Blandin Announces Light Speed Recipients

The official word isn’t out yet – but we’re pleased to share our latest good news with eNews readers before it hits the presses…

Blandin Foundation congratulates the four recipients of the “Light Speed” grants:

1. Home and Community Options in Winona County,
2. the City of Windom/Windom Net/and the Windom School District,
3. Lakewood Health System in Staples, and
4. Little Crow Telemedia Network in Hutchinson and the 19 surrounding school districts.

Each will receive a one-year grant to help finance broadband applications that make a significant difference to the quality of life in smaller communities. Grant amounts total $130,000.

The Light Speed grant program was introduced this year to support interactive broadband applications proposed by organizations, school districts and other service organizations that demonstrate interest in and the ability to take advantage of the most current fiber optic (broadband) technologies. (Learn more on the Blandin Foundation web site, which will provide full details soon.)

Blandin Fall Broadband Conference November 7-8

Mark your calendars for the Fall Broadband Conference in St Cloud MN, November 7-8. The theme is Community Broadband: Making the Right Choices. The goal is to introduce community leaders to the tools, knowledge and resources to make informed decisions about your community’s future broadband needs and technology vision. Speakers include local and international experts.

Fiber Expanding in Minnesota

There are some definite signs and some rumblings about more fiber coming into Minnesota. Scott County is building a 94-mile fiber ring, which will be one of the largest government-owned high speed networks in the Country. Also, local ISP Onvoy, was recently purchased by Zayo, a company whose business plan includes buying regional fiber networks across the US to expand and improve services to “Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities” and beyond.

PacketFront Acquires DynamicCity

Speaking of mergers, PacketFront, a pioneer of open-access broadband networking, recently announced its US subsidiary, PacketFront Inc., has acquired DynamicCity, an operational force behind the groundbreaking UTOPIA initiative. As Matt Wenger, President of PacketFront Inc. said, “This acquisition is about taking the best thinking in North America on open access broadband and public broadband initiatives and combining it under one roof.” (Learn more)

Broadband Makes the News in MN

Three local, mainstream, media outlets have featured articles on broadband in the last month. The Pioneer Press ran a story that outlines broadband efforts throughout the state. The Twin Cities Daily Planet talked about the Center for Rural Policy and Development report from earlier this year on broadband penetration in the Twin Cities and rural Minnesota, and the Duluth News Tribune yesterday ran a story titled “Blandin report touts open access networks” .

Spectrum Auction

The FCC has scheduled the Auction of 700 MHz Band Licenses for January 16, 2008. They are auctioning off spectrum made available by the upcoming shift to digital television. Google is expected to place a bid. (Learn more) 

Five Small Towns

The Five Small Towns has created a PowerPoint presentation and accompanying bookmarks to promote broadband technologies in the northwest region. (Learn more)

New Ulm

The New Ulm Local e-Learning classes were covered in the local newspapers; the article mentioned several web sites that were created during the class. Now that the local retailers have been trained, New Ulm is planning an event in October for the general public to highlight local programs and services that are offered through broadband. 

They will feature the following items and more:

• NU Journal, the local newspaper
• CU, a community photo gallery
• the local hospital’s My Chart, which allows users to access medical charts online, make appointments and check for test results
• the public school, where you can access your children’s homework and progress online

Renville County

Renville County celebrated broadband at their county fair. WiFi was available at the Get Broadband booth, videocasts of 4-H horse clinics were shown, the Get Broadband digital camera was available for 4-H and FFA participants to videocast events and display them at the booth and there was a door prize (Vivitar Vivicam 5388 /5.0 Megapixels/ 3X optical Zoom/ 11 MB built in memory) given to one lucky fair registrant.

Also, Renville County had educational broadband articles printed in 4 local newspapers. eCommerce and eBay Classes have been planned for the fall and will be promoted at the local Olivia Kiwanis Service Club. A $500 wireless Internet grant was awarded to Sacred Heart for establishment of public access computers.

September 10-12 - Broadband Properties Summit (Dallas, TX) - focusing on the necessity of being able to deliver digital services to customers in multi-density properties such as apartments, universities, senior housing, greenfield and master planned communities.

September 14-16 – Wired NextFest (Los Angeles, CA) – showcasing more than 150 forward thinking technologies and experiences. (School groups are invited to a sneak preview on September 13.)

October 14-17 - Rural Telecommunications Congress 07 (Springfield, IL) – will highlight broadband deployment strategies and applications that are improving lives in communities across the country.

November 7-8 – Blandin Broadband Summit (St Cloud, MN) –connect with the tools, knowledge and resources to make informed decisions about your community’s future broadband needs and technology vision. Mark your calendar and register today!

November 14-15 – MTA Fall Conference and Communications Seminar (Alexandria, MN)

February 21, 2008 – Megaconference Jr – an event for and by students of the world.

Congratulations to the new grantees in the Blandin Light Speed Program! It is exciting to see some of the Get Broadband communities continue their broadband promotion efforts through this new program.  Windom will be launching new ways of learning and selling local teacher expertise to a wider market and in Todd County; Lakewood Hospital plans to take advantage of video technologies to stay in touch with seniors in their homes.  While not funded through Light Speed, Rushford’s Good Shepard Home is embarking on a wireless project that will improve patient services and reach out to the greater community.

Community progress on broadband is usually uneven.  The school district may get out front before the business or other sector pushes forward.  The key is to keep the community-wide focus on technology and to keep the information flowing.  Some say that good luck is opportunity meeting preparedness.  I look forward to keep you all informed about the progress of these broadband-based projects.

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