Eight Steps to a National Broadband Strategy
Jim Baller and Casey Lide recently published Eight Bold Steps to a National Strategy, which overviews recent activity (and lack of activity) in the US to promote broadband access and compares US response to other countries. They also outline an eight-step plan to develop a national broadband strategy in the US.

Minnesota Needs to Think Fiber
According to Tom Salonek in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, “developing and funding a statewide fiber broadband strategy should be a top priority in this legislative session.” Alluding to a recent article in CNET, he outlines the reason Minnesota should look to the long term economic viability for reasons to implement fiber to the home options now.

The FCC Testifies to Senate Commerce Committee
All five FCC Commissioners recently made their first appearance before the Democratically-controlled Senate Commerce Committee. Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein had strong comments regarding the state of broadband in the US today, "I am concerned that the U.S. is not keeping pace with our global competitors. Each year we slip further down the regular rankings of broadband penetration. This is more than a public relations problem. Citizens of other countries are simply getting more megabits for less money." (Access testimony from all Commissioners on the FCC web site.)

Localizing the Internet
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance recently published Localizing the Internet: Five Ways Public Ownership Solves the U.S. Broadband Problem, a report by Becca Vargo Daggett that argues that a publicly owned information infrastructure is the key to healthy competition, universal access, and non-discriminatory rates. It maintains that the way in which broadband is introduced may be as important as whether it is introduced. The executive summary and the report are available online.

Speed Matters
Speed Matters is a web site published by the Communications Workers of America. It promotes the idea that all Americans need access to reliable and affordable high speed Internet connections based on their 5 principles. The site features a tool  that allows visitors to check their upstream and downstream Internet speeds and compare them to national and international averages.

Digital Mammograms
About 10 percent of Native American women over the age of 40 get annual mammograms. The University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center is looking to change that with a mobile unit that drives into remote areas to take digital mammograms and transmits the images back to the Center. Getting results takes less than an hour and the quality of images is reported to be as good as images done on site. Women no longer need to travel for health care and who need additional images can often follow up immediately. (Read more.)

What is an Open Network?

In May 1986, the FCC introduced an Open Network Architecture (ONA), a concept under which telephone companies were obliged to provide a certain class of service to their own internal value-added divisions and the same class of service to external, nonaffiliated value-added companies.

ONA created a free market condition within the telecommunications industry through regulation and an opportunity for companies to provide advanced telecommunications services to compete with the existing monopoly of AT&T and the Regional Bell Operating Companies.

While the underlying principle of free market remains the same, the idea of an Open Network has expanded. Today an Open Network refers to an infrastructure that is independent of the retail service providers (voice, video and data) who sell the broadband-based services offered over the network. 

One example of an Open Network is the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA), a consortium of 14 Utah cities that have joined together to create one of the nation's largest, fastest, most robust fiber-optic networks.

Last week two men were arrested in South Korea for sending 1.6 billion spam emails within a four month time span. 1.6 billion! There’s no question that spam is becoming a bigger problem for all of us – no one more than the Internet service providers that try to thwart the spam before it gets to the end users. This month we talked with Mike Horwath, anti-spam crusader from Minneapolis-based ipHouse. He is responsible for trying to reduce or eliminate spam and viruses for their customers.

How much spam does an ISP get?
ipHouse receives about 2 million connections per day and they refuse about 75 percent of them because they either come from compromised hosts or from known spammer-controlled IP addresses. They deliver about 20GB of email a day and filter out about 100GB of email messages.

ipHouse keeps their filters updated by subscribing to Real-time Blackhole Lists (RBLs) that track IP addresses of known or suspected spammers. They also use MailFoundry, an anti-spam system, which ipHouse has set up to give their customers more control of the messages they want to receive. So, an end customer may throw caution to the wind and receive everything or may take an extremely conservative approach where they only accept email addresses that they have specified (or white-listed).

What can end users do?
A Pew Survey from 2004 indicated that 29 percent of email users had reduced their overall use of email because of spam. That need not be the case with some precautionary measures. End users can set up several barriers for spam. First, you want to make sure that your ISP takes spam seriously. Ask them about their policy to reduce spam. Second, end users can set up filters on their existing email software with or with support from other email Bayesian filtering tools such as Thunderbird or Mail.app.

This month we’ve asked the Get Broadband Leadership Team and community leaders to share their New Year’s Resolutions:

Get Broadband Leadership Team:

Bill Coleman:

1. Learn more about wireless technologies and applications.
2. Learn more about how the big companies are redesigning work through technology and bring that information to bear on my own work with communities.
3. Learn how to play the guitar that I bought myself two years ago and gave up on!

Gary Fields: “My technology new years resolution is to starting using my webcam for video calls on a regular basis.  (And buy a few more guitar and PA electronic gizmos.)  Have a Happy New Year!”

Becky LaPlant: “Happy Holidays Everyone, In 2007 I resolve to expand my tech horizons by:

1. Learning how to use the instant message function on my cell phone.
2. Committing to creating no less than five pod casts.
3. Learning how to use the web cam so I can virtually attend Bill's first guitar recital.”

Jane Leonard: “My New Year's tech resolution is to learn more about technologies that kids are using now, especially teenagers and college-age kids, so I know how to "communicate" with them and understand how they communicate with one another differently than how we communicated at those ages. That will help me understand what to prepare for in the immediate and longer-range future as they are shaping our world.”

Ann Treacy:

1. Keep up on the applications offered by Google, starting with the free calendar applications you can post on your web site.
2. Buy a digital camera to replace the numerous half-filled disposable cameras scattered throughout my house.
3. Learn more about Vonage and other VoIP services to reduce our international phone bills.

Community Resolutions:

Conrad Feldt in Cohasset: “With the wonders of Microsoft I will no doubt be learning the new operating system in addition to the new office suite.  I am not complaining. That is what I have always enjoyed about this field: it is always changing.  In addition I am hoping to continue giving existing presentations to more people and also perhaps work on an additional one.  I would also like to teach a formal class along the way sharing some of my knowledge.”  
DonnaRae Jacobson in Five Small Towns: “My tech resolution will be to learn more about online learning as both an initiator and as a participant.”

Jill Klinger in Mankato: “To get the SourceLink link on all websites in southern Minnesota!”

Lynne Dahl-Fleming in Monticello: “There is an affordable and easy-to-use, email newsletter service out there called Constant Contact. They provide a free 30-day trial. I have signed up twice for the free trial and have not done anything with it. My resolution is to schedule time and familiarize myself with the product/services this company offers as I believe it will be a useful communication tool for 2007.”

Alex Weego in Todd County: “In January, Todd County will select 8-10 local businesses to work with Minnesota Technology to improve e-business strategies. We will also begin work with the five high schools in the county to provide teacher training and student access to BizPathways, an online tool that supports and promotes entrepreneurs.”

Steve Renquist in Willmar and Kandiyohi County: “We see technology as the great equalizer in terms of competing with the metropolitan areas that are larger and, perhaps, more sophisticated than Willmar and Kandiyohi. Adaptation and utilization of technological innovations are key to the evolution of the area's economy and the incorporation of equal growth opportunity for the rural areas. In every case we have found that technological innovation is not probable without reliable, high speed and high capacity communications.

“As we seek to baseline our present communications capacity and to formulate a plan to address equipment and personnel areas of needed improvement we turn to the Blandin Broadband program for advice and assistance.  May 2007 be fruitful!

Benton County
Benton County has partnered with Minnesota Power and the James J. Hill Library to host two events on February 26 titled “Is your Business Consultant some Yahoo named Google?” (The flyer is available on the Get Broadband web site.) They are giving out $500 technology grants to the ten elementary schools in Benton County. (Out of the ten schools nine applied for the grant!) They wrote up a broadband resolution for the support of the State of Minnesota and the United States of America involvement in Broadband Access; once approved by their steering committee, they will share the resolution with all other Get Broadband communities if they want to get involved.   

Ely
The Ely Echo recently ran an editorial (Fiber has economic development connection) that outlines the need for broadband connectivity from an economic development perspective. The author also describes the reasons it is necessary for local government to get involved in supporting (or leading) an effort to bring broadband to a community, especially smaller, rural communities.

Mankato
Mankato added three new agents to the SourceLink team: general community, construction and healthcare. It’s just one way the SourceLink system is continually building and becoming a more robust, informative tool. Partners are also coming up with new uses for the tool. For example connecting training programs -- a training coordinator could use SourceLink to find out what training is available in a different part of the state --or assisting with inventory -- Minnesota State University, Mankato might share information on available equipment and other educational institutions or businesses looking for the equipment could easily locate it. For more information on SourceLink, please visit www.greatermankatosourcelink.com

Moose Lake
The City of Moose Lake is building a new website as a marketing tool for the community and a source of information about local government. Project manager, Mike Twining is striving to create a page that will garner local traffic and is working to get citizen feedback. Towards that goal they are working with the emergency communications officer to create a space for valuable information in the event of an emergency. They are also working with Moose Lake WiFi Network to crate a web page for visiting WiFI users to promote Moose Lake.

Windom
Windom was recently featured on Minnesota Public Radio as “a sleepy little town on the surface, but underground it has one of the fastest fiber-optic telecommunications systems in the state.” Visit the MPR site to learn more about how Windom built their broadband infrastructure and the change it has made to the community.

February 13-16 - eTail 2007 (Palm Desert, CA) – focuses on how retailers can use technology to reach their customers and sell more online.

February 26 – March 1 – Minnesota Telecom Alliance (Minneapolis) – the 98th annual conference.

March 27-29 - CTIA Wireless 2007 (Orlando, FL) – the annual conference for the international association for the wireless telecommunications industry. (For wireless hot topics visit their industry topics page.)

April 30 – May 2 – Killer App (Fort Wayne, IN) - explores the applications that are driving broadband use and adoption worldwide. Killer App is looking for presenters. Visit their web site for more information. Deadline for applications is January 15, 2007.)

May 10-11 - Minnesota Rural Summit (Brainerd, MN) – the theme for the 10th annual  Minnesota Rural Summit is "Kickoff to Minnesota's Sesquicentennial - Thriving by Design!!".

May 17-18 – Building the Broadband Economy 2007 (Brooklyn, NY) - an annual meeting place and "idea exchange" for government officials from around the world and their private-sector partners in telecom, IT, consulting, finance and real estate.

Mark your calendars!

The next Get Broadband videoconference will be both fun and informative. Matt Wenger of PacketFront, one of the world’s leaders in broadband networks and an expert in fiber to the home open access networks, will be our presenter, coming to us from New Hampshire. Matt has some thought provoking ideas about how to stimulate new applications and economic development over telecommunications network. Consider inviting your ISPs as Matt makes compelling points about how pricing schedules can stimulate or throttle new technology businesses, services and applications.

Join us on February 20th from 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.  Video locations are as follows:
Host: UofMN-Coffey Hall 50
Rec1:  Ely-Vermilion CC - Lib Conf. Rm.
Rec2:  Grand Rapids-Itasca CC – T132
Rec3:  International Falls-Rainy River CC – H100
Rec4:  Mankato-South Central College - E130 
Rec5:  Marshall-SMSU - IL137  
Rec6:  MSU-Moorhead - Weld 11
Rec7:  St Cloud-SCSU - CH 130
Rec8:  Windom-SW TeleCom Coop – ITV Room
Rec9: Morris - HFA Room 7
Rec10: Bagley

February 26 – March 1 – Minnesota Telecom Alliance (Minneapolis) – the 98th annual conference.

March 8 - Telecom Policy and Regulation Issues for 2007 (Washington DC) - a series of Executive Telecom Briefings hosted by Information Gatekeepers, Inc. (IGI), in cooperation with Information Age Economics (IAE) and Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP.

March 11-17 - Sunshine Week (various locations) - a national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information.

April 30 – May 2 – Killer App (Fort Wayne, IN) - explores the applications that are driving broadband use and adoption worldwide.

May 10-11 -  Minnesota Rural Summit (Brainerd, MN) – the theme for the 10th annual  Minnesota Rural Summit is "Kickoff to Minnesota's Sesquicentennial - Thriving by Design!!

Partnerships.  We preach partnerships a lot in the Blandin Broadband program.  We mention the likely suspects…Internet Service providers, community education and libraries.  In many communities, these folks are great prospects for partnering and often jump in and help, even lead, broadband promotion efforts. They often have the resources, expertise and/or self-interest to get and stay involved. 

Looking beyond the usual suspects takes some creativity.  It also requires a very different perspective.  The question is not “How can they help us achieve our goals?”, rather it needs to be “How can we help them achieve their goals?”   While your primary goal is technology promotion, their goal may be something seemingly unrelated, such as involving youth in agriculture, improving senior citizens’ health or stimulating tourism.  If you understand their goals, you can think of creative ways where the goals of the broadband program intersect with theirs.  A little seed money, provided by the Blandin grant, can buy lots of community activity.  It can be amazing how easily and widely some partnership doors can be opened when you are offering resources and assistance rather than asking for time and money!

Customized Statistical Mapping - www.circ.rupri.org
Need customized maps demonstrating demographic, economic and geographic data in your community? The community Information Resources Center allows you to map dozens of different criteria and data sets.