Broadband of Brothers

Obama's Broadband Initiative

Russ Steele

Here are two articles on Broadband Initiative issues:

Broadband Stimulus Plan: How About Some Data First?

CC, TV, Internet set for big changes in 2009

President Elect Obama on broadband

Russ Steele

This comes at 3:30 minutes in to the speech:

—BROADBAND: “As we renew our schools and highways, we’ll also renew our information superhighway. It is unacceptable that the United States ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption. Here, in the country that invented the Internet, every child should have the chance to get online, and they’ll get that chance when I’m president – because that’s how we’ll strengthen America’s competitiveness in the world.”

President signs broadband data collection bill

Russ Steele

This from C-Net News:

President Bush on Friday signed into law a bill that would facilitate the collection of data regarding broadband access in the United States, though most of the actions required by the law have already been accomplished by federal regulators.

The Broadband Data Act directs the Federal Communications Commission to redefine broadband, which was largely achieved earlier this year. The commission in March voted to consider 768Kbps, which is the entry-level speed offered by major DSL providers like Verizon, the low end of "basic broadband," a range that extends to under 1.5Mbps. For years, the commission had considered 200Kbps service to be "high speed."

The new law, introduced by Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, in 2007, requires Internet service providers to give the FCC more detailed reports so the FCC can identify the actual numbers of broadband connections by customer type and geographic area. The FCC adopted this measure in March as well, though the act requires the commission to use the reports to collect demographic data for geographical areas without advanced telecommunications capabilities.

A few studies are required by the new law, such as an evaluation by the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy on the impact of broadband speed and price on small businesses. The bill also establishes a grant program for organizations to track and promote Internet usage.

A provision was also added to the bill by Congress to promote Internet safety for children. The law requires the Federal Trade Commission to establish a nationwide campaign "to increase public awareness and provide education regarding strategies to promote the safe use of the Internet by children."

Nevada County Fair has Open WiFi

Russ Steele

The wireless coverage this year appears to be very good just about every where at the Nevada County Fair. At the Senior Center the Gold County Computer Learning Center has a strong signal. On Treat Street Full Spectrum has a strong signal. Both the Leaning Center and Full Spectrum WiFi services were open to all users. There were several closed networks evident on the iPod. It looks like WiFi is being used for management functions as well as open communications.

Support for Pew Research

Russ Steele

I got this in the e-mail to day.

Dear friend of Pew Internet:

One of the mainstays of our work has been to report on broadband use in the United States. We have recently completed our newest phone poll on the subject and will be releasing a report in the coming months.

This year, we are hoping to add to our knowledge of the role of broadband connections in people's lives by trying to gather details about the speeds at which Americans are connecting to the internet. We have seen the rise of premium broadband services and packages and will be reporting on that based on the survey data we collected. But we would also like to gather data on the actual download and upload speeds internet users are experiencing.

So, we are asking people to help us by participating in a special effort called the "Broadband Census" project that is being overseen by Drew Clark, a telecommunications and technology journalist. The Web site is available at http://BroadbandCensus.com
<https://webmail.pewresearch.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://broadbandce
nsus.com/> .

If you are interesting in helping us, you can participate by going to the Web site and clicking the "Take the Census" button. (The direct address is http://www.broadbandcensus.com/census/form
<https://webmail.pewresearch.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.broadba
ndcensus.com/census/form> .) Once you are on the census page, you'll be asked to give some information about your broadband connection and then have your connection's speed tested.

This is a completely confidential test that does nothing to your computer or your connection.

If you have any questions about the project, feel free to contact us.

Thanks,
Lee Rainie
Director
Pew Internet & American Life Project

Same blog name with a new mission

Russ Steele

If you look closely the tag line of the Broadband of Brothers has been changes to reflect the new mission. We have retired the ERC Telecommunications Resource Committee title,  and given this group of volunteers new direction as the Nevada County Community Broadband Leadership Council.  Steve Monaghan, County CIO, has agreed to lead the NCCBLC.  We will be posting our meeting agendas and minutes here,  and any notices that pertain to acquiring more broadband communications coverage in Nevada County.

All citizens are welcome to our meetings and volunteer to work on specific working group as we redefine our charter and focus on making sure everyone that wants broadband access can have it at competitive prices with other communities.

See you at our next meeting.

USDA ANNOUNCES $267 MILLION RURAL BROADBAND LOAN

Russ Steele

WASHINGTON, March 25, 2008 - USDA Rural Development Under Secretary Thomas C. Dorr today announced that Open Range Communications, headquartered in Denver, Colo., has been approved to receive a $267 million loan from USDA Rural Development to provide broadband service to 518 rural communities in 17 states. More here:

California is one of the states listed, and this is for a WiMAX technology build out.

USDA Rural Development's investments in broadband are helping rural communities develop sustainable economic opportunities to improve the quality of life in communities across the nation. The loan to Open Range is expected to foster business development and create new jobs in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

I will be following up to find our where in California and maybe we can get some of this investment in Nevada County.

Nevada County Community Broadband Leadership Council

Russ Steele

Here is the agenda for the  Nevada County Community Broadband Leadership Council meeting today.

March 21st, 2008
3:00PM Rood center, Empire Room

Introductions - All

Group History and Sponsorship – Russ
http://www.ncerc.org/blog_bbb.php

California Broadband Task Force and Report – Steve
http://www.calink.ca.gov
California Emerging Technology Fund http://www.cetfund.org
Community Partners http://www.communitypartners.org
California Community Technology Policy Group http://www.cctpg.org
Broadband Institute of California http://www.scu.edu/law/bbic/

SEDD Aggregated Broadband study project – Steve
http://www.sedd.org 

Nevada County broadband issues – Steve
http://www.ncerc.org/wireless.php
http://www.ncerc.org/documents/2007-09-19-RCRC-Broadband.pdf

Group Focus – Mind map - open discussion

Project identification – open discussion
Opportunities, needs
What can we really accomplish
Next steps – open discussion
- Volunteers
- Assignments

Next Meeting - Steve

FCC 700 Mhz Auction Update

Russ Steele

I was hopping that Google would win some of the 700Mhz Spectrum and use it for WiMAX wireless but is not going to happen. The 700-megahertz spectrum is considered valuable because it can go long distances and penetrate thick walls and wet trees which we have here in the foothills.

Here is the update from Reuters:

Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T were big winners in the U.S. government's auction of wireless licenses that raised a record $19.59 billion, the Federal Communication Commission said on Thursday.

Verizon Wireless, a joint venture with Vodafone Group Plc, won the nationwide "C" block of the auction, giving it control of a major piece of the airwaves being vacated by television broadcasters as they move to digital signals in early 2009.

AT&T won 227 licenses from among the "B" block of regional licenses, but Internet leader Google Inc, while it submitted a serious bid for the C block, in the end won no licenses, the FCC said.

Frontier Wireless, a partner of U.S. satellite television company EchoStar, gained airwaves in the "E" block of the auction, covering almost all of the United States.

Telcom Update and New Direction

Russ Steele

The ERC Telecommunications Resource Committee is taking a new direction, and I will be passing the leadership to others. We have not met for a long time as we did not have a specific mission that I believed could produce come concrete results. I did not want to meet, just to be meeting. Now that the California Broadband Task Force Report: The State of Connectivity has been published, it is time to revisit the broadband issues in Nevada County.

Recommendation Number 7 in the CBTF is to form a Community Broadband Leadership Councils. The ERC Executive Boards has agreed with a recommendation that we reconstitute the Telcom Committee as the Nevada County Broadband Leadership Council.

Steve Monaghan has agreed to lead the NCBLC and will be holding an initial meeting on the 21st of March at 3:00PM, Empire Room at the Rood Center.  If your are interested in more broadband in Nevada County please come and support Steve and the NCBLC.  I will continue to participate in the NCBLC activities, and look forward to Steve's leadership.

Here is more information on Recommendation #7:

Community Broadband Leadership Councils: It is vital to spur local leadership that increases demand for broadband in unserved and undeserved communities. Currently no organized forum exists for these communities to developa business case for broadband; however, a statewide-public private
partnership could create this mechanism and facilitate both the creation of Community Broadband Leadership Councils (CBLCs) and the sharing of information across CBLCs. Individual CBLCs located in unserved and underserved communities and comprised of local residents who are passionate about broadband can articulate that the level of demand is substantial enough to warrant investment
by providers and develop the business case for broadband deployment. CBLCs can identify potential anchor tenants, critical infrastructure, state or local infrastructure, partnerships with surrounding communities, and residents and businesses who will commit to purchasing broadband. The CBLC model will be strengthened if representatives from each Council meet regularly, under the auspices of a formal
network, to share best practices and strengthen one another’s work. In fact, a similar model, pioneered in Kentucky, has a proven track record of success.

A typical CBLC, staffed by passionate, committed local champions will publish a business case for the local community and a set of lessons learned that other communities may use to develop financial models supporting broadband deployment. Examples of CBLC activities include: convening public discussions to assess infrastructure needs and explore broadband opportunities; holding farm demonstration projects for on-farm voice, data and telemetry applications; and developing presentations that examining water-management systems, on-farm mesh networks, and community public safety projects.