Making a Community New Year’s Resolution
First published in January 2012 Blandin eNews…
Does your community make New Year’s resolutions? January is a great opportunity to bring people together to talk about goals and improvement. The Intelligent Community framework (focusing on: broadband, knowledge workers, innovation, digital inclusion and marketing/advocacy) provides guidance for organizing and implementing action. Through our MN Intelligent Rural Community (MIRC) projects http://tinyurl.com/2c6mhh4,I have observed that the most exciting projects are those that link across two or more Intelligent Community elements.
For example, a community may decide to improve public access to broadband and computers by opening up school computer labs extended hours to all residents. To broaden the audience beyond those without computers or broadband Internet access, the community could add a focus on math and science to create knowledge workers by using community volunteers who use math and science – from machinists to scientists – and by taking advantage of online resources â- from Khan Academy http://www.khanacademy.org/ to MIT. http://ocw.mit.edu Potential positive outcomes include more support for school technology investments, better linkage between kids and local career opportunities, intergenerational learning and linkages, better math and science test scores and a more Intelligent Community! You could just as easily promote the arts through an approach like this.
A shared goal across our demonstration communities is improved marketing – convincing both residents and non-residents (prospective business owners and tourists) to stop, stay and invest in the community. The U of M Extension http://tinyurl.com/7ys3uul has done a great job educating businesses how to promote themselves online. In today’s economy, everyone is essentially a small business – improving the products through education, marketing themselves to gain income – through employment on site or through telework, self-employment, or growing a business. How can a community use online tools like eFolio Minnesota http://www.efoliominnesota.com/ combined with local web sites to showcase and market local talent – from kids to stay at home parents to retirees? The inventory of talent would be eye-opening for both locals and visitors!
Let us know what your community resolutions are and how you plan to achieve your goals for improvement.
Stirring the Pot: December
First published in Blandin eNews…
Quite a year! What a busy year for broadband activity in Minnesota!!
- Our Blandin Foundation MIRC project is running on all cylinders; all of our partners are doing great work across greater Minnesota. If you were at the recent Broadband Conference in Duluth, you could not help but get excited about all the projects, going from good to great through collaboration with state and local partners.
- Rural counties and townships are working aggressively to ensure that their communities meet the state broadband goal, always seeking partners with incumbent and neighboring providers, but not letting any barriers stop them.
- Stimulus projects are under construction with new advanced services to be delivered to bandwidth hungry customers in 2012.
- A new state broadband task force with an exciting mix of members is in place.
- New federal regulations and programs have been announced but their potential impacts are not yet understood.
- More communities are using the Intelligent Community framework to unite their broadband and economic development strategies.
Thanks to all the great leaders who are making these great things happen. If you are reading this newsletter, you can look in the mirror and see one!
CTAC leads discussion at 2011 MN Broadband Conference
CTAC Founder Bill Coleman was on the planning committee for the 2011 Policy & Progress: Border to Border Broadband conference. The conference was a great success and Bill moderated one of the top sessions: Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities; Demonstration Community Project Coordinators. It was a lively discussion highlighting the broadband adoption projects happening around the state, often with the guidance and support of CTAC staff.
Here is a highlight from the session:
Or you can check out other video updates:
- MIRC Updates: Windom
- MIRC Updates: Thief River Falls
- MIRC Updates: Winona
- MIRC Updates: Benton County
- MIRC Updates: Willmar
- MIRC Updates: Grand Rapids
- MIRC Updates: Upper Minnesota Valley
- MIRC Updates: Worthington
- MIRC Updates: Cook County
Public-Private Partnerships in Broadband Presentation
Bill Coleman speaks on Public-Private Partnerships in Broadband in a Blandin Foundation sponsored pre-conference webinar…
With stimulus funds allocated and clear understanding of the difficulties in obtaining strictly market-based funding, how can underserved areas reach their broadband goals? What are some successful models of public private partnerships?
You can also access an archive of the session.
November: Stirring the Pot!
First published in Blandin Foundation’s eNews…
As I prepared for our Broadband pre-conference webinar over the past week, I thought quite a bit about market development strategies – digital inclusion, increased user sophistication and advanced applications. The picture here portrays a different strategy!
Connected Nation data shows that affordability, ignorance of benefits and lack of access are the primary deterrents to adoption. The webinar, available for streaming online, provides some best practices for each of these barriers. I encourage you to find an hour to listen to the webinar and share the link with others in your community who might help spur adoption.
Blandin Foundation is accepting applications for the Digital Inclusion Community Partnership. This program supports equipping non-adopters with computers, training and connectivity. Put together a partnership of ISPs, schools, local sources of used computers and social service agencies to overcome affordability barriers. The application deadline is December 1, 2011.
Dakota County Smart21 with help from CTAC
Dakota Future is pleased to announce that For the third year in a row, Dakota County has been named a Smart21 Community by the Intelligent Community Forum. CTAC is led by CTAC founder Bill Coleman. Bill has been working with Dakota County businesses to promote and facilitate better broadband use and deployment to increase economic development and opportunity throughout the county.
The Intelligent Community Forum has set out a framework that encourages economic growth through technology. There are five cornerstones to the foundation:
- Broadband
- Knowledge Workers
- Digital Inclusion
- Marketing and Advocacy
- Innovation
Bill has been working in Dakota County to highlight existing programs that exemplify those facets and to bolster programs that are interested in strengthening their use of technology. We are excited to see that it is paying off.
Free webinar on Public-Private Partnership in Broadband
On Tuesday CTAC founder Bill Coleman will be presenting a free webinar for the Blandin Foundation as a lead up to the 2011 Fall Broadband Conference (Policy & Progress: Border to Border Broadband).
Pre-Broadband Conference Webinar – Public-private partnerships in broadband
Date:Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Time:12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Location:Online
Cost:FREEWith stimulus funds allocated and clear understanding of the difficulties in obtaining strictly market-based funding, how can underserved areas reach their broadband goals? What are some successful models of public private partnerships?
Bill Coleman of Community Technology Advisors will present this topic.
This webinar is free but registration is required at: https://blandinfoundation.ilinc.com/register/wwvhkfv
Stirring the Pot
First published in Blandin Foundation’s eNews…
Several folks from Google were on the agenda at last week’s NATOA conference. I have to say that the more I heard from the Googlers, the less I liked them! Smugness filled the room whenever Google was talking. We learned that Google people are really smart. And that they work really fast. And that their new network will be the model of best practices despite never having built a network before. And that they are really, really smart.
All of which may be true. On the other hand, one Googler stated that satellite broadband was “good enough” for rural consumers, so maybe not so smart after all. That remark brought boos and hisses from my corner of the room.
Another Google representative bragged aggressively about Google Speed – which describes their fast pace of action at Google. Based on their implementation so far, I am skeptical. Google announced their community fiber project in February 2010 and took more than a year to announce Kansas City, Kansas as their partner. Seven months after the announcement, they have yet to break ground. NTIA and RUS and hundreds of project partners around the country are moving at least as fast in a much more complex financial, legal and regulatory environment.
Regulation and permitting was a point of emphasis for Google. Interestingly, Google estimates that they can save 3 – 5% of fiber network construction costs by working with the local government to efficiently permit and inspect the project. They did not give much detail on how the savings might be accomplished or whether Google’s savings are simply costs transferred to Kansas City. Google emphasized Kansas City’s single layer of regulation as a key factor in their selection. Heads seemed to be nodding in agreement around the room.
This contrasted to an earlier discussion at the conference over the wireless industry’s complaints about tower siting and permitting processes. The industry’s testimony to the FCC brought howls of protests from local representatives. “We are not the problem” was the consensus of the attendees. Considering the importance of broadband deployment to communities, I do wonder about the minimum goal of the regulators and whether their goal should move from “not the problem” to “infrastructure investment enabler”. When Google came a calling, we all jumped as high and as fast as possible. I wonder how we treat our local providers.
Speed and ease of implementation can be a competitive advantage. Clearly, Google considers it to be an important factor in its business. How does it work in your community?
Coleman’s Corner September 2011
First published in Blandin Foundation’s eNews…
Broadband discussions continue across the state. For locations that will benefit from stimulus funds, stakeholders are negotiating agreements with vendors, contractors, federal officials and their project partners. For those who missed the stimulus, their discussions are more preliminary. “What do we have? What do we need? How are we going to get there?” Applications to serve on the new state broadband task force will be online by the time this newsletter is published.
I have noticed an uptick in the number of incumbent telephone providers who are now attending and actively participating in community broadband meetings. They know they face a steep challenge to meet the state broadband goal of 10 – 20 Mb by 2015, especially outside of municipal boundaries. They know the costs of network upgrades, how many prospective customers reside in these rural areas and how much customers are generally going to be willing to pay per month for broadband. They also watch their line counts drop as mobile phones replace land lines in home after home. They know that the traditional business financing and ROI requirements are not going to support significant network investments.
The easy and quick answer is “public-private partnerships”. Easy to say; not so easy to do. Many, many questions emerge. Clearly some form of public financing is required. Past state broadband chair Rick King recently suggested state bonding for broadband and that is a likely answer. But the hard questions still hang there. Will state financed networks be privately owned? Will they be required to be open access? Will deals be financed at the county level, statewide or by traditional exchange boundaries? Who owns the risk for repaying the bonds? Does the financing government have regulatory influence on pricing or quality of service? Will publicly-financed networks be built in areas that already meet the state broadband goal or just in unserved/underserved areas? Will there be any cost-benefit analysis required or is 100% coverage really the standard as it is with wireline telephone service? Does the public sector need to get involved in middle mile networks in areas where those are inadequate to support robust local networks?
Rumor has it that significant state telecommunications laws will be rewritten this next legislative session, presumably before the state broadband task force really has a chance to get up and running. If this is the case, we all know that the process timeline is upside down and that rural broadband access will likely suffer. Legislators crack open these big telecom laws only so often and the legislation written before a task force report is issued is likely to have been written more by telecom lobbyists than rural broadband customers.
This fall, Blandin Foundation will be hosting two webinars on these two important topics – federal and state policy on October 12 and public-private partnerships on October 26. Watch for more information soon!
Coleman’s Corner August 2011
First published in Blandin Foundation’s eNews…
“Work with your existing providers.” A simple statement written in almost every community broadband planning document. It is similar to health advice like “Eat less, exercise more” — easy to say, hard to do.
Improving infrastructure and services is generally the most difficult place for collaboration between communities and providers, yet this is where most and earliest interaction occurs. Communities have high hopes for infrastructure improvements; providers have expectations for high return on investment. In rural areas, these two objectives are generally incompatible. We have seen through the stimulus process that building new broadband infrastructure in many rural areas, especially ubiquitous fiber in the countryside, requires a long investment horizon plus significant subsidies.
At countywide broadband meetings, I am happy when I see the existing providers in the room and lately I am seeing more of them. The incumbent telco always feels the heat from rural residents wanting broadband. The cable company and any CLEC providers are quite happy that they are not in the telco’s position, but show no interest in investing outside municipal boundaries. With budgets as they are, rural county governments are reluctant to even consider taking on a countywide broadband project hoping that someone else will address this problem. Citizen committees are frustrated as they see no solution coming from either private or public entities, yet know that broadband is essential for economic vitality.
As I look at the Connected Minnesota maps, it seems that the most cost-efficent way to meet the state’s border to border goal of 10-20 Mb broadband service would be to upgrade existing provider networks to a fiber to the node network. These improvements may be in the providers’ long term plans, but way beyond the 2015 statewide goal timeframe.
Lacking a current statewide funding mechanism, how might a rural county and incumbent provider partner(s) develop a partnership to stimulate the necessary investment? What would it cost per household to upgrade to a FTTN network with shorter copper loops? Do existing providers know what this would cost? Would they share this information and work with a county to explore the various funding possibilities (DEED infrastructure grants, revenue bonds, property tax assessments, 2012 state bonding bill, other)? Would this open the way for a statewide solution? Blandin Foundation’s Robust Networks Feasibility Fund might be used to develop mechanisms for making this work. http://tinyurl.com/43zxrmr
Building market demand for broadband should be a simpler way to collaborate. More broadband customers means sustainability and profits or providers; their interest is clear. More users and more sophistication of use creates a smarter, more productive, more prosperous community. The Blandin Foundation’s new Digital Inclusion Community Partnership provides an opportunity for providers and communities to work together in a win-win partnership. Lack of a computer is a top barrier to the use of broadband; lack of skills is also important, but without a device to connect to the network, skills lack value. Grants of up to $25,000 are available. http://tinyurl.com/3qupbdp
My advice to communities – 1) keep asking your providers to participate in your broadband initiatives. 2) Have some quiet talks with your providers about their plans for your community. 3) Identify priority improvements that you need in your community to meet specific customer requirements and community goals.
My advice to providers – 1) Show up when invited because relationships matter; communities would rather have the local technician who knows the issues and the community than either an empty chair or someone from management who they will never see again. 2) Develop a thick skin. 3) Minimize the use of “proprietary”. In most rural markets, there is no competitor to hide information from. Lacking evidence to the contrary, communities assume that no announced plans for improvements mean no planned improvements. 4) Participate in digital inclusion initiatives that build your customer base and enhance the community’s future.