Get Broadband Makes a Difference

The results of the pre-post data analysis for the first round of Get Broadband communities are now available online. Each community has its own story to tell, but overall it is clear that broadband adoption rates rose substantially in all communities with the exception of International Falls, where the rates were unusually high at the onset.

Jack Geller, President of the Center for Rural Policy and Development, which administered the surveys for the Get Broadband Initiative, compares the results to other statewide surveys, “In our latest statewide surveys we saw an overall rise in broadband take rates in rural Minnesota of 6.4 percentage points. However, even accounting for the margin of error, it’s clear that most of the Get Broadband communities saw greater increases than non-participating counterparts.”

Blandin Broadband Initiative hosts Statewide Conference

Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center in Alexandria is the location for this year’s Blandin Broadband Initiative conference, Next Generation Broadband: Policies, Practices and People. The conference will engage community leaders, service providers, and policymakers in a practical discussion of policy strategies and practical applications that can help Minnesota support and take full advantage of the Broadband Generation, to keep our state socially and economically competitive in the constantly evolving global context. 
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The dates are October 18-19.  More details and the agenda are available on the Blandin Foundation web site.

Get Broadband community leaders are entitled to special benefits including a half-day of leadership training on the 18th, two scholarships per community that cover registration, lodging and mileage and a community video contest (coordinators – please refer to Bill Coleman’s email dated July 26 for more details).

If you are interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at the conference please contact the Get Broadband team at broadband@blandinfoundation.org. 

Killer App Public Policy Forum

What effect does super-fast broadband, delivered by fiber-to-the-home and other advanced networks, have on consumer demand for applications and electronic devices?  How will broadband users respond as next-generation broadband rolls out across the country?   

In one of the first consumer surveys exploring this relationship, broadband researcher Michael Render finds that faster broadband speed significantly increases demand for applications and devices. Fiber-to-the-home users reported telecommuting more frequently. When asked what types of applications consumers with broadband connections found most interesting, new information and communication applications rated most popular overall, followed by advanced entertainment options, such as niche television programs, and then by lifestyle uses such as face-to-face interaction with doctors and nurses from home. Learn more. 

Broadband in US is Most Expensive

According to a new eMarketer report, 1Mbps of residential bandwidth in North America costs about six times what it does in Japan or South Korea and four times as much as in France. In North America, residential bandwidth prices fell over the last 14 months but not nearly as quickly as in the other markets surveyed.  Learn more.

Northeastern MN Looking at Broadband Again

Iron Range Resource’s  Do I.T! initiative views broadband in Northeastern Minnesota as critical to the region’s economic future. Funds from the Blandin Foundation and Iron Range Resources were used to commission Dynamic City to study their broadband options. When the study indicated that the cost would be $70 million and the revenues generated would be insufficient to cover the cost, Dynamic City was asked to take a another look with a stronger emphasis on a public-private partnerships. Learn more

Free Phone Calls?

Broadband is changing the way people access and use phone service. Services such as Skype and Vonage, which provide free or very low cast phone calls over the Internet, are causing traditional phone service providers to rethink their pricing and service options. While consumers with free access have started using the phone for new purposes, such as taking classes by phone or using the phone as a baby monitor. Read more in the New York Times.

Misleading Links Now Illegal

The US Congress recently passed a law aimed at protecting children from online predators. The law dictates how hyperlinks and domain names leading to sexual content may be presented. The law imposes jail time and fines on those who try to trick minors into viewing sexual content via misspelled domain names, search, and misleading hyperlinks. Links to such sexual content will need to be clearly labeled as such. For more information visit GovTrack.us.

Cambridge-Isanti -Cambridge- Isanti has helped two local manufacturing companies launch e-marketing strategies this month. (Learn more)

Cohasset - The City of Cohasset was honored last month with an award from the Minnesota Cable Communications Association. (Learn more)

Edge of Wilderness - The Edge of the Wilderness has created a local Get Broadband web site and created Get Broadband and E-Commerce Certified icons for local web sites as found on the City of Big Fork web site.

Fosston - The City of Fosston and the Five Small Towns project joined forces to create an exhibit at the Polk County Fair. Fosston also mailed its second annual “Come Home to Fosston” newsletter to 3,300 Fosston alumni. (Learn more)

Grand Rapids - Grand Rapids is ready install the KAXE/Library wireless project. The install date is the end of July.

Hibbing - Hibbing has been busy this summer working with the local Senior Centers and on opportunities for local technology training. (Learn more)

Red Wing - Red Wing has organized an Events committee, which in turn has planned for a number of upcoming events, including a Tech Fair in October. (Learn more)

Meet the Minnesota Cable Communications Association
[Editor’s note: The Get Broadband Team does not promote any specific broadband technology. We hope to feature various broadband and community resources, including other industry associations in future editions.]

Cable television companies in Minnesota serve more than 60 percent of the homes passed by cable; that’s more than 900,000 homes. They serve almost every city in the state with a population of 300 or more residents. There are 20,000 miles of cable serving Minnesota communities.

Cable companies have been deploying fiber to provide telephone services, data services, and video. The Minnesota Cable Communications Association (MCCA) is a trade association of franchised cable television companies in Minnesota.

MCCA promotes and supports cable technologies and cable companies in Minnesota. They are pleased to report that few communities in Minnesota are not served by cable companies. They have observed that communities with vibrant economies and younger demographics are quickest to adopt broadband technologies – but communities can build demand for services with consumer education efforts that help citizens recognize the economic advantage of advanced services, especially the Internet.

Mike Martin from MCCA notes that, “The trend in industry is for higher speeds. Currently cable broadband speeds range from 2-6 Mbps, yet as demand grows, speeds will increase especially with cable access as the architecture for cable can easily scale to accommodate higher speeds.” Why would you need higher speeds? Martin explains, “Video will drive the need for higher speeds – specifically, HDTV, IP video services and video on demand.”

MCAA hosts two annual events, the North Central Show in the spring and the MCCA Annual Meeting, which was held July 24-26 in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. This year the MCCA honored Get Broadband community, the City of Cohasset, for successfully dealing with multiple cable franchises in their community. This is the first time the MCCA has presented this award, but they hope to award another community next year.

You can learn more about the MCCA from their web site.

August 9-10 (Brainerd) – MART Telco Marketing Group – of particular interest to the rural telephone companies.

August 16 (Virtual) Emerging Technologies: Innovating for Growth - Experts talk about hot technologies and the business opportunities in Minnesota.

September 11-13 (Irving, Texas) – Broadband Properties Summit - focused on the successful delivery of broadband, digital video and voice services to multifamily properties and ultra connected communities.

September 19 (Minneapolis & St Paul) Broadband – Transforming the Twin Cities - Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO, Comcast Corporation, discusses how the broadband revolution is transforming the Twin Cities and the nation.

October 18-19 (Alexandrian, MN) – Statewide Blandin Broadband Initiative Conference -  Next Generation Broadband: Policies, Practices and People.

This summer I have been building a screen house tucked into the woods of my backyard.  I am not much of a carpenter and have had to rely on friends for building plans and construction assistance.  My goal was to have the screen house completed for a reunion of friends the 2nd week of July.  I am now asking myself whether this project will ever be completed!  When friends ask about my screen house, I can only report progress, not completion.  This can be frustrating, but I am choosing to celebrate the progress!

During our reunion event, we were able to sit and enjoy the comfort of a bug-free environment.  We had a roof, screens and a door.  We had electricity (with a long extension cord) for keeping the tunes going.  The screen house was painted a lovely shade of primer white. 

While bug-free leisure is my benchmark, broadband take rates are the Blandin Foundation’s measure of success for the Get Broadband program.  The benchmark surveys for the first seven communities have been completed and demonstrate that the rates of broadband penetration growth in our participating communities are well above the state average. All of your work - your activities and events, newspaper articles and collaboration with your providers, is making a big difference in your community!

At this point in your project, like me, you may be frustrated with the perceived slow pace of progress and at the hard work of project implementation.  Your initial group of volunteers may not be quite so enthusiastic!  I encourage you to continue on in your work knowing that there is more work ahead, even if with a small group.  Make strategic use of your volunteer resources so that they are there to contribute their expertise and energy when you need them most. And remember, just as I celebrate my progress with an afternoon nap or an evening of socializing in my not-yet-completed screen house, you should celebrate the success of your community broadband initiatives and your increasingly tech-savvy community.

Intro to E-Commerce - Looking for a good introduction to e-commerce and how it can help your business be more profitable? The University of Minnesota Extension Services has created an online curriculum to show small businesses how to use technology to grow. The curriculum can be used in a classroom setting or to mentor individual businesses.