Exploring the impact of broadband and technology on our lives, our businesses, and our communities.
Towns unite for broadband
Three communities around the country (Palo Alto, CA; Lafayette, LA; and the TriCities area of Illinois) have formed a "Sisters in Arms" network. Each community is interested in getting affordable, widely available broadband to their citizens and businesses, and the loosely formed coalition is trading information on the process, how to move forward, and how to deal with pushback from the incumbents.
There are two national organizations that I recommend to any community or region interested in this area: The Association For Community Networks (AFCN) and the Rural Telecommunications Congress (RTC). Both nonprofits have a sharp focus on getting better services to communities, and the members have a wealth of experience that they willingly share with other members.
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Broadband saves $6000/month
MuniWireless has a story about Scottsburg, Kentucky and the importance of broadband to the future of the community.
Scottsburg is a rural community of 6000 north of Louisville. The problem they were facing there is common to rural communities: a T1 line in metro Louisville cost $300/month, and in rural Scottsburg it was $1300/month--that's the difference between a thriving business sector and and an economic disaster.
A modest investment in wireless allows Scottsburg residents and businesses to get broadband for $35/month, and a full T1 (via wireless) costs only $200/month--cheaper than Louisville.
The school system estimates that it saves $6000/month in telecom costs (that's taxpayer dollars!), and several businesses have been able to stay open, including the local Chrysler dealership, where 60 mechanics who use laptops to repair cars were told by Chrysler to get better broadband or close down.
When the local garage needs broadband to stay open, the whole "value of broadband" issue is closed to debate. If your community still has elected officials and economic developers who are not taking this seriously, show them this article. Ask them if saving $6000/month in taxpayer funds is important, and if not, ask them to please explain why.
Broadband saves jobs and money. It's just that simple.
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FCC says broadband use is up
There is a good news/bad news quality to a set of FCC press releases that went out late last week. The good news is that broadband availability in the U.S. is up significantly. The FCC says the number of broadband lines has tripled from 2001 to 2003. Cable modems have about 75% of the marketplace, with DSL far behind with 15%. All other technologies (e.g. fiber, wireless, satellite) composed 10% of the marketplace.
Some of the bad news is that the FCC defines broadband as anything faster than 200 kilobits, a remarkably low bar compared to the rest of the world, which is typically measuring broadband in megabits. The FCC keeps the bar that low so that they can claim we all have lots of broadband.
More bad news is also masked...the FCC says only about 7% of U.S. zip codes have no high speed access. What they don't say is where those zip codes are, but it's a safe bet they represent a lot of rural households. Another telling statistic is that zip codes with four or more providers is up to 46%. Again, that does not represent rural areas.
To be fair, FCC chairman Michael Powell stated in a separate press release that "200 Kbs or even a 1 megabit connection is wholly inadequate for the demands of a growing number of consumers." Powell goes on to say that "information at the speed of light" (i.e. fiber connectivity) is what we really need. He mentions the goal of "universal and affordable access to all by the year 2007," but the Federal government does not really have a plan to get there, except to wait for the private sector to take care of it.
The numbers, to those that aren't out in rural communities (huge areas of the country, actually) look very good. But the reality is that communities that want univeral and affordable broadband will have to make some investments to get it. It's at least as important as roads, water and sewer, and communities routinely spend lots of money on those things.
Technology News:
Connected cities
Over the past couple of weeks, three major cities in the U.S. have announced ambitious plans to extend connectivity of one kind or another. New York and Philadelphia are moving forward with plans to create wireless blankets over most of each city.
New York's plan is more ambitious. The city is looking at making virtually every lamppost available for WiFi and cellular telephone access. Part of what is driving this is money. Even at the modest fees the city says it will charge for the right to mount antennas, it represents new income to the municipal government. What is less clear is if the plan will succeed. Some elected officials and citizen groups have raised concerns about the amount of additional EMF radiation that will be propogated by the plan. Not everyone is keen to have 24 hour/day gigahertz frequency radiation emanating from an antenna just a few feet from their second floor apartment window.
Philadelphia's plan is to create a WiFi blanket throughout the core area of the city, to make the place tech friendly. Both cities will rely on the private sector to spend the money to do the work, and will simply put the ordinances and fee structure in place that will allow those companies to place antennas and equipment on public property.
The third city, Chicago, is planning to put 2000 remote control surveillance cameras throughout its neighborhoods and city streets, with the dual aim of curbing crime and providing better coverage of potential terrorist targets. The system will be tied directly into the 911 system, which will allow 911 operators to pull up real time video of a crime, fire, or accident in progress. In Chicago, some groups have raised concerns about the potential privacy issues related to such comprehensive surveillance. In the end, the city will probably have its way, as we have no constitutional guarantee to privacy in public places.
All these initiatives are mixed news for smaller and rural communities. On the one hand, these initiatives not only raise the bar for what kind of infrastructure is expected in our communities (i.e. WiFi blankets), but as this kind of infrastructure becomes commonplace, smaller communities especially lose any competitive advantage they may have had from early investments. That is to say, instead of touting public WiFi as an economic development advantage that other places do not have, public WiFi is now going to be increasingly seen as part of the base, required infrastructure--imagine trying to promote your community without a public sewer system in place.
On the other hand, thanks to the small size and low cost of such systems, smaller communities can easily put in exactly the same systems--in other words, you can have exactly the same infrastructure as big cities. Coupled with a desirable quality of life, short or no commutes, good schools, and great recreational opportunities, small towns and cities will measure up pretty well. But you have to have a plan to do this. Do you?
Technology News:
Last chance to save money on RuralTelecon conference
If you have been thinking about attending the Rural Telecommunications Congress 8th Annual Conference, Friday is the last day to save $100 on early bird registration. If you are a vendor, it is a great place to meet the representatives of community and regional broadband projects from around the country. If your community is interested in broadband, it's a great place to hear about what has worked and worked well.
For the past eight years, RuralTeleCon – the annual conference of the Rural Telecommunications Congress – has been the premier venue for understanding the issues surrounding the deployment and use of advanced telecommunications in rural communities. Each year, the event focuses on a critical issue facing rural communities and rural residents as they use telecommunications for community and economic development. This year’s theme is “Putting Broadband to Work.”
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
- Anthony (Tony) G. Wilhelm, PhD., Director, Technology Opportunities Program (TOPs), National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Dept of Commerce - Find out the latest on NTIA TOPs programs and initiatives.
- Hilda Gay Legg, Administrator, Rural Utilities Service (RUS), U.S. Department of Agriculture - Hear RUS success stories demonstrating broadband applications as rural solutions.
- K. Dane Snowden, Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - The current status of broadband deployment in rural communities.
- Andrew M. Cohill, President and CEO, Design Nine/Virginia – Discover why community investments in technology and telecommunications often fail to have the hoped-for impact, and how you can integrate technology with other community and economic development goals and objectives.
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Dane A. Deutsch, President and CEO, and Pete Adams, COO, DCS Netlink – Meet “Bobby Blackhat” and learn why we need to take Internet security seriously today and tomorrow.
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Plus more Speakers and Panels including experts on telehealth, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, education, e-government, deploying and maximizing the broadband infrastructure, and economic and community development, all focusing on rural issues.
For more info and to register visit www.ruraltelecon.org.
For Sponsor and Exhibitor opportunities, contact: coordinator@ruraltelecon.org
Technology News:
Taiwan well ahead of U.S. in broadband use
A new report from Taiwan shows that the country is far ahead of the United States in broadband use, with more than 56% of the population using high speed services, or about double U.S. use. That makes Taiwan the fourth biggest per capita user of broadband in the world, behind South Korea, Hong Kong, and Canada.
It is important to remember that Taiwan is smaller than many U.S. states, and probably smaller than some planning districts/regions in the U.S. The higher population density there makes it easier to justify the investments. Nonetheless, it suggests that here in the U.S., regional approaches to broadband are more likely to be successful than individual town and community projects.
Technology News:
Fiber to the home projects in the U.S.
PCWorld has a nice summary of fiber to the home projects, mostly from the telephone and cable company perspective.
Some of the key ideas in the article:
- A single of channel of HDTV requires 9 megabits/sec, well beyond the current cable and DSL offerings.
- Countries like Japan have 100 megabit fiber service in much of the country already, putting the U.S. at a disadvantage globally.
- It will take 5 to 10 years to get high speed fiber services (i.e. that will support HDTV and other high capacity uses) to most U.S. homes and businesses (meaning communities should be in this for the long haul and not look for "magic" broadband fixes).
- Major price drops in the cost of fiber and fiber electronics have made FTTH (Fiber To The Home) much more affordable.
Technology News:
Supercomputers for hire: the new ED infrastructure
Almost a year ago, I wrote enthusiastically about Virginia Tech's low cost, high powered supercomputer, and suggested that supercomputers for hire were a way of attracting businesses into a region, just as water and sewer were attractors forty years ago.
This Slashdot story describes Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson's latest venture--a supercomputer for hire in New Zealand.
Jackson's 500 node machine is relatively modest, ranking only 77th among the top 500 supercomputers in the world. A modest cluster can be assembled for a lot less than some regions are spending on shell buildings out by the interstate, and as a marketing tool for Knowledge Economy businesses, even a small supercomputer cluster is more likely to get your region on the short list for a relocation than a shell building.
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RuralTelecon Conference one of the best
Early bird registration for the 8th Annual Rural Telecommunications Congress Annual Conference is still available through September 10th.
If you live in a rural community and are interested in economic development and broadband issues, this is one of the best conferences going. The RTC conference works hard to keep the sesssions focused on best practice, lessons learned, funding opportunities, and solid, practical information.
If you are interested in funding opportunities and national policy issues, some of the most important Federal and private agencies will be in attendance, with staff and speakers, including the Appalachian Regional Commission, the USDA, NTIA and the Technology Opportunities Program (TOP), and RUPRI.
The conference is being held in Spokane, Washington, with affordable downtown hotel rates, lots to do after hours, and of course, the conference is a tremendous opportunity to meet vendors, network in the hallways, and get valuable information for your community. Disclaimer: I'm on the RTC Board of Directors, but I agreed to join the Board because I was so impressed by the RTC conferences.
Technology News:
MIT invents community network
Apparently at least one faculty member at MIT has been off the 'net entirely for the past twenty years. This story discusses Professor Keith Hampton's iNeighbor network.
Distributed by the New York Times New Service, apparently both MIT and the Times failed to do even a single Google search for "community network," which would have shown that there is not only a well-established national organization focused on online communities of place (the Association For Community Networking), but also hundreds of thriving local community network projects, some of them more than a decade old.
The article has the look and feel of a press release; apparently the Times no longer bothers to do any research or get second opinions. It's almost laughable in parts, especially where someone describes in glowing terms how they found a tennis partner online. This is news? Community networks have been supporting local social networking since the eighties.
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