The Get Broadband website is up and running and contains details and links to more information about the project and participating communities. Click here...

What if wireless computer users could access high speed Internet anywhere -- for free? NPR's "Talk of the Nation" recently explored the pros and cons of The Internet as a Public Utility (listening time is 35 minutes). Listen now...

A white paper issued in March by the Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (IEEE) concluded, "Our nation must act promptly to ensure that a new generation of broadband networks - of gigabit per second speed - is ubiquitous and available to all. Failure to act will relegate the U.S. telecommunications infrastructure to an inferior competitive position and undermine the future of the U.S. economy."
Read more...

The combined baseline data from the broadband utilization survey conducted in the Get Broadband communities reveals percentages below the state average. Read more...

Ely - Since the last issue of e-News, Ely has rethought the Wiki concept and refocused their energy on a Collaborative Community Website. Read more

Bird Island - With its broadband utilization survey results in, Bird Island has set its goals and agreed on an ambitious work plan, including exploring video conferencing technology to connect with local National Guardsmen serving in Iraq.

Sleepy Eye - The Blandin Get Broadband Initiative has spurred a great deal of conversation and action in Rural Minnesota; Sleepy Eye and Brown County included. Read more

International Falls - The International Falls Steering Committee is meeting regularly and is seeking input from the other communities about what's working and what's not. Read more

Thief River Falls -The Thief River Falls Broadband Steering Committee has met several times, most recently to hear a presentation by Ryan Pesch of the Minnesota Extension Service to learn about Internet workshops and seminars available through the Extension Service. Read more

Cohasset - Cohasset is using the results of the community-wide broadband survey to set its goals and plan its community events. Read more

Windom - An estimated 1,200 people turned-out for Windom Launch Party. Recurring comments such as "Wow, that was fast!" and "I didn't know that information was out there," where heard throughout the day. Read more

Grand Rapids - Local broadband providers introduced to the Get Broadband Initiative. Read more

14th Annual Community Technology Conference, June 17-19, 2005 - Cleveland , Ohio The Annual Conference is CTCNet's signature event and the largest national gathering of community technology organizations, programs, and experts. Read more...

Click here to access Get Broadband resource page with materials provided to support community efforts.

Save the Date!
Get Broadband Fall Convening
November 16-17, 2005 - St. Cloud, MN

Coleman's Corner This past week I attended the Digital City Expo in Reston VA -; two days packed with interesting information and great conference! Several themes emerged:

• 200 kbps is not considered broadband in most of the developed world. In many countries, the standard is either 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps up and down. My cable modem is not bad at 4 Mbps down, but not blazing up at 3866kbps.
• Open access networks that enable a multitude of providers to offer services has become a goal of many technology activists-however, it will take some scale of customer base to attract providers-some speakers used the number 100,000 customers (that means regional or multi-community efforts).

• Technology vendors were aggressively selling their products and services at the conference-targeting the municipal and private-public sector partnership market.
• Fiber and wireless are complementary networks, not necessarily competitive.
• Wireless IP networks will offer municipalities great cost savings in cellular services and great advances in customer service for utility billing, building permit processing, public works and public safety. My March challenge on desktop video has gone unfulfilled.:-(

Small Business Merchant Solutions -
"Do you have some small retail businesses in your community that you think might benefit from selling on-line? Show them the Yahoo "Small Business Merchant Solutions" demo - it shows different approaches for various levels of retail sales.

It is on the Business CD in your Get Broadband Toolkit or click here to view it online.