News from the Blandin on Broadband Blog

Exaflood Needs Greater Bandwidth
Geoff Daily recently wrote an interesting article (http://tinyurl.com/2sm49s) on the need to assess the exaflood today to prepare for bandwidth we need today. It’s a calm but clear call for action. (http://tinyurl.com/244h35)  

Mapping FTTH in Minnesota
The Blandin on Broadband blog is trying to map Minnesota communities with fiber to the home. Please visit the blog (http://tinyurl.com/247vyg) for the first rendition. If you live in or know of a community with fiber or plans for fiber, please send an email to atreacy@treacyinfo.com with the details to help build the next generation of the fiber map.

Greater Minnesota Telehealth Broadband Initiative
Minnesota’s Greater Minnesota Telehealth Broadband Initiative received $5.6 million over 3 years from the FCC. Read about the good, the bad and the ugly of receiving federal funds. (http://tinyurl.com/yvoy3y)

The FCC on Media Ownership
In December, the FCC adopted rules regarding media ownership, local programming and encouraging diversity of ownership. (http://tinyurl.com/yu235k) Some claim that Chairman Martin has given big monopolies a gift with this decision. (http://tinyurl.com/2yjkul)

Meet the Blandin Broadband Initiative Board – John Scanlan
We hope to introduce Blandin Foundation’s Broadband Initiative Strategy Board members over the next few weeks, starting with John Scanlan. The recently retired Medical Director of Blue Cross plans to focus his attention on telehealth in rural areas. Read more (http://tinyurl.com/38naxn) 

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Feature - Upcoming Legislative Discussions

There are several important telecommunications topics that are sure to emerge at the Legislature this year, including the establishment of state goals for high-speed communications, video franchising, statewide broadband mapping and municipal networks.  Here are some questions that you should ask yourself as you prepare to influence your legislators!

Statewide Telecommunications Goals
Is it a smart idea for Minnesota to have some statewide goals for telecommunications?  Should the goal focus on ensuring a minimum level of broadband everywhere in the state in the near term. set a high standard over a longer term or both?  Is a two-tier goal appropriate where people who live in the countryside should expect lower speeds than those who live in small towns and cities?  Should the goals have carrots and/or sticks to stimulate investment and ensure that we reach the goals?

Video Franchising
What are the critical elements of “Local Control?”  Is there a benefit to requiring community-wide build out of video services if it stops any deployment of competitive video services in any part of the community?  What is the best way to fund public access television such as city council meetings?

Statewide Broadband Mapping
Should Minnesota engage in mapping the availability and speed of broadband using the Connect Kentucky (www.connectkentucky.org) model that provides information to the zip+4 levels?  Is this approach a necessary first step in statewide goal setting, an industry-led delaying tactic or unnecessary documentation of too-slow broadband speeds?

Municipal Networks
Should city powers to build municipal networks be clarified, enhanced or restricted?  Should the legislature to eliminate the super majority referendum requirement to provide municipal telephone services?  Should the legislature authorize new finance tools?  What are the roles of the county or state governments in telecommunications development?

It will be interesting to watch the discussions over the next several months and observe what policies are created.  There are few, if any legislators, who specialize in telecommunications and technology so there is real opportunity to influence opinions.  Be prepared and be active!

Minnesota Community News

Cambridge/Coon Rapids
Anoka-Ramsey Community College (http://www.AnokaRamsey.edu) is offering a first-of-its-kind online journalism course in the spring 2008 semester: “Reporting, writing, and editing for online publications.” Students’ work will be posted on the Twin Cities Daily Planet (http://www.tcdailyplanet.net). (http://tinyurl.com/2mlpm7)

Duluth
NorthWest Indian News, an award-winning production of WDSE-TV in Duluth is now streamed through the Tulalip Reservation’s online video site (http://www.kanutv.com).

Eagan
Eagan is hiring a broadband consultant to help them make smart choices for the broadband future. (http://tinyurl.com/yql8hk)

Hubbard County
Hubbard County Regional Economic Development Commission (HCREDC) executive director Dave Collins set out his plans for 2008, which includes improving telecommunications to attract small businesses to the area. (http://tinyurl.com/2frzen)

Iron Range
FiberNet (http://www.ircfn.org), a consortium of 11 communities on the Iron Range, is talking to Hiawatha Broadband about becoming the leading developers of their fiber to the home project, replacing DynamicCities, which was recently purchased by PacketFront (http://www.packetfront.com/). (http://tinyurl.com/2hqhbq)

Monticello
A Year-in-Review article outlines the process that Monticello went through to approve and begin to build a fiber optic network in the city. (http://tinyurl.com/yqywpe)

New Ulm
New Ulm Telecom recently purchased Hutchinson Telephone Company (“HTC”) for approximately $78 million. HTC will continue to operate as a subsidiary of New Ulm. (http://tinyurl.com/249drc)

Osseo
Osseo, led by Unplugged Cities, expected to go wireless in December. (http://tinyurl.com/2cew9o)

St Louis Park
Wireless efforts in St Louis Park are not going well. They had planned to use solar power but the project is months behind schedule, and the city is getting anxious. (http://tinyurl.com/yptdj6)

Twin Cities
The Twin Cities Regional Broadband Task Force is working to get distinct fiber networks to work together. They want bigger broadband and greater collaboration. Towards that end they are creating a database and maps of available public fiber infrastructure and broadband services. (http://tinyurl.com/363j4w)

Windom
The City Council is considering an offer from MVTV Wireless of Granite Falls, which has offered $5,000 for Windom’s 300-foot UHF tower. MVTV plans to continue to operate local TV channels on the tower, plus eventually add wireless internet service. (http://tinyurl.com/25hzl4)

Events

January 22-24, 2008 – Digital City Expo (Phoenix, AZ) - an event that will give attendees the knowledge to make decisions about their city’s digital future. (http://www.digitalcityexpo.com)

January 22-24, 2008 - Strategy and Innovation Forum (Orlando, FL) - brings together executives to benchmark, analyze, scrutinize, and strategize the online retail growth opportunities and innovations. (http://shop.org/innovation08/)

February 6-8 – MART Telco Marketing Group Conference (Plymouth, MN) – for independent telecommunications companies (http://mnart.org)

February 21, 2008 – Megaconference Jr – an event for and by students of the world. (http://www.megaconferencejr.org)

March 2-5 – Minnesota Telecom Alliance (Minneapolis, MN) – annual convention (http://www.mnta.org/events/events.html)

Coleman's Corner

This is not the usual column on New Year’s resolutions.  Based on my personal experience of last year, those are pretty much a waste of time. Instead, I am taking some time to organize my thoughts about what I believe about the whole telecommunications issue and the impact on the future on Minnesota communities.  You may agree with all, some or none of these ideas, but I encourage you to put some thought into the topic and post your ideas on the Blandin on Broadband blog (http://www.blandinonbroadband.com).

• Telecommunications and technology are critical building blocks of economic prosperity.  Minnesotans must have the access and the know-how to compete in the global economy.
• Engineers and technologists will continue to amaze us with new innovations that seemingly do the impossible, including pushing higher speeds through existing infrastructure, compressing data and inventing brand new technology tools.
• The need for more bandwidth to homes and businesses will continue to grow.
• Community interests may not always align with private-sector telecommunications providers, no matter whether those companies are large or small.  Partnering and competing are both legitimate strategies for achieving community telecommunications goals.
• Some community networks will succeed on all counts, others will struggle technically, financially or both.  An accurate determination of success of a community network will not be realized for several years.
• Where some providers see competition, others will see opportunity.

Community Broadband Resources
Over the past several years, Blandin Foundation has helped communities improve their technology vitality through the Get Broadband, LightSpeed and Open Access Feasibility Fund Programs.  These programs helped build broadband market demand through community education, enabled the adoption of bandwidth intensive applications by health care providers and educators, and facilitated feasibility studies for FTTP networks.

Another benefit provided to communities has been the quality information about the challenges, choices and opportunities that communities face on telecommunications and technology.  With that in mind, Blandin Foundation is placing an emphasis on improving the flow of information to communities – the correct information, when and where it is needed.

Through on-site consulting, online tools, electronic communications and events, Blandin Foundation will continue its broadband promotion efforts through the Community Broadband Resources Program.  Our team is dedicated to ensuring that this information will be invaluable to the many communities now engaged in telecommunications development efforts.

• If you are seeking a speaker for a community meeting or a facilitator for a planning session or two, the free on-site consulting services are for you.
• If you are conducting an inventory of your existing telecom providers, you can use an online survey and database tool to organize and print reports as well as free consulting assistance to get organized or interpret results.
• If you are encouraging your business community, school, health care provider or local government to get more tech-savvy, you can find case study examples in the online toolkit that is currently under development.
• If you have questions about any part of the telecommunications and technology development process, you can post questions on the Blandin on Broadband blog and get responses from other communities or Blandin experts.

Look for more information soon on Community Broadband Resources!  For immediate help, contact Bill Coleman at 651-491-2551 or bill@communitytechnologyadvisors.com.