Tag Archives: ARRA

Duluth Spin on the ARRA awards

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I was just talking to someone yesterday at a tour of Monticello’s FTTH network (more on that later) about how hard it has been to get consistent info on the ARRA awards and how poorly the awards are compiled and archived. I’ve tried to create a list for us in Minnesota. But I was excited to see Duluth’s take on the awards from their perspective.

According to the WDIO’s Eyewitness News, the City of Duluth Communication office reports that there will be three new fiber lines running into Duluth…

Duluth to St. Paul – HickoryTech’s subsidiary Enventis was recently awarded a $16.8 million in stimulus dollars to build 428 miles of fiber-optic cable in Greater Minnesota, the backbone of two new high-speed fiber lines. One line will run between Duluth and St. Paul, while the other will run between Brainerd and Fargo. Both are expected to be finished in three years. For more information: http://mankatofreepress.com/local/x1836251772/HickoryTech-gets-grant-to-build-cable

Duluth to Green Bay and Michigan’s UP – Ann Arbor-based not-for-profit Merit Network will construct a 1,210-mile high-speed fiber network in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula – with connections to Green Bay, Wis. and Duluth, Minn. – following the award of a $69.6 million federal stimulus grant to fund the project. http://www.annarbor.com/business-review/ann-arbor-based-merit-network-lands-696m-grant-to-expand-broadband-in-michigan/

Duluth to NE Minnesota Communities – In March the Northeast Service Cooperative received a $21.7 million loan, and $21.7 million grant to fund a fiber project to serve the Iron Range of northeast Minnesota. Construction on that project begins in the spring of 2011, and will be completed by June of 2013. That project includes 34 communities throughout Northeast Minnesota, from Willow River to McGregor, and International Falls to Grand Portage. http://www.nesc.k12.mn.us/broadband/mmfp

As the article points out, these are primarily Middle Mile projects – but it’s adding bandwidth and redundancy to the area. And as Duluth Mayor Don Ness comments…

“Whether or not Google selects Duluth, we continue to aggressively pursue all options to enhance our IT capacity. Bandwidth capacity is of growing importance in our ability to compete on a national and international basis.”

More on Carver County’s ARRA-funded broadband project

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A couple of weeks ago, Carver County got the good word on their ARRA application. Here’s a quick reminder on their project…

Carver County – This nearly $6 million award will allow the County of Carver to offer affordable middle-mile broadband service in south central Minnesota. The project plans to connect schools, libraries, and community colleges, including the Waconia Library and the South Metro campus of the Dunwoody College of Technology, to improve educational services, distance learning, and remote teaching. The project also proposes to construct 121 miles of new fiber that will be open to as many as nine last-mile providers in the region in order to improve commercial broadband availability and adoption. As many as 57,600 people stand to benefit as do 2,700 businesses.

The Sun Patriot recently provided more information on Carver County and their plans…

“The grant means we can leverage local funding to build a much needed fiber ring for county government and then use federal funds to add connections to the ring to benefit the greatest possible number of other public entities,” [Carver County Board Chair James] Ische said. “In addition, the redundant ring makes it possible for the private sector to offer last-mile broadband service to residents and businesses throughout the county. Even those in the rural areas will have access and be able to reap the benefits of high-speed broadband services.”

The fiber ring will be nearly 89 miles long, run directly through every city in the county, and have an additional 32 miles in lateral connections. The 121 miles of new fiber will be open to as many as nine private last-mile providers in the region to improve commercial broadband availability and adoption. Instead of connecting nine sites as it was originally proposed, the fiber ring will initially connect to 55 sites that represent 86 “anchor institutions.”

Referred to as the Carver County Open Fiber Initiative (CCOFI), the anchor institutions represent a far-reaching collection of city, county and township governments, schools, fire departments, public safety towers, law enforcement agencies, community support organizations, and healthcare providers. All six school districts with buildings in Carver County will be connected to the ring through connections to a total of 28 public school buildings. The public will be able to access high-speed Internet at all six county libraries and at the Workforce Service Center.

Carver County will own the ring and will manage and support the fiber network deployed to the other public anchor institutions. The county will not support private sector businesses or residents who connect to the ring. That will be left up to the private companies. They will have equal opportunity to deploy last-mile infrastructure to the ring and provide network management to private businesses and residents.

MN ARRA broadband awards so far

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There are two more rounds of ARRA broadband to be announced – one is scheduled for next week, the next the end of September. In the meantime I’ve gathered a list of the Minnesota-based and Minnesota-touched awards announced so far. I’ve included brief descriptions of each project. I thought I’d share it as a cheat sheet we could all use.

I’ll paste the table of info below – but I know tables and blogs don’t’ always mix – so there’s a prettier version in Word too.

Grantee Amount Description
Infrastructure Projects:
Arvig Telephone Company $5,048,168 Bring high speed DSL service to unserved establishments within its rural service territory in Crow Wing County, MN.
Carver County $6,000,000 Affordable middle-mile broadband service in south central Minnesota to connect schools, libraries, and community colleges.
City of Windom $12,800,000 SWMBG will build FTTP (Fiber to the Premise) infrastructure to eight rural communities in Southwestern Minnesota.
Enventis Telecom $16,800,000 Affordable middle-mile broadband service in Minnesota by connecting 70 community institutions to broadband, including connecting the Mayo Clinic to 12 rural health care facilities in southern Minnesota.
Farmers Mutual Telephone Company $9,652,956 Bring FTTP technology to Lac qui Parle County.
Federated Telephone Cooperative $1,300,000 Build a FTTP system to deploy voice, video, and data services to rural Appleton, Minnesota.
Federated Telephone Cooperative. $2,987,000 Bring a FTTP voice, video, and data network to the Rural Morris, Minnesota exchange.
Halstad Telephone Company $6,555,000 Install FTTP to 1,069 underserved locations in 5 towns and surrounding rural/farm areas in Norman and Polk Counties in Minnesota
Minnesota Valley Television Improvement Corporation $1,125,552 Continue building out its broadband internet network to unserved and underserved areas of west central and south central Minnesota.
Northeast Service Cooperative $43,498,220 The Northeast Service Cooperative, in partnership with state and local agencies, schools and health care organizations, will implement a middle mile project to make dark fiber, wavelength services available to private sector providers in rural areas of northeast Minnesota.
Sjoberg’s, Inc. $866,000 FTTP in Roseau, Thief River Falls, and the hamlet of Fox, serving approximately 656 people stand to benefit, as do roughly 15 businesses and 3 community institutions
Wikstrom Telephone Company, Incorporated $7,398,600 Deploy FTTP in 6 communities in Kittson, Marshall and Roseau Counties.
Winnebago Cooperative Telecom Association $3,100,000

*Winnebago received $19.6 million but only 16% will go MN

 Expand the existing portions of its fiber network by providing FTTP to rural portions of about 21 communities in Iowa and Minnesota.
Woodstock Telephone Co Inc $15,184,424 Expand its fiber network into neighboring rural communities by providing FTTP in 15 communities located within 3 counties in Southwest Minnesota.
Zayo Bandwidth, LLC $13,382,593 The Connect Anoka County Community Broadband Network will make high-speed broadband services available to governments, businesses, community anchor institutions, and local Internet service providers in Anoka County and parts of Isanti and Ramsey Counties
15 Projects $145,698,513
Public Computer Center Projects:
Leech Lake Reservation Business Committee $1,722,371 Create seven new public computer centers and upgrade 10 existing facilities on three Ojibwe and Chippewa Indian reservations in Minnesota. They will provide training and support to youth, parents and small businesses.
Regents of the University of Minnesota $2,862,333 Establish one new public computer center and improve 10 existing computer centers in Minneapolis and St Paul. They will offer computer and workforce training to vulnerable populations, including African-Americans and Hmong and Somali immigrants.
Broadband Adoption Programs:
C.K. Blandin Foundation $4,858,219 Blandin Foundation and partners will bring a network of resources and support to rural Minnesota individuals and communities – especially those unemployed and seeking employment, small businesses, coalitions of government entities, and local leaders.
3 Projects $9,442,923 .
Multi-State Projects with a presence in Minnesota
Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc. $14,988,657 Discounted broadband services and specialized computers, online technology training, public access to videophones at anchor institutions for the deaf and hearing impaired community. The project is primary based in South Dakota.
Connected Nation, Inc. $1,700,000 Expand existing broadband maps to reach more providers, give information at a more detailed level, and investigate broadband adoption in Minnesota
Merit Network $69,639,291 Develop 1172 miles of middle mile fiber to serve anchors, public safety, homes and businesses in the Upper Peninsula and Northern Lower Peninsula. Paths out of the region will reach the Duluth area
Mission Economic Development Agency $3,724,128 The Latino Microenterprise Tech Net will create a public computer center in Minneapolis, where they will offer computer training and adult basic education in English and Spanish.
One Economy Corporation $28,519,482 Publishes a portal of Twin Cities and national resources focusing on jobs, school, housing, money and health. Their Digital Connectors program will bring a mentor/community service project to the Twin Cities where youth will learn about broadband and pass on their knowledge to the community
University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development* $62,540,162 Create an ultra-fast national network to colleges, universities, libraries, health care facilities and public safety entities, including some based in Minnesota
6 Projects $181,111,720
Total:
23 Projects $336,253,156

Lake County update on network plans

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There’s good news and bad news is Lake County. The bad news is that they still haven’t received ARRA broadband funding. The good news is that they’re still in the hopper.

According to the Lake County News-Chronicle, they remain optimistic…

“I don’t look at it as a rejection,” said Paul Bergman, Lake County commissioner. “There’s still money left. Somebody has to be the last project funded.”

The quick description of their project is…

The county broadband project is expected to cost $70 million and would bring service to every home in Lake and parts of St. Louis County currently served with electric service. The “last-mile” project, meaning service to homes from a central system, is what much of the federal money is tied to.

If the ARRA funding doesn’t work out, municipal financing through revenue bonds may be an option. As the article points out, there will be some improvements in the areas through another ARRA-funded project…

The Northeast Service Cooperative is in the engineering phase of the project to bring broadband to agencies such as medical facilities, counties and schools throughout northeastern Minnesota.

But we keep our fingers crossed for Lake County and the other Minnesota projects waiting to hear the good word.

More info on ARRA awardee Woodstock Telephone

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I have a few local Minnesota broadband stories to share this afternoon. I thought about grouping them – but I know it’s easier for folks to find them later if I keep it to one topic per post. I hope folks won’t mind the overload on a Friday afternoon.

First – thanks to Ann Higgins for the heads up on a recent article about Woodstock Telephone. I didn’t know much about them except that they were awarded $15 million in ARRA funding earlier this month and I welcomed the opportunity to learn more.

The article is really more of a case study written by Tellabs, which provides the Multiservice Access Platform (MSAP) that allows Woodstock to take fiber all the way to customers’ desktops. If you are interested in technical details – this case study is for you. But even if you aren’t interested in the nitty gritty the study paints of picture of what it’s like to be or have a small independent broadband provider…

Woodstock Telephone Co., where Knuth is owner and president, decided that FTTH was essential for staying ahead of both his customers’ bandwidth needs and the competition. With 1,300 access lines serving an operating territory of 450 square miles in southwestern Minnesota, the independent operating company provides Internet and voice services to subscribers in 5 neighboring communities and the surrounding rural areas.

Knuth said many of his customers are farmers who use the Internet for applications such as checking commodity prices, buying equipment, plowing their fields along GPSdefined grids and using software to measure crop yields in real time.

So it sounds as if the upgrade has been done like patchwork over the last few years. They upgrade when replacements are required. They upgrade equipment on a more planned basis – but as they could, including a few miles of fiber with each upgrade.

They ARRA grant will help them be more organized, systematic and obviously quicker with their upgrade. Their plan (taken from the ARRA award announcement) is…

Woodstock Telephone Company will use this more than $15.1 million award to expand its fiber network into neighboring rural communities by providing Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP) for over 3600 premises in 15 communities located within 3 counties in Southwest Minnesota. This expanded fiber network will provide bandwidth of over 20megabytes per second for advanced voice and data services. More than 8,000 people stand to benefit, as do approximately 180 businesses and nearly 50 community institutions. In addition to the jobs this project will create upfront, it will help drive economic development and create jobs for decades to come.

How important is Government support of broadband?

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Yesterday Pew Internet & American Life unveiled their latest report on Home Broadband use/access/opinions. I’m trying to create in my own mind a take-away from the results, which were interesting. The report is eminently readable and brief – so it’s worth checking out firsthand – but here are some of the points that struck me:

  • African-Americans experienced 22% year-over-year broadband adoption growth; compared to an overall growth if 3% for all adults
  • A fifth of American adults (21%) do not use the internet. Many non-users think online content is not relevant to their lives and they are not confident they could use computers and navigate the web on their own.
  • By a 53%-41% margin, Americans say they do not believe that the spread of affordable broadband should be a major government priority.
  • Younger users (those under age 30) and African-Americans were the most likely to favor expanded government efforts towards broadband access, while older Americans were among the least likely to back the expansion of affordable broadband access as a government priority.
  • Disadvantages to not having broadband:
    • Job opportunities and career skills: 43% of Americans believe that lack of broadband is a “major disadvantage” when it comes to finding out about job opportunities or gaining new career skills. Some 23% think lack of access is a “minor disadvantage” and 28% think it is “not a disadvantage.”
    • Government services: 29% of Americans believe that lack of broadband is a “major disadvantage” when it comes to using government services. Some 27% think lack of access is a “minor disadvantage” and 37% think it is “not a disadvantage.”

The demographics of the nonusers remain the same: older, in rural areas, with less education and earning lower incomes.

I guess when I say I’m trying to find a takeaway, I really mean I’m trying figure out why. Why have we seen such a great leap in broadband adoption with African-Americans? Is there some hot broadband adoption strategy that’s worked magic? (And let’s get the details if there is!) Are there factors beyond the scope of broadband that come into play?

Why do folks not think broadband deployment should be a top government priority? Well, let’s start with who? The results show that younger users and African American users think it is important. In the commentary on the report Pew notes that it’s actually folks who aren’t online that think it shouldn’t be a priority, which make sense since the report also indicates that those folks don’t think there’s value for them online. I wonder if they would feel the same if they had more experience with broadband. For example, if the older folks who didn’t support government backing of broadband expansion experienced some of the advantages of telemedicine, would they still agree.

I find it interesting too – that this report came at the same time that the House cut $302 million from the ARRA broadband funds. In short, the money has been shifted from broadband to keep teachers. In the past, I’ve accused research and surveys of reflecting the American ideal of wanting everything – maybe this new turn (and use of priority, which is a comparative term) reflects a recognition that we can’t say yes to everything. Not that the question mentioned anything about teachers – but maybe now when we see a questions like that we think of what we say no to when we say yes to broadband.

A bigger question is – how will this sentiment affect the National Broadband Plan? There’s a lot of talk about funding broadband deployment and adoption in the plan. Is that in to stay?

ARRA broadband funding left alone

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There’s good news for folks who still have ARRA proposals in the hopper. A week ago it looked as though the ARRA broadband funds that had not yet been awarded were in jeopardy but according to Broadband Breakfast, that won’t be happening…

With a vote of 308- 114 the House has approved a supplemental appropriations, HR 4899, which eliminates previous amendments that would have rescinded broadband funding. As previously reported two separate attempts have been made to repurpose $600 million from the BTOP and BIP programs for other purposes. The bill will not be sent to the President, as the Senate has already approved a similar version.

What’s happening to the ARRA broadband funding?!

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Thanks to Ann Higgins for keeping me in the know with a heads up on a recent letter from the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA), the National Association of Counties (NACo) and their members sent to key Senators asking them to not to pull out money previously promised for broadband.

Here’s a quick description taken from the NATOA web site…

Last week, the War Supplemental Appropriations Bill (H.R. 4899) passed by the House contained a last minute amendment that would rescind funding from a number of programs in an effort to offset increased spending on the Afghanistan War. Included in these cuts was $602 million in funding to BTOP and BIP (in total). The Bill will now be considered by the Senate who previously passed a Supplemental War Appropriations Bill that did not include the cuts.

In the letter, NATOA President Ken Fellman and NACo Executive Director Larry Naake urged Senate leaders to oppose the rescissions to the BTOP and BIP programs, stating “the proposed rescissions to BTOP and BIP would likely cost our citizens thousands of jobs that would not be created by the program. Job creation was one of the central purposes of the ARRA and the BTOP and BIP programs in particular. Budget cuts should be targeted at wasteful spending and unnecessary programs – they should leave alone programs that are intended to (and do) create jobs in a time when unemployment is such a significant issue for our country.”

So what does this mean for Minnesota?

It doesn’t seem as if they intend to rescind funds to programs that have been awarded money – but  chances for anyone still in the hopper are at best dramatically reduced.

In an earlier post I outlined the BIP proposals that related in any way to Minnesota. (Here’s a list of the BTOP proposals.) There were almost 40 BIP proposals and more than 50 BTOP, although many of the BTOP proposals are national or multi-state projects that touch but don’t center on Minnesota.

Four Minnesota projects have received funding (Zayo/Anoka, Federated Telephone, Leech Lake Reservation and the Communications Services for the Deaf CDS project which involves but doesn’t focus on MN).

That leaves a lot of projects in the hopper. So if you’re one of those projects and/or you think it’s important for ARRA funds to continue to support these broadband projects, consider writing to our Minnesota Senators to urge them to support a final package that leaves the $600+ million in place so that projects will continue to get funded.

More on Zayo/Anoka County ARRA award

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It will be fun to learn more about the Minnesota programs that were awarded ARRA Broadband money. Here’s more info on the Zayo award to start. Two things I found intresting. First County Commissioner Robyn West, quoted below, was a member of the Minnesota Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force. I remembered that she came is saying she didn’t consider herself an expert in broadband but left with a better understanding of its importance – so I have to think this project’s success is an unintended ripple from the Task Force.

Second, it was been interesting to see Anoka’s plans unfold. They have been working on this for a while with some probing discussions that did not always end with broadband on top.

Here’s their latest press release…

Contact: Martha Weaver, Public Information Manager, 763-323-5744, or e-mail: martha.weaver@co.anoka.mn.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Connect Anoka County Awarded $13.4 Million for Fiber Broadband

Connect Anoka County, a partnership of Anoka County and Zayo Bandwidth, announced today it has been awarded $13,382,593 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), to expand fiber broadband connectivity across the county.

The effort to secure an ARRA award began nearly a year ago with the creation of the Connect Anoka County project team, lead by Commissioners Jim Kordiak and Robyn West, with staff support lead by Deputy County Administrator David Minke, and Information Services Director Cindy Kevern. The team developed the project scope and, via the RFP process, established the partnership with Zayo Bandwidth.

“Fiber broadband is approximately 500 times faster than cable and twenty thousand times faster than dial-up,” said Commissioner Jim Kordiak. “If the future of our economy is the remote delivery of information, education and entertainment, then we want to be at the forefront with the fastest known technology available.”

Commissioner Robyn West said, “It’s amazing but it also makes sense that Anoka County would qualify. This project commits 61 percent of the fiber to unserved and underserved areas of the county. The entire backbone opens the door for a global economy here in Anoka County. It’s also an open door for local Internet service providers to compete to bring the fastest connectivity possible to residents’ front doors.”

Connect Anoka County plans to link 145 anchor institutions with three core rings, creating a fiber optic backbone. The backbone will connect public safety, public works, libraries, law enforcement, license centers, city and town halls, county, and community buildings. It will serve 56 public safety agencies. The backbone will provide a direct advantage to local businesses, passing directly through the county’s key business districts and economic development zones, allowing Zayo Bandwidth to offer fiber optic speeds directly to businesses.

“Anoka County and Zayo Bandwidth are prepared and eager to commence this project right away,” stated Chris Morley, CFO, Zayo Bandwidth. “Connecting the schools, public safety, and service entities presents a long-lasting benefit to any community’s well-being, and we are sincerely appreciative of the ability to help.”

The ARRA appropriated $7.2 billion to expand broadband access and adoption in communities across the United States with the goal to increase jobs, spur investments in technology and infrastructure, and provide long-term economic benefits. The Anoka County award was administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) as part of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).

According to the NTIA, there are three BTOP project categories: Comprehensive Community Infrastructure, Public Computer Centers, and Sustainable Broadband Adoption. Anoka County, in partnership with Zayo Bandwidth, was awarded funds under the Comprehensive Community Infrastructure category.

The category invited projects which would deploy new or improved broadband Internet facilities (e.g., laying new fiber optic cables or upgrading wireless towers) and to connect “community anchor institutions” such as schools, libraries, hospitals, and public safety facilities.

The Connect Anoka County grant proposal included more than 80 resolutions and letters of support from local businesses, school districts, cities, townships, colleges, elected officials, and public safety entities. The proposal also included a portion of southern Isanti County to incorporate the Cambridge campus of Anoka-Ramsey Community College.

The total cost of the proposed project is $19,117,990 with Zayo Bandwidth and Anoka County collectively providing a $5.7M contribution for the grant total of $13,382,593.

“We at Anoka County will now be very busy throughout the next two years ensuring that this project is a great success for Anoka County and its people,” said Kordiak. “I’m very excited and I think everyone in Anoka County should be very pleased with the awarding of this grant.”

About Anoka County

Anoka County is part of the seven-county Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area and has a population of nearly 330 thousand people. We are home to several of the world’s leading companies including Medtronic, Aveda, and ATK Security and Sporting. The word ‘Anoka’ is derived from the native Dakota word anokatanhan meaning “on both sides” referring to the Rum River which flows through the heart of the county. Anoka County is rated AAA by Standard and Poor’s.

About Zayo Bandwidth

Zayo Bandwidth, a wholly owned subsidiary of Zayo Group, owns and operates fiber optic networks totaling over 20,000 fiber route miles. Zayo Bandwidth (www.zayo.com/bandwidth) offers services in 141 markets spanning 23 states. Zayo Bandwidth’s mission is to provide responsive bandwidth infrastructure solutions and a strong and growing network.

Latest ARRA broadband awardees announced

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Thanks to John Schultz for the heads up on the latest ARRA broadband Round Two announcements. There were 66 awards announced; 3 were based/focused on Minnesota and one is a national program. The quick math indicates that $16.4 million of ARRA funds are coming into the state for the 3 Minnesota-based projects.

The dollar amounts per project ranged from half a million dollars to $48 million in Georgia. There were a handful of $20-30 million projects – but otherwise the Minnesota projects are kind of in the bell-shaped curve. Just perusing the list – it seems as if Iowa did well with this batch.

You can see the full list of BIP awardees or I’ve pulled out the Minnesota projects below. Congrats to all the awardees!

  • Zayo Bandwidth – This $13.4 million grant with an additional $5.7 million applicant-provided match will fund almost 300 miles of new fiber network. Zayo Bandwidth estimates that this project will create over 100 jobs upfront and help drive economic development in the community that creates jobs for years to come. Over 360,000 people stand to benefit from this grant, along with over 11,000 businesses and nearly 700 community institutions.
  • Federated Telephone Cooperative – This $1.3 million grant/loan project consists of building a FTTP system to deploy voice, video, and data services to rural Appleton, Minnesota. The service area is primarily located in Swift County, with small portions in Big Stone and Chippewa Counties. Nearly 400 people stand to benefit from the Federated Telephone Cooperative grant, along with 7 businesses and 1 community institution. Not only will this project create jobs upfront, but it will help drive economic development in the community that will create jobs for years to come.
  • Leech Lake Reservation Business Committee – This $1.7 million grant with an additional $790,000 applicant-provided match will create seven new public computer centers and upgrading ten existing facilities on three Indian reservations in Minnesota. The centers will be located at Boys and Girls Clubs within tribally operated community centers, providing public access to all residents. Not only will this project create jobs upfront, but it will help drive economic development in the community that will create jobs for years to come.

University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development – This $62.5 million grant with an additional $34.3 million applicant-provided match will interconnect more than 30 existing research and educational networks, creating a nation-wide high-capacity network that will enable advanced networking features for more than 100,000 essential community anchor institutions. University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development estimates that this project will directly create hundreds of jobs upfront and help drive economic development in the community that creates jobs for years to come. The United States Unified Community Anchor Network (U.S. UCAN) project proposes a large-scale, public-private partnership to interconnect more than 30 existing research and education networks. This Comprehensive Community Infrastructure project is designed to span all 50 states and every network

Drawing advice from the ARRA selections

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the Connecting Rural America report, essentially a snapshot of the RUS-awarded projects so far. I had pointed out that the report (and continued information) will help provide us with tips and tricks for deploying broadband elsewhere. Craig Settles takes that a step further in the Daily Yonder.

He also looks at the specifics of the report, but it’s the financial conclusions he draws from their decisions that are so helpful to communities or businesses making decisions themselves about how invest locally…

An interesting item in the report involves the percentage of grants versus loan guarantees the awardees received. Most last-mile non-remote and middle-mile projects were awarded a 50/50 balance between loans and grants, but the last-mile remote projects only have a tiny percentage of loans compared to grants. Rivada Sea Lion in Alaska, for example, received a $25 million grant, no loan. The RUS rules allowed these projects to be funded up to 100% with grants.

The financial composition of last-mile remote projects shown in Figure 1 causes me to wonder. Is the reason we don’t see a higher percentage of loans that RUS believes lenders find these projects too high risk to fund, preferring for RUS to award grants and so avoid the chance of defaults?

Here’s my conclusion for communities that aren’t chasing stimulus money. If you plan to build a last-mile network in a remote area, particularly more than 50 miles from a major metro area, give extra attention to the financial planning. Where are you going to get your revenue given the sparse population? Will the cost of building that middle-mile to remote locations bump up your financial risks? You’ll need to be creative in sourcing revenue and super-effective at grant writing in order to reduce the risks. It could very well be that grants are the only way to ensure these projects get off the ground.

June update on MIRC

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You know the saying be careful what you wish for? We are still enthusiastic and thrilled that we were awarded ARRA funding for our BTOP project – but it has been a whirlwind. We have been seeped in MIRC (Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities) project since our launch in May. We thought we’d post monthly or so updates on the Blandin on Broadband blog just to keep everyone up on how it’s going.

Last week I was in Chicago with some of the Blandin Team at NTIA’s workshop for Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) grantees. We heard from some heavy-hitting and inspiring speakers such as Department of Commerce Senior Advisor Rick Wade, NTIA Assistant Secretary Larry Strickling, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and US Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra.

Taking full advantage of the learning opportunities BTOP presents is a particular priority of NTIA. Strickling signaled NTIA’s interest and intent to move beyond measuring outputs to understanding the outcomes – the “So What” — of these investments. He said, “Shame on us,” if we squander the opportunity to learn from these investments, and to share what we’re learning. NTIA is working on processes to collect best practices and share them.

While talking about his passion for broadband, Quinn quoted the Old Testament: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Having known President Obama for a long time through their mutual association in Illinois politics, Quinn took pains to assert that the President has a big vision of the power of broadband. He can see the future and understands how important broadband is to that future. He doesn’t believe in a ­­two-tiered system, he wants us to help him defeat the digital divide for the benefit of all Americans.

Back at home the whole MIRC team has been busy laying the groundwork for broadband adoption across the state. Our community coaches and champions, Bill Coleman and Karl Samp, have met with the 11 demonstration communities and even held Steering Committees meetings in most towns. All of the partners (demonstration communities, Regional Development Centers and service providers) have etched their master plan and goals in stone – or at least in a document we presented to the NTIA in Chicago.

We’re still getting a handle on all of the moving pieces and how each organization best fits in. We’re created an intranet of sorts using Ning, which has worked very well for us. We use it to post updates, questions and opportunities. For example the University of Minnesota Extension is looking for a Program Director to coordinate their MIRC activities.

We’ve started weekly webinars where we learn about specific service provider partners or talk about broadband trends or tools. We’ve really just started and we’re hoping to post any meetings that might be of interested to a broader audience that only MIRC partners. Also we’re working on a directory of technical assistance providers who serve rural Minnesota and help boost deployment or adoption of broadband. (In fact we’re collecting info on TA providers, if you are or know someone we should include, please let us know.)

It’s been great to see the communities share their progress with each other – especially shairng tips and suggestions. It’s easy to that right now we’re still moving parts – eventually the sum of the parts will be greater than total.

Pew on State’s Role in Broadband

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The new Pew Report (Brining America Up to Speed: States’ Role in Expanding Broadband) is outlines what is, was, has happened and what could or maybe should happen with broadband in states – especially in context of what is happening on a federal level with the National Broadband Plan and the ARRA broadband funding.

It looks at the good (California and North Carolina are both cited for early and effective programs), the bad (Montana ranks dead last in State Internet speed) and the ugly (the direct cost of closing this gap is $23.5 billion, according to the Federal Communications Commission).

It recognizes and details some of the wonky and borderline incongruous federal versus state regulations. It tells some sad stories of when broadband wasn’t available – especially the story of a woman in an emergency room with not enough bandwidth to send her scans to a specialist in time for treatment. It tells some stories of success. It talks about ways that broadband can save money in the long run; and ways that states can make a difference (through policy especially in terms of rights-of-way) without spending money. For those of us seeped in broadband there aren’t a lot of surprises, but it’s a great document for policymakers and community leaders to get up to speed.

Minnesota gets a couple of nods. First we’re grouped with some other high flyers…

Early, well-established planning efforts have made a difference in states such as California, Minnesota and North Carolina, where coordination among a variety of stakeholders has helped facilitate statewide approaches to expanding access to and the use of broadband.

Then the Task Force is mentioned specifically…

Minnesota, for instance, created the Minnesota Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force, representing urban and rural parts of the state. The group’s final report, released in November 2009, recommended broadband access for all Minnesota homes and businesses by 2015, tax incentives for individuals, businesses and organizations to increase digital literacy and financial assistance for low-income people to pay for services.159 The legislature moved quickly to accept some of the recommendations, and in April 2010, Governor Pawlenty signed into law a bill that sets state broadband goals for deployment and speed, including universal access by 2015, with a minimum download speed of 10 to 20 megabits per second and an upload speed of at least 5 to 10 megabits per second.

We also get a nod in terms of alternative regulation

And Minnesota, Ohio and Vermont are among the states offering providers more flexible “alternative” regulation arrangements in exchange for broadband deployment commitments.128 Also called incentive regulations, these arrangements typically allow regulated providers to earn larger profits or relax the hurdles providers must clear when proposing rate increases, provided they meet performance targets.

and recognizing the needs of individuals with disabilities…

Minnesota also is taking steps to expand broadband adoption among individuals with disabilities and is working to guarantee that disabled persons are provided with access and use of state equipment and sites.

Now I feel a little like the woman who says – now why would I want to join a club that would invite the likes of me but I also feel like it’s important to appreciate the recognition for the good start – and use this report to move forward.

The Task Force did a terrific job and was I pleased to see the Governor sign the Broadband Bill with little dispute – but we’re at a crossroads and I’m not sure I see State Government moving us forward.

The best advice in the report comes from Jane Smith Patterson, executive director of North Carolina’s e-NC Authority…

“If you don’t have a group that is looking at [broadband] and keeping their eye on their target, your state will lose out in terms of its ability to have what I consider the technology of knowledge and information and light,” suggested Patterson. “It is desperately important that states have this capacity and capability.”

The Minnesota Task Force urged for the creation of such a group in Minnesota. The Minnesota Broadband Bill leaves the door open for a group- but does not mandate it. To move forward I think the State needs to get moving and create that group. Again according to Patterson, only 15 percent of states have a broadband group or authority – I suspect that those are the top states.

Why do we need a group? As the report repeatedly points out – the situation is different everywhere. Broadband adoption and deployment involves technology, terrain, regulation, population and so many other unique characteristics. There won’t be a cookie cutter answer than can be used in every state. So one will have to be created for each state. Also if you don’t have a local champion reminding folks about broadband, it gets lost. A simple example is the right-of-way issue and transportation. The dig once policy of laying down fiber with any new roads is great – but fiber is not necessarily on the minds of the transportation folks. The broadband folks have to be there to remind them.

Why do we need it at the State level? We have lots of good folks doing good work in Minnesota. Blandin Foundation has been supporting and promoting broadband in rural areas for year. The Knight Foundation has been involved in St Paul. Several local governments have become leaders in the field – such as Monticello, who may not have wanted that crown but has paved the way for municipal networks. But a State supported or sanctioned group would have an impact on policymakers that the others cannot and would send a message to people in and out of Minnesota that we were serious.

You can see other local reaction to the report in MPR’s Ground Level and a recent article in MinnPost.

ARRA Broadband Grant Round One Outcomes – so far

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This isn’t intentional but I seem to be all about the ARRA grants this week. I think one reason is because the RUS and NTIA have been good about providing information (post-grant announcements). I’m hoping that flow of information will continue; it seems that we might be able to learn some tips and trick by reading about the various projects and keeping tabs on what works and what doesn’t. With that in mind, I hope that the grantees and the funders will be willing to share information on what hasn’t worked – sometimes those are the most valuable lessons.

A new report is out on the outcomes of the RUS-funded ARRA projects. Here’s the super quick take from Congress Daily National Journal’s Tech Daily Dose…

So far, the more than $1 billion in funding awarded by RUS has been used to fund 68 projects in 31 states. During a conference call with reporters, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the projects will bring broadband service to an estimated 529,249 households, 92,754 businesses and 3,332 so-called “anchor” institutions, such as schools, hospitals, libraries and other community facilities.

He also reports that first round of projects will produce 5,000 jobs.

The report (Connecting Rural America) gives some interesting stats on the RUS/BIP grants. For example, there were 13 last-mile remote projects (0 in MN), 49 last-mile non-remote projects (3 in MN) and 6 middle-mile projects funded (1 in MN). There are some nice charts that show the distribution of funding by project, by technology, by applicant type and more.

Minnesota’s Windom project is one of nine featured projects…

Minnesota
The city of Windom, Minn., a member of the Southwest Minnesota Broadband Group (SWMBG), will provide Fiber-To-The-Premises (FTTP) infrastructure to eight rural communities in southwestern Minnesota. SWMBG includes the communities of Jackson, Lakefield, Windom, Round Lake, Bingham Lake, Brewster, Wilder, Heron Lake, and Okabena. The network will consist of a 125-mile fiber ring that will connect the communities to the Windomnet network and an FTTP infrastructure within the communities. The ring will be 96 strands with a 1-gigabyte transport network that is easily upgradeable to 10 gigabytes.

The report also gives brief summaries of all funded projects listed by state.

Minnesota BTOP/BIP Round One awards compiled

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I know I have this information buried in various past blog posts – but several times I’ve wished that I had the info in one easy space. So I thought I’d compile it here. It’s a list of the Round One BTOP and BIP awards in Minnesota (either wholly or partially). (Note: for anyone who saw this via RSS or email first – I initially mistyped Round Two, not Round One. Sorry! I just wish I had the awards for Round Two, but it’s much too early yet.)

BTOP Awards

One Economy Corporation
One Economy, the Broadband Opportunity Coalition and a diverse team of partners propose to increase adoption rates among the unserved and underserved through a comprehensive and integrated program that includes digital literacy, online content, affordable connectivity and public education that will overcome barriers to adoption and will maximize the opportunities inherent in the technology itself.
Grant Award $ 28,519,482 Get more info: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/applications/factsheets/56FS.pdf or here: http://www.one-economy.com

C. K. Blandin Foundation
The Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC) initiative is a comprehensive, multi-sector approach to sustainable broadband adoption. Through education, training, technical assistance and barrier removal, an array of market development strategies will provide opportunity to residents, small businesses, local governments, and critical needs providers in rural Minnesota.
Grant Award $ 4,858,219 Get more info: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/applications/summaries/557.pdf or here: http://broadband.blandinfoundation.org/programs/programs-detail.php?intResourceID=1060

Mission Economic Development Agency
The Latino Microentrepreneur Tech Net is a collaborative project led by the Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) of San Francisco and the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) of San Antonio, Texas. LMTN will establish Public Computer Centers and a standardized bilingual training curriculum for Latino entrepreneurs at 17 locations nationwide and create 2,100 jobs.
Grant Award $ 3,724,128
Get more info: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/applications/summaries/1097.pdf or here: http://www.medasf.org

Regents of the University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN
The Broadband Access Project will eliminate directly the disparity in broadband awareness and use in four federally designated poverty zones in the Twin Cities. The University of Minnesota will provide broadband training to vulnerable populations to gain information about education, health care, and job opportunities. Increased broadband access and usage, and job creation will result in these areas
Grant Award $ 2,862,333
Get more info: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/applications/summaries/1158.pdf or here: http://www.uroc.umn.edu/programs/bap.html

OneCommunity
The Knight Center of Digital Excellence, along with the nation’s top digital adoption experts, proposes the Connect Your Community project to ENGAGE, TRAIN, EQUIP, and SUPPORT new broadband users in ten regions, ultimately empowering more than 50,000 individuals from vulnerable groups to reap the benefits of being digitally connected. The Knight Center is a program of award-winning OneCommunity.
Grant Award $ 28,701,771
Get more info: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/applications/summaries/2434.pdf or here: http://www.onecommunity.org

BIP Awards

Minnesota Valley Television Improvement Corporation
MVTV Wireless is proposing to continue building out it’s two-way broadband internet network to un-served and underserved areas of west central and south central Minnesota. The proposed project will add 34 additional WIMAX Access Points in 34 un-served and underserved communities adjacent and contiguous to its current service area.
Grant request $562,776 Loan request $562,776 Other Funding $281,388 Get more info: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/applications/responses/441pnr.pdf or here: http://www.mvtvwireless.com/tag/federal-stimulus-funding/

BIP/BTOP Awards

Northeast Service Cooperative Mountain Iron, MN
The Northeast Service Cooperative in partnership with state & local agencies, schools & health care organizations will implement a middle mile project to make dark fiber, wavelength services available to private sector providers in rural areas of northeast Minnesota. The project will improve access to critical education & health care services to 20,000 households which lack broadband services.
Grant request* $ 21,749,110
Loan request $ 21,749,110
Get more info: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/applications/responses/1928pnr.pdf

City of Windom
SWMBG is proposing to build fiber-to-the-premise infrastructure to eight rural communities throughout Southwestern Minnesota. The network will consist of a 125 mile fiber ring which will connect the eight communities and an FTTP infrastructure within the communities that will support a total of over 3,500 passings.
Grant request* $ 6,350,250
Loan request $ 6,350,250
Get more info: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/applications/summaries/2227.pdf or here: http://swmbg.com/

Halstad Telephone Company
Halstad Telephone will install Fiber-to-the-Premise broadband to 1,069 underserved locations in 5 towns and surrounding rural/farm areas in Norman and Polk Counties in Minnesota, utilizing 320 miles of fiber optic cable and providing those locations with broadband capability of 100 Megabits, thus converting an existing Fiber-to-the-Node system which does not meet the required service level.
Grant request* $ 3,277,500
Loan request $ 3,277,500
Get more info: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/applications/summaries/2399.pdf or here: http://www.halstadtel.com