Broadband of Brothers

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.

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.

Verizon Broadband User Report

Verizon Broadband User Report

Russ Steele

I cross posted information on the Verizon Broadband at NC Media Watch. A user posted this comment.

Russ, last month we upgraded our cellphones and contract with Verizon. The new Motorola's and accompanying service came with V CAST which we tried free for a week. We experienced a fair amount of spottiness along the roadways as well as in sections of Nevada City and Grass Valley so we decided not to continue with V CAST at least for now. The Verizon service map is pretty general and needs more fine tuning. In the meantime, I'm happy with my laptop and WiFi connections as they become more available in Nevada County.

I noted that Verizon on their web site allow a customer to try the  Broadband/Access for 30 days. Give it a try if you want to move away from dial up.

Good news

Russ Steele

This is good news. We asked the Governor's Broadband Task Forces to support this initiative. I have no idea if they did, but this is the reality.

WASHINGTON--The Federal Communications Commission ruled Tuesday that a valuable chunk of wireless spectrum will be open to whatever mobile devices Americans want to use, amounting to a political setback for traditional telephone companies and a partial win for Google.

As was hinted in recent weeks, the Federal Communications Commission approved that requirement as part of broader rules for auctioning licenses in the coveted 700MHz analog television band. The vote was technically 5-0, although one commissioner delivered a blistering critique of the so-called "open access" requirement.

WiFi, or similar services at 700 Mhz can penetrate the trees we have to deal with here in the foothills. This is good news for more broadband access in Nevada County.

More broadband access near Sontag Hill

Russ Steele

Adam Brodell at Smarter Broadband told me this morning that the Sontag Hill site is now operational. All the folks that want broadband access, and can see Sontag Hill, should log on to the Smarter Broadband web site and submit an application.