Blandin Foundation Webinar

Broadband Best Practices

Bill ColemanCommunity Technology AdvisorsOctober 20, 2009

Discussion

What broadband changes are you struggling to make happen in your community?

Local Technology Marketplace

How do we make this work?

The Broadband Vitality Equation

Rural Broadband Best Practices

Networks in MinnesotaPrivate Sector

Qwest

Regional carriers like Zayo and Enventis

Independent telephone companies

Cable television companies

CLECs

National carriers

Cellular carriers

Public Sector State of Minnesota (mostly

leased)

Public safety wireless

School districts (owned and leased)

Counties and municipalities I-Nets ISPs/Triple play

Myth: We only ride our own networks!

What is Broadband?Various Government Goals

(in Kb)

Broadband 0

100,000,000200,000,000300,000,000400,000,000500,000,000600,000,000700,000,000800,000,000900,000,000

1,000,000,000

FCCMN Task ForceAustraiiaCalifornia

786k

10 Mb

100 Mb

1 Gb

Ubiquity According to Connected Nation, 96% of Minnesotans

have access to broadband at 786k download or better

Almost all without broadband connection options are in rural areas

80/20 rule of deployment costs

What is the situation in your community? How does your ubiquity change as the bandwidth

standard goes up? Is broadband ubiquitous if it is beyond the financial reach

of many citizens?

Bandwidth Costs Impact Affordability

Internet Connection Costs 100 Mb at the Minneapolis NAP = $4-$8/Mb 100 Mb to greater MN locations =

$65-$88/Mb

Within a network Operational costs of bandwidth flowing within a

network are very low. State BB task force recommends that providers

make efforts to keep more network traffic in MN rather than pay to send it to Chicago and back

Community Fiber Networks

Next Need: Citizens!

Stimulating Network Investment

Best Practices

Partnering in Brainerd Lakes Area to use school district fiber ring investment to jumpstart CLEC activities in Brainerd, Baxter and Nisswa – filling the “black hole” and stimulating competitive response from Qwest and Charter.

Partnering in Staples to build community fiber ring connecting key institutions and deploying wireless technology to serve the greater Staples area.

ECMECC(East Central MN Education Cable Cooperative)

Cooperative connects 13 school districts throughout east central region with high capacity fiber

Fiber provided by US Cable and SGI Cable companies

Companies leveraged fiber investment to bring broadband to small communities within the region

High capacity fiber network investment in partnership with private sector to link all Scott County facilities and communities

Partnerships with Dakota and Blue Earth Counties and Minnesota State University-Mankato to add redundancy and value

Enables easier entry for competitive broadband services throughout the county

Committed municipal effort to build FTTH

TDS competitive response with FTTH

Is this really a best practice case study? Double investment in fiber capacity Huge legal fees by city and TDS Lost time before deployment Community energy

Emerging Projects

Southwest Fiber Project – extension of Windom city network to surrounding rural communities

Cook County – countywide FTTP network

Lake County – countywide FTTP network

Lac qui Parle County – county partnership with Farmers Telephone to explore 100% FTTH

Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe

Community Competitiveness

The most important connections are within your own community

The network value accelerates with more people connected

Tech-centered companies want high-capacity, low-cost, redundant networks

Entrepreneurs want connectivity in the places where they want to live which may be outside of the community

Discussion

How is your network treating your community?

Rural Broadband Best Practices

General Subscription Trends

Growing Online Sophistication

Growing Sector Sophistication

Tech Support is Critical

Promoting Tech Investments through Tech Champions

Best Practices

Best Practices - Subscription

Education of targeted groups through tech classes, tech fairs

Recycling of used computers to those without them, especially tied to classes

Increase access at libraries, schools, senior centers and other places

Best Practices - Sophistication

Web site and other technology training, especially for small businesses, non-profits and community organizations

Web site assessment services, especially for small businesses, non-profits, community organizations

Web site development subsidies for small businesses

Facilitated discussions about community web site linking strategies, especially Web 2.0 applications

Best Practices – Tech Support

Add capacity to existing tech support companies through training

Bundle demand for tech support via joint purchasing and by vetting quality

Attract tech support companies to your community through attraction and entrepreneurial support

Create and Support Tech Champions

Identify those with tech vision in schools, government, health care and business

Bring tech visionaries together to discuss plans and collaboration opportunities

Use community communication vehicles like web sites, newspapers, newsletters and cafes to promote technology

Support technology investments

Discussion

What are the barriers to technology adoption in your community?

Bill Coleman