Update on SWMBG on MPR

The SWMBG project continues to get good press. Our good fortunate was highlighted in a recent story on Minnesota Public Radio; the story also spoke of many of our colleagues around the state who have not been as fortunate with their proposals.

The story featured Wilder resident Tom Myrvold who talked about his issues with satellite service. It’s great when it works, but it has not been reliable for him. He gets services from a communications dish on a grain elevator five miles away. Weather conditions can hinder access and he has to trim back tree branches every year to make sure that the line of sight isn’t hindered.

Fiber will bring him not only faster speeds, but more importantly reliability.

Ramsey Network plan moves forward

Yesterday the St Paul City Council approved a resolution to authorize the Office of Technology and Communications to submit an ARRA NTIA Broadband Technology Opportunities Program grant request. So, we’re one step closer. Minnesota Fiber Exchange has been working with Ramset County on their ARRA application plans.

We were also delighted to see some nice coverage of the plan in the Pioneer Press. As the article points out, our goal is to “save taxpayers money in the long run and boost the region’s march into the digital age”.

The article also lays out some of the plan specifics…

The Ramsey County plan is aimed at grabbing a piece of $4.7 billion in federal stimulus money. Under the proposal, the federal government would pay for 70 percent of the perhaps 125 miles of cable with branches stretching to more than 100 buildings throughout the county. The remaining 30 percent would be paid for by a private partnership that would build and manage part of the network.

They do a good job of outlining what the network will mean to both government agencies and residents in Ramsey County, in terms that are accessible to technical and non-technical people. The network will very directly connect government offices and less directly offer an opportunity for residential options. As we have reported…

Our goal is to provide carrier neutral-dark fiber-open access networks to carriers and ISPs to allow them to expand their business base in the community. Especially in an area such as St. Paul and Ramsey County where currently there is a dearth of fiber assets for lease; we believe that this will be an exciting way for providers to increase customer reach. Our goal is to provide a competitively priced dark fiber service that will allow ISPs to grow business.

Minnesota Fiber Exchange working with Ramsey County

Minnesota Fiber Exchange will work with St Paul/Ramsey County on Round Two ARRA broadband stimulus funding application. We are working on submitting the application, which is due March 15th. MFE will manage the Private Community Fiber Network that will be open to all carriers.

We are looking for potential partners for our ARRA application. In fact if you are a provider that might be interested in taking advantage of the open access network, we would like to hear from you. Currently we are looking for two things from our potential partners; (1) a non-binding letter of intent that you have interest in utilizing such a network and/or (2) a letter of support for the project. Even though these would be non-binding documents, their inclusion in our funding application would enhance its viability.

Please feel free to contact us additional information.

Tim Walz supports Southwest Minnesota Broadband Group (SWMBG)

We’ve been busy preparing applications for Round Two of the ARRA broadband stimulus funding – and preparing to deploy our plans in Southwest Minnesota. It’s exciting and almost overwhelming. It’s been great to continue to see support for the project, such as in a recent article on Congressman Walz’s web site, where he said…

“Investing in expanded communications capabilities, like high-speed Internet and cable television, is critical to the economic vitality of our rural communities,” said Walz. “This wonderful news today means jobs for construction and a boost to businesses who can use this technology to become more innovative and efficient right here in southern Minnesota.”

Southwest Minnesota Broadband Group receives ARRA funding

We are very pleased to announce that the Southwest Minnesota Broadband Group (SWMBG) was funding. It’s been a whirlwind. We think we have a great project but it still seems a little unreal after so much preparation. Here’s our press release on the news.

Klobuchar comments on major regional telecom project

(February 18, 2010) U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar expressed excitement for the nine-city fiber-to-the-home project that received a $12.7 million federal boost yesterday afternoon.

Klobuchar appeared to be very excited about the project’s potential and impact at 3:20 p.m. Tuesday, when she called Citizen Online regarding this major development.

The project, which will be based in Windom, brings fiber optics to homes and businesses in the following communities: Jackson, Lakefield, Windom, Round Lake, Bingham Lake, Brewster, Wilder, Heron Lake, and Okabena.

“As a strong advocate for broadband development, I met with this group and I was supportive of their project,” said Klobuchar, a Minnesota-based U.S. Senator. “As a country, we have ensured that every American has access to telephone service and electricity – we must now do the same for broadband internet access. I have heard first-hand from Minnesotans about the importance of making sure they have access to fast and affordable high speed internet. This project will increase rural broadband access, and improve health, education and public safety services across southwestern Minnesota.”

The project is designed to increase high-speed Internet access in eight rural Minnesota communities, plus many rural farms and homes in between.

The funds were awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as part of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to help bring broadband services to rural unserved and underserved communities.

The funds were awarded to the Southwest Minnesota Broadband Group (SWMBG), a consortium of eight rural communities, selected to receive an almost $6.4 million loan and a $6.4 million grant to extend broadband to the eight cities. The funds, along with an $88,000 private investment, will provide high-speed Internet, voice, and cable television to the participating communities. SWMBG involves communities with over 3,300 residences, 292 businesses and 50 anchor institutions across the network.

The total population of the area affected by this funding is 7,337 persons.

Klobuchar serves on the Senate Commerce Committee, which has authority over telecommunications issues. Klobuchar was a key leader in the push to include high-speed Internet infrastructure investments in the economic recovery package to help jumpstart the economy and create new jobs. She also cosponsored the Broadband Data Improvement Act (S. 1492), which was signed into law in October 2008.

U-reka Broadband Ventures, a Minnesota based broadband consultant group, provided expertise in preparing both the application and additional due dilligence requests from the Rural Utility Service. U-reka was responsible for development of the engineering, financial planning, operational planning and wrote the request.

“We are quite excited about SWMBG being selected by RUS. The project will truly change the economic course of the area and provides a solid foundation for future economic development for the area. It was the effort of all the community representatives who broughtz this project together and we want to thank them for their effort and their confidence in us.” John Schultz, President of U-reka Broadband Ventures.

Additional information regarding U-reka Broadband can be found at www.u-rekabroadband.com.

So what have we been up to?

Its been a while since our last post and there is really one reason, stimulus.  We have been inundated with requests for assistance and we look forward to working with all of our partners on their applications.  We are currently working on several environmental studies for clients which is a new twist on the first phase of the new application process.  Also we have entire applications that we are working on ranging from BTOP infrastructure, BIP infrastructure and sustainability and computer center applications.  For some of apps it would sure be nice to know what has been rewarded.  We will keep all of you in the loop as we progress.

End of Year Thought’s

I just wanted to pass along some end of year thoughts:

• I am glad we have completed pulling together the phase 2 information for SWMBG, now we wait and determine next steps.  Thanks to all of our associates and SWMBG members who worked so hard on the application and phase 2.
• I am glad we have customers who have entrusted us to prepare round 2 ARRA applications for them.  We look forward to working with them over the next few months.
• I am glad we are seeing a turn-around in the economy and that broadband projects are looking favorable for 2010.  Looks like there will be a lot to do.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all of you and see you again in 2010.

Southwest Minnesota Broadband Group

We are so excited to announce that our client Southwest Minnesota Broadband Group (SWMBG) has moved to the next stage of due diligence for broadband stimulus dollars.  Dan Olsen from Windomnet received the information on his fax machine this morning.  At the Blandin Foundation event in Duluth a couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of representing the project in a broadband stimulus panel and I just wanted to reiterate why we believed the project should move forward:

• A strong existing service provider with Windomnet to provide backbone voice, video and internet services
• Speed to cash flow positive with two of the member cities being the incumbent cable operator we get to move all that revenue to the network right away
• Great local champions at every level who truly believe broadband is not just a nicety but a necessity for the region to remain competitive

Special thanks go out to Dan Olsen and Mitch Jasper who spearheaded many activities, but the important thing is that every community stepped to the plate to make the application a reality.

TISP Forum

I spent this afternoon at the TISP Forum listening to a continuous discussion on the the Statewide Franchise and Telephone Exchange approval issues.  These have been topics of discussion for the last 10-15 years and we continue to harp on those issues, I think we need to look at other issues and a larger scope of the overall telecommunications landscape in Minnesota.  Here are some of the things I would like to see happen at the Legislature this year:

• We have statewide bandwidth standards and know that 6% of our population does not have access to broadband services, we have many creative groups looking at how we deliver services to those high-cost customers and the second round of stimulus funding coming.  Legislative representatives spent yesterday in a jobs summit.  What we need to do is find dollars to assist with the 20% match to reach the last 6% of the unserved residents of Minnesota to create new jobs and get us up to 100% broadband availability
• We need to stop working on these patchwork solutions to section 237 and 238 of statutes and instead re-write the entire telecommunications package to meet the standards of today’s based IP infrastructure not the antiquated technologies that current telephone and video franchising is based on
• We need to find ways to encourage public/private partnerships first and then if there are not solutions to allow the public sector to take care of their own needs

What to give thanks for in 2009?

Of course there is the obvious; friends family and the like but what do we have to give thanks for in the broadband world in 2009.

1) That the FCC is working on a National Broadband Strategy

2) That we might actually hear about some stimulus dollars being awarded yet this year or at least early 2010

3)That the State of Minnesota completed their Ultra High-Speed Task Force and we have a statewide standard that will be driven by applications which make FTTP a shoe-in as the defacto infrastructure (now if we can get the right numbers in the report!)

4) That stimulus dollars will be rewarded by September of 2010 and we can get back to looking for funding sources other than Stimulus

5) That applications such as Tele-Medicine and Over the Top video will continue to drive the bandwidth required to the home

6) That we have been able to work with such great clients and partners in 2009.  And we expect great things from them in 2010.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!