and CATV products in stock.
  • Material management resources available.
  • Cost-effective, worldwide distribution.

Meet the Representative:

Michael Mackeben
District Sales Manager
2673 Yale Ave.
Memphis, TN 38112
901-866-330
michael.mackeben@ptsupply.com
www.ptsupply.com

Broadband Conference Exhibitor: E-Democracy.org

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E-Democracy.org:2012 Broadband Conference Exhibitor

E-Democracy helps strengthen local communities using online tools to create meaningful connections and increase civic engagement by providing a local, cost-effective model for online discussion spaces.

We are a Minnesota-based nonprofit organization with 87 community forums in 5 states and 3 countries, as well as a number of communities of practice supporting online civic engagement globally. Our mission is to harness the power of online tools to support participation in public life, strengthen communities, and build democracy.

We believe the perceived value of statewide broadband adoption can be supported with local online community engagement. The Minnesota Rural Voices initiative of the Blandin Foundation supported the launch of community forums in Bemidji, Cass Lake/Leech Lake, and Cook County, the relaunch of the Winona Community Forum, and the formation of the Grand Rapids Area Issues Forum (in conjunction with KAXE’s Northern Community Internet Project). 2009 efforts included the Minnesota Voices Online Unconference in Duluth.

We also believe efforts to address the digital divide must provide intentional efforts to engage low income, highly diverse populations and are currently working to go deep with inclusion while going to scale across Saint Paul. In the summer of 2012, we tripled the size of the Saint Paul forums with the greatest growth in the lowest income, most highly diverse neighborhoods. There are now 42 Twin Cities’
Neighbor Forums with 15,000+ participants.

Meet the Representatives

Sally Fineday was the Cass Lake-Leech Lake Community Forum Outreach Leader before joining the planning staff at the Leech Lake Band of Ojibewe. With her passion for the connection between broadband access and building community, the forum grew from 212 to 300 members. “Being able to participate in online community building is about more than technology. It’s about affordability and making it so we can all participate in the online spaces we create. This is especially important for our community where the distances between us are so great.” Sally continues to provide outreach assistance while we look to fill this position. Her organizing experience includes four years as the Executive Director of Native Vote Alliance of Minnesota and two years with Take Action Minnesota. She studied at Bemidji State University.

Jennifer Armstrong is a member of E-Democracy’s core team, providing assistance in a variety of capacities. She studied at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she was the first student to graduate with a B.A. in Women Studies and Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Jennifer is walking the talk of the 21st century economy, doing most of her work from a farm on the Iron Range in Northeast Minnesota.

Broadband Conference Exhibitor: U-reka Broadband

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I am pleased to introduce the exhibitors for the 2012 Broadband Conference (Building our Connected Future: Minnesota’s Better with Broadband!). Today our featured exhibitor is U-reka Broadband.

U-reka Broadband helps communities explore options for better broadband networks by offering consulting services that include assessments, inventories, provider and technology background, engineering, fiber feasibility and cost studies, construction, project management and operations. Our primary goal is improved broadband communications for communities, using planning and facilitating public private partnerships and initiatives. U-reka’s particular knowledge of fiber networks is invaluable to our clients whether the objective is fiber to the premises (FTTP) or a combination of fiber and wireless networks.

Meet the Representatives:

John Schultz
John is a 25 year veteran of the telecommunications industry and has spent his career concentrating on bringing next-generation architectures to business and residential customers. John’s passion is fiber connectivity and the possibilities that it brings to his customers. He has been instrumental in developing fiber optic networks for Service Providers, Municipalities and Private Businesses.

JoAnne Johnson
Twelve years in government relations and community development, the last ten years with Frontier Communications, have helped create the knowledge base that drives her work in the communications industry and was also a defining factor in JoAnne being named Chair by Governor Pawlenty of the MN Broadband Advisory Task Force, created in 2010’s legislative session.

Ask us about:

  • Community Technology Planning
  • Public Private Partnerships
  • Feasibility Studies
  • Bridging Gaps to Build Strategies
  • Comprehensive Strategy and Public Policy
  • Community Engagement

From our clients:

Cloquet Valley Internet InitiativeThe feasibility study recently conducted for us by U-reka Broadband Ventures gave us new ideas and incentive to move forward. Prior to that study, there were no improvements in sight! John Shultz and JoAnne Johnson (U-reka) provided an objective analysis and also some recommendations for next steps. …Janet Keough

Free webinar: Broadband ROI: No Field of Dreams: Nov 8

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The Blandin Foundation has been hosting a series of free webinars leading up to the big broadband conference coming up Nov 13-14 (Building Our Connected Future). The final free webinar takes place one week from today – be sure to mark your calendar. Here are more details…

2012 Pre-Broadband Conference Webinar 4:
Broadband ROI: No Field of Dreams
November 8, 9:00 – 10:00 am

Late this summer, Strategic Networks Group (SNG) released a broadband adoption report that focused on going from good to great from the provider’s perspective: No Field of Dreams: Eliminating the Waiting Game and Driving Uptake. We are pleased to have SNG President Michael Curri and author of the report Doug Adams for our final webinar. They will be covering the network uptake issue and broadband ROI in general. The session should be of interest to community leaders and broadband providers alike.

Register today!

 

 

Project FINE

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I am pleased to introduce the exhibitors for the 2012 Broadband Conference (Building our Connected Future: Minnesota’s Better with Broadband!). Today our featured exhibitor is Project FINE.

Project FINE

Project FINE is a local, private, non-profit, tax exempt organization that helps newcomers integrate into the community. We provide foreign language interpreters and translators as well as opportunities for education, information, referral, and empowerment for immigrants and refugees. Our work is accomplished through a small staff, volunteers, interpreters, and extensive collaboration with local service providers.

Project FINE received support through the Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC) initiative.

Meet the Representatives:

Fatima Said

A refugee to the United States from her native Bosnia, Fatima Said came to Project FINE with a background in education and business, as well as 12 years of experience as a teacher and director of the Head Start program at Child Care Resources and Referral in Rochester.  In addition to her duties at Project FINE, Fatima is also very involved in both the Winona and Rochester Communities.

Ask Us About

Project FINE has worked to provide computers and training to their constituents. They have received donated computers and money from community partners.  They offer a wide range of computer classes and have computer science majors that are tutoring FINE clients. The community response to broadband efforts has been terrific; people come early to the classes and want more.

Learn more…

The following is an archive of a webinar in which Fatima spoke to the MIRC partners about the work in Winona:

Broadband Conference Exhibitor: Cybermation

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I am pleased to introduce the exhibitors for the 2012 Broadband Conference (Building our Connected Future: Minnesota’s Better with Broadband!). Today our featured exhibitor is Cybermation:

Cybermation

Tom Ardolf co-founded Cybermation with his wife, Susie, in 1996.

His experience began with 4 years in the Intelligence and Security Command of the U.S. Army, from 1979-1983, working with various high tech projects as an electronics technician. Upon discharge, Tom joined Sanders Associates, a leading defense contractor based in Nashua, New Hampshire spending 3 years working on classified projects in an R&D environment, primarily specialized airborne platforms that were deployed for special projects throughout the world.

Returning to Minnesota, Tom completed a Bachelors in Engineering Technology from 1985-1988 at St. Cloud State University while simultaneously founding RT Enterprises in July of 1986. Tom continued working on an MBA at SCSU, completing his Masters studies in 1993. Due to lack of any available custom installers, Tom and Susie founded Cybermation in 1996 when building their home. The next 5 years were spent gaining education and experience in custom electronics and home systems. In 2001, Tom and Susie also developed commercial property into the Ardolf Technology Center and they continue to manage it today.

The genesis of Cybermation from these early days created evolutions of change in Cybermation over the next decade. New “high water marks” continue to be achieved, with examples being one of three firms considered as the System Integrator of the Year in 2008, multiple projects being featured in trade magazines and the recipient of three Mark of Excellence awards by CEA in 2010. In Q3/2010, Cybermation rolled out the CyberHealth Division, focusing on the tele-wellness market. The firm quickly achieved national recognition in multiple publications for their unique marketing & implementation strategies. In May/2012, Cybermation spun off the low voltage practice to focus entirely on the CyberHealth Division. In August of 2012, Cybermation was granted a distributorship for GrandCare as a result of its success in sales and support of systems throughout Minnesota.

Cybermation is now strictly a tele-health and tele-wellness company that provides assistive technology to help the elderly remain independent and in their own homes for as long as possible. Personal Emergency Response Systems, lockable GPS locator watches, and medication dispensing systems are just a few of the items available. Among many of the helpful products that Cybermation supplies is the GrandCare System. GrandCare takes all the areas where a senior might need assistance and combines them into one easy to use, easy to manage touch screen system that requires no technical ability to use. Everything from medication reminders, locked control of medication disbursement, blood pressure and blood glucose monitoring and motion sensing are addressed. But the best part of GrandCare is that it takes these necessary services and adds something invaluable to them: socialization. With GrandCare’s simple emailing, video chatting, and picture streaming, as well as interactive calendar and appointment scheduling, it makes friends and family that are far away suddenly available to a loved one literally at the touch of a button. Add the fact that care givers can monitor all the information available through the system remotely, and you have a piece of equipment that is invaluable to someone who would like nothing more than to stay in their home, but needs a little care to be able to do so.

Learn more:

Broadband Confernece Exhibitor: PCs for People

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I am pleased to introduce the exhibitors for the 2012 Broadband Conference (Building our Connected Future: Minnesota’s Better with Broadband!). Today our featured exhibitor is PCs for People:

PCs for People

PCs for People creates new opportunities by providing personal computers and education to people who have limited experience with technology due to social, physical and/or economic circumstances.

Meet the Representatives:

Sam Drong
Sam serves as the Program Director for PCs for People. Over the last two years he has helped deliver over 1,000 computers to rural Minnesota, partnered with United Way to deliver computers to metro-area food shelves, and helped PCs for People gain industry certifications in data sanitization to ensure hard drives are completely erased.

Casey Sorenson
Casey has been the Executive Director of PCs for People since it incorporated as 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 2008. Under Casey’s leadership, the organization’s impact has vastly increased. Since 2008, PCs for People has gone from distributing 400 computers to 4,000 computers in 2012.

Ask Us About

In the last couple of years, working through the Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC) project, PCs for People has helped rural communities bring refurbished computers to low-income residents in the area. We work with local contacts to organize local used computer drives and computer give-away events. PCs for People drives the computer refurbishing process. We wipe the computers clean, install new software and test so that each computer recipient gets a computer built to support their needs. The video below describes the process through a tour of our facilities in St Paul.

Northwoods Update: Cloquet Valley Internet Initiative

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We’ve been tracking the Cloquet Valley Internet Initiative and their quest for improved broadband. Today I’m pleased to share an update from Jan Keough from CVII…

The Cloquet Valley Internet Initiative (CVII) is about a year and a half along.  Here’s an update on progress in our quest to bring broadband internet to the citizens of our nine township area. I wish I could report that fiber optic cable is being installed, but we’re not there yet! The feasibility study recently conducted for us by U-reka Broadband Ventures gave us new ideas and incentive to move forward.  Prior to that study, there were no improvements in sight! John Shultz and JoAnne Johnson (U-reka) provided an objective analysis and also some recommendations for next steps.

And just to let you know how bad it is “up here”…Judy and Lee operate a marketing business out of their home in Pequaywan Township.  It can take hours just to log into the internet and hours to send a moderate-size graphic on slow DSL.  A lot of people only have access to dial-up internet.  Medical professionals can’t work on their records at home because internet options don’t allow for encryption.  North Star Township spent several hundred dollars to rig up a tall antenna to be able to get internet to our fire hall through an ATT device!

Our goal is consistent with the State of Minnesota broadband goal of 10 Mbps (down) and 5 Mbps (up).  The good news is that U-reka study pointed us toward a short-term / long-term transition toward our goal, and many people in our townships are already seeing improved internet.  The two new satellite systems, Exede and Gen4, are far far superior to their predecessors, Wildblue and Hughesnet, and many folks have upgraded.  These two systems are delivering up to 12 Mbps down and 1-5 Mbps up, and the latency isn’t too bad.  I upgraded from Wildblue to Exede and I can now Skype and stream video and operate multiple internet devices at once.  If you don’t need encryption or VPN, we have found these two satellite systems to be pretty good.  Some, like my township, are starting to use ATT wireless from the local cellphone tower, but most have to install an expensive antenna to get a decent signal!  Both of these options are subject to data plans; the satellite systems seem to be more generous for a reasonable price.

The U-reka folks recommended that we continue to engage the providers, as the Connect America funds are being accepted and new partnerships between providers are forming.  We met last week with our electric coop, Coop Light and Power, to hear about their new fixed (tower-based) wireless system.  CLP wants to use the towers to improve their smart-grid approach to electricity management and delivery, but they also want to offer fast internet (up to 7 Mbps) as well.  With only a few new towers, they could cover many of our townships.  CLP is very interested in collaborating with Town Boards to site and market their system, and Normanna Township is actively working with CLP.  After last week’s meeting, other townships seem interested.  While not a wired system, a faster wireless internet that lacks the latency problems of satellite could be a short-term and economically feasible approach for our rural areas.

We are also scheduling meetings with Frontier Communications and with the Lake County fiber project, Lake Connections.  Our second feasibility study (Thanks again to the Blandin Foundation for financial support!), being conducted by Compass Consultants and to be completed in December, will provide us with engineering and business plans for fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) + DSL.  If the DSL and fiber optic providers are interested in expanding into our townships, we want to offer assistance by providing engineering specifications and the business analysis.  We see a fiber optic-based system as the best solution for providing our citizens with 21st Century broadband options, but we know that it is very expensive, and we will need some partners.  We will be trying to meet with CenturyLink and Paul Bunyan soon.  We will be attending the Blandin Broadband Conference to meet people, hear about opportunities and tell our story!

Townships have unique challenges in attracting broadband at speeds approaching the State of Minnesota goal.  Like many townships in Minnesota and rural America, our area has very few anchor institutions except for our township fire departments and township offices.  We have no schools or hospitals or libraries or banks – our residents typically work, learn, participate in health care, and interact with businesses in Duluth, Hermantown, Cloquet and Two Harbors.  Township government is ill-equipped to bond or otherwise fund major infrastructure projects.  Our normal business is fighting fires and emergency service, grading and plowing roads, and some have cemeteries.  Adjacent cities and our county (the largest in Minnesota) are not interested in funding broadband projects for rural areas.  All we can do is try to convince partners (including providers) that we can assist them with a market for internet.  We are reminding providers, as well as state and federal programs, that rural townships have students, teachers, seniors, small businesses, and all the same needs as city residents for modern applications of the internet.  Townships can be good partners in designing and promoting broadband!

Free Broadband webinars lead up to Minnesota Broadband Conference

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We are pleased to announce the next series of webinars leading up to the Fall Broadband conference (Building our Connected Future: Minnesota’s Better with Broadband – Nov 13-14 in Duluth). All webinars are free. Registration is open for the next session and will soon be open for the rest.

Thursday October 11, 9:00 – 10:00 am
Digital Inclusion: Success from the Frontline

Registration is Open! Click this link to register.

Hear from four frontline practitioners who understand that digital inclusion is essential to building vibrant rural communities. Learn about best practice digital inclusion strategies and about the importance of three essential components of digital inclusion: providing devices such as a computer, tablet or smartphone to those without; providing training to build community capacity to use the Internet effectively; and increasing broadband connectivity in homes and/or public access locations to insure access.

Presenters:
• Fatima Said, Project Fine in Winona
• Casey Sorenson, PC’s for People
• Dawn Hegland, UVMRDC
• Dick Sjoberg, Sjoberg’s Cable in Thief River Falls

Thursday October 25, 9:00 – 10:00 am
Maximizing the Value of Fiber Networks – Register Now
The revenue and value derived from a fiber network goes well beyond the standard triple play services of voice, video and data. Learn about the applications that can bring significant revenue and/or value to the owners of fiber networks, thus improving the business case for investment.

Presenters:
• Mark Erickson, RS Fiber, Community Connectedness
• Gary Connett, Great River Energy, Smart Grid
• Andy Sackreiter, AT&T Director of RAN Engineering for Minnesota and the Northern Plains

Thursday, November 8, 9:00 – 10:00 am
Broadband ROI: No Field of Dreams
November 8; 9-10 AM
Late summer, Strategic Networks Group (SNG) released a broadband adoption report that focused on going from good to great from the provider’s perspective: No Field of Dreams: Eliminating the Waiting Game and Driving Uptake. We are pleased to have SNG President Michael Curri and author of the report Doug Adams for our final webinar. They will be covering the network uptake issue and broadband ROI in general. The session should be of interest to community leaders and broadband providers alike.