Rural broadband development leads to many business, educational opportunities

“Last night, my wife was trying to upload photos on Facebook from our future daughter-in-law’s shower,” he said at the recent groundbreaking for RS Fiber Cooperative’s fiber optic network. “She couldn’t get them to upload. She asked me to watch them and went to bed. I finally gave up.”

But it’s not just Facebook photos. Poor Internet access means children can’t use their school-issued iPads for homework at home, health care companies can’t use electronic medical records, and businesses and farms can’t use the latest applications for managing resources or buying or selling goods and services.

For many in rural Minnesota, the information superhighway is a gravel road.

Upgrading Internet service is expensive — more so where the customers are sparse. And so Internet service providers have focused on upgrading systems in population centers, where the prospect is a lucrative one and they must constantly improve service in the face of competitors.

But in rural areas, competition is lacking and those who demand speed pay a premium.

About six years ago, after a majority of residents had said they supported finding a way to faster service, local governments in Sibley and Renville counties banded together to overcome that problem.

“All of the towns but two are served by Mediacom,” said Mark Erickson, the economic development agency director in Winthrop who was previously city administrator there. “Some can get 15 or 25 megabits, but it’s a shared platform off old copper wire from different phone companies.”

Wireless providers have some service, but again, the service is expensive and comes with data caps. In the rural areas, some have dial-up or satellite service, but it’s “not a broadband experience,” he said.

The cost of upgrading and expanding the service was more than private providers were willing to spend. The governments, though, sought ways to overcome it.

“In the cities, it costs about $2,500 per connection,” Erickson said. “In our rural area, it’s about $10,000 per pass. We decided early on that we’re all equal in this — there will be no difference in pricing.”

The RS project will be a game changer for businesses and the tools they can use, the co-op members said.

“We can use it for mapping fields,” said Kevin Lauwagie, a board member and farmer south of Winthrop. “When we’re out planting, our planting and resources can be optimized. There are applications to use all the way through harvest.”

These applications include tools to monitor moisture in the soil and apply fertilizer only where it’s necessary, saving money and limiting runoff, which help water quality.

Hog farmers such as Dave Rieke, a member of the Cairo Township Board, can watch live video of animals in their barn and use other tools to monitor the animals and farm business.

“Once we get the fiber cable, the pictures will be crystal clear,” he said, while now they break up or are blocky. “Agriculture has really been as far advanced as any other sector of the economy.”

Broadband access even gives the region hope of major economic development, including an osteopathic medical school in Gaylord.

“That’s one more reason for a fiber improvement to make it as fast in our rural area as it is in the city,” said Cindy Gerholz, vice chairwoman of the co-op board.

Who’s not connected

This project will get those 10 cities and 17 townships above a state goal for Internet speed. In 2010, the Legislature put a goal into law of speeds with downloads at 10 megabits per second and uploads at 5 megabits per second across the state. That speed allows a reasonable level of Internet functions, such as making a video call, checking email or uploading pictures.

This speed does not allow multiple applications that demand high bandwidth, such as participating in an online class while downloading files and watching a video or streaming two high-definition videos, the Federal Communications Commission said.

The state will not make its 2015 deadline to reach these goals, but wired connections at those speeds have increased from 56 percent to 78 percent of Minnesota households over that time.

The state has started counting wireless, or over-the-air, connections, too, which raise the connection level to 88.9 percent.

But wireless connections generally mean cellphone use, which bring hefty charges after meeting a plan’s data cap. The difficulty with getting a hardline connection to everyone in the state is cost. Internet service providers and telecommunications companies are not willing to lay expensive cables without a much higher return on investment than rural areas can provide.

Those who remain unconnected or underserved are almost always in rural areas.

What’s the cost

Both the state and federal government have programs to encourage wiring rural areas. Recently, the FCC announced it would give Frontier Communications $28 million to connect nearly 47,000 rural Minnesota homes and businesses through its Connect America Fund. That money will be paid as an annual subsidy for the company to extend the service to high-cost areas and avoid extra charges to those customers.

The state has also put money into broadband development. The Governor’s Task Force on Broadband has asked for $200 million in an infrastructure grant program, saying it’s a fraction of the total capital investment required to meet the goal. In 2014, the state budget put $20 million to broadband development. This year, the budget for broadband grants was $10.6 million.

Margaret Anderson Kelliher, chairwoman of the state’s task force and a Blue Earth County native, said the state dollars are supposed to be linked with private investment money on at least a 1-to-1 ratio, if not with more private investment.

The task force has estimated that extending a cable-like connection through the the state would cost $900 million, while fiber optic cable to the unwired homes in the state would cost a whopping $3 billion. Any project the state funds is required to have the ability of going to faster speeds of 100 megabits per second.

“We don't think the public dollars should go everywhere,” Kelliher said. “They should go where they make the biggest amount of difference in getting houses and farms connected.”

The cost is high, but Kelliher said the possibilities for rural Minnesotans are huge.

“We know that when families are connected to high-speed Internet, their income increases about $2,000,” she said.

This could simply be a product of being able to file taxes online, she said, allowing families to claim the earned income tax credit or child tax credit. It could also mean selling a good or service online or accessing education.

“These are the sorts of things that the connection can provide,” Kelliher said. “It can help people better themselves.”

How it can work

That’s exactly what residents in rural Sibley and Renville counties are looking forward to.

Crews have begun to lay a fiber optic cable with 1 gigabit per second capacity for a unique public-private partnership. Through RS Fiber Cooperative, more than 6,200 homes and businesses in most of Sibley County and portions of Renville, Nicollet, and McLeod counties will be wired for broadband service.

The co-op is a unique entity — 10 cities and 17 townships working together to bring fast Internet service to their region. The cities have taken out $8.7 million in general obligation bonds which, along with bank loans and other funding sources, will support the first phase of the project.

The first phase, installing the backbone and connecting the cities, will cost $15 million. This phase also includes putting wireless transmitters on cell towers and grain elevators, which will cover 90 percent of the territory involved. By the end of 2016, most of the area will have improved service.

The second phase includes wiring each rural farm, business and home, which will begin in 2018. This is a much more costly endeavor, but by then, the customer subscriptions will start paying down the old bonds and the townships will add their bonds to the pot. The project total is $45 million and will take through 2021.

And throughout the project area, residents and businesses will enjoy the faster speeds at the same or less cost.

The Blandin Foundation gave the co-op money for a feasibility study. Theproject got a $1 million from Minnesota’s Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program.

The co-op board has persevered through many project iterations. Sibley County refused to be part of the project and some cities and townships dropped out of the process. An earlier cost estimate put the the project cost at $70 million, out of reach for realistic financing. But the phased approach was suggested by Hiawatha Broadband Communications of Winona, which is overseeing construction and will manage the network for the co-op.

“Once you take out loans, even federal loans, you’ll immediately be charged interest,” Hiawatha CEO Dan Pecarina. “It came down to finding out a way to serve as many customers as possible while continuing to build out that network.”

The co-op board and the joint powers board, made up of government representatives from the cities and townships involved in the project, agreed to the approach because it got service to the most possible people in the shortest amount of time.

Hiawatha has used a similar staged process in building networks in southeastern Minnesota.

By partnering with Hiawatha, the project is also an affiliate of U.S. Ignite, a nonprofit that is working on applications to improve the use of cloud computing, video transmission and other tools in business, education, health care and agricultural production, to name a few.

The White House Office of Technology and National Science Foundation started the group with 26 technology companies, including Hiawatha. Being a part of Hiawatha’s network means the region will be able to support start-up technology development.

“The starts and stops made this project stronger,” said Schultz, a co-op board member. “This could be a model for the rest of the country.

Pai and Wheeler split on how to pay for expanding broadband into underserved America

Pai and Wheeler split on how to pay for expanding broadband into underserved America

WASHINGTON – From a podium in Omaha, Neb., FCC Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai, announced his vision of bringing broadband Internet services to rural America.

Contrary to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler’s vision of offering $1.7 billion in subsidies to expand the Lifeline Assistance Program, Pai proposed making modest changes to the existing Universal Service Fund rules.

“It’s time we made good on the promise of delivering broadband to rural Americans,” Pai said. “The time for talk is over; the time for action has arrived. That’s why I am putting on the table a concrete and specific plan for correcting this historical accident and giving rate-of-return carriers a chance to participate in the Connect America Fund if they want to do so.”

Pai went on to highlight why his approach was superior to Wheeler’s.

“I have concluded after careful study that targeted changes to existing universal service rules can solve the stand-alone broadband problem,” Pai explained. “In short, I agree with Sens. John Thune, Amy Klobuchar, Deb Fischer and 58 of their colleagues who wrote to us last month: ‘No new models or sweeping changes are needed to adopt and implement a targeted update to fix the issue … instead a simple plan that isolates and solves this specific issue is all that is needed right now.’”

Several rural and independent telecommunications associations have also expressed support for this approach.

“This broad, bipartisan coalition is right,” Pai added. “The rule changes needed to redirect funding to support stand-alone broadband facilities can fit on a single page, which I have attached as an appendix to this statement. They would include stand-alone broadband costs when calculating high cost loop support and interstate common line support. They would determine how much of that support should be attributed to stand-alone broadband. And they would direct that support be used to offset the cost of service.”

Pai made sure to highlight that his one-page plan was by far the more affordable option, noting that this scenario would serve the FCC’s goal of expanding broadband “within the existing budget.”

Expansion of the USF and Lifeline programs has faced conservative opposition due to claims they smack of big government giveaways that are open to fraud and abuse. Despite the potential for such programs to be exploited, expanded broadband access remains a priority for the FCC and lawmakers.

Pai summarized this consensus with his closing remarks, “The lack of high-speed broadband in rate-of-return areas is causing real hardships to real people and real businesses today. Let’s get this fixed. Let’s get rural America connected once and for all.”

A tale your grandmother wanted you to know but couldn't say

A tale your grandmother wanted you to know but couldn't say

                                                                

The sight of Juana running out of the telephone booth on a Saturday evening was now a familiar one to all of Tierra Caliente. Despite the sun bearing down heavy, a quick jump over a large stone and Juana was off. It amazed everyone. For a ten-year-old girl, she possessed a ferocious pace and an equally astounding agility.

The running joke in the community was to rechristen her as Gata for the same.

Abuelita! Abuelita!

Two ponytails bouncing on either side and Gata pranced upon the muddy beaten track that lead into a more ancient part of the village. Gata enjoyed the run.The breeze in her hair. The pleasant smell of corn being cooked in the wood-fired-three-stone stove.

It was a trimonthly exercise for Gata ever since she had been five, but only if she was lucky.

At times, Gata was kept waiting for months at a stretch for this particular run.

Ten minutes would take her to a small house made of mud and grass at the far end of a cornfield. Josefina Lopez was not her grandmother by blood but for Gata she was her own. Born some few years after the Mexican Revolution, Yaya had lived a humble benign life.

She often joked to anyone who would listen that she had entertained the Los Conquistadores at her house. It was in their memory that she had refused to replace the fence made of stone and the house. Living in the modern cemented house would be dishonorable on her part.

Yaya could hear Gata running towards her. The septuagenarian could however only manage to see a pink haze running towards her from across the compound. Gata on her part would scream louder as she would approach the door of the house.

Yaya was expecting her dear feline postwoman. Customary greetings followed. Gata was promptly served with sweet bread as she ran around Yaya in circles. Amidst the general laughter, Yaya would ask Gata questions. From how her parents were, how was the new school and how she kept her hair so neatly parted, Gata answered them with an enthusiasm only a ten-year-old could have.

Reminded of why she was there, Gata suddenly interjected her answers with

7 pm!

A brief moment passed by as the two ladies shared a smile. Yaya signalling left for the inside of the house to slip into something better suited for outdoors.

Refusing to live with Manuel and his wife, Yaya chose to remain in the village of her birth as her son and his family moved to Puerto San Jose. With the untimely death of Manuel and a family dispute later Yaya was lost to the world.

With a delineating eyesight and no one to look after her, Yaya had assumed that she would have to re-play her memories in her mind till the day the reel would stop spinning.

The reel spun fifteen years to one fine unsuspecting afternoon. A phone call from Uzbekistan brought a young girl to Yaya’s doorstep.

And Yaya back to the life.

That day as Yaya hurried to the community phone, she hadn’t expected to hear Miguel Angel, her grandson’s voice on the other end. The newest patriarch of the family had not heard from his Abuelita in years.

Yaya was thrilled.

Thrilled enough watch the telephone at the community booth become a hazy black lump over the years.

Just to hear her Miguel speak.

Perhaps it was the hardship of work in Urgench that made Miguel go to a telephone the first time he dialled to his Abuelita. Perhaps he missed his kin. Or perhaps it was a yearning for the love of the land that he had to remain bereft of. He made a promise of sending as many Pesos as his small business could spare.

And another promise. Of one call every three odd months from his savings. International calls were expensive.

Yaya never spoke much. In all the years in the village, Yaya had mostly kept to herself. Perhaps that is the only thing you can do when the world doesn’t want you to run along with it. But no one ever saw Yaya complain.

No one ever saw Yaya.

But every three months, for forty-five minutes, the community hotspot was treated to a peculiar sight. The sight of an old woman fumbling around a telephone becoming younger. Yaya laughed, cried and spoke with the ferocity of an underground reservoir finding an orifice to unleash an unbridled deluge of emotions.

In forty-five minutes, an old woman went from the hinterlands of Mexico to the far lands of Uzbekistan. In his voice, she tasted the delicacy of Palov, Dimlamas and Kebabs. Miguel showed Kyzyl Kum Desert and Itchan Kala to a delicate lady who would never be able to take a step out of her village.

Yaya went beyond the cornfields with his voice.

However. Yaya thanked Miguel for one very specific reason.

In those forty-five minutes, Yaya had a family. Yaya had a reason to look beyond her diminishing senses and a life that was slowly slipping from her. In forty-five minutes, Yaya could picture a home within the tatters of an old house and an equally withered life. She found Miguel to jolt her from her insipid reverie that was life.

Yaya found a reason to go on.

At the end of the phone call, Gata found Yaya smiling like the fierce sun that permeated through Tierra Caliente. Between the tears of joys that followed Yaya relinquished Gata of her duties as her postwoman. Of the technological advancements that were alien to her, Miguel would soon send her a small box that would keep them connected more frequently.

Yaya would now not have to step out of her house. She could now invite Miguel and make the hut a home.

As the beaming face of Yaya slowly trudged back up the beaten path, Gata was left with a bittersweet notion. Her happiness for Yaya took her to another overpowering thought. Carlos would call his mama at 4 pm the next day. Javier would call his Abuelo the next week. Her village was replete with such stories. Many of these beaten tracks led into houses which had a Yaya waiting for Gata to announce their phone call.

All the houses were the same. All the lives waiting to hear from their beloved had similar stories to tell. And all of them cried, laughed and talked in the same way. Gata did not understand why they lived so far away. The only thing that she knew was they deserved their forty-five minutes.

Gata would run as fast as she could to get them closer to their forty-five minutes.

And as all those faces turned to look like Yaya’s, Gata prayed that their Miguel would soon send them the box that gave them a reason to go on.

 

Rural and Remote coverage back in spotlight

Rural and Remote coverage back in spotlight

The Small Cell Forum recently launched its Release 5: Rural & Remote to address the growing concern of especially rural coverage that is plaguing many developed nations.


The release contains 16 new and updated documents ranging from case studies of small cells already used in a range of rural and remote settings, through to those covering backhaul, deployment challenges, architectures and the services that can be enabled by small cells.

From my point of view, backhaul is one of the biggest challenge for the rural and remote coverage. As I have discussed in an earlier post here, satellites are a good option for rural small cells. The main issue with satellites is latency which could be around 0.5 seconds which may make them unsuitable for voice and other real time applications. Another option being trialled are Balloons and Drones as I have discussed in another post here.

The Australian operator Telstra is rolling out small cells in around 50 rural areas. While the small cells would be good for 4G data, they wouldnt be available for voice. While I do not have the details on what backhaul they are using and the voice issues could be more of VoLTE support on handsets, I am sure the users would appreciate the data coverage. If latency is not an issue then they could use OTT services like Skype, Whatsapp, Viber for voice.

The UK operator EE has been working with Parallel Wireless to use innovative mesh backhauling. Part of the licensed spectrum (20MHz chunk of EE‘s 1800MHz LTE spectrum) could be used for backhaul which would be different from the access network for the end users. The meshing allows in theory for the small cell to macro connection, with a couple of hops, be as much as 30km.

As I have mentioned in a post earlier, Vodafone UK has its own Rural Sure Signal program. Vodafone claims to have received hundreds of applications from communities across the length and breadth of the UK. Following a trial covering 12 towns and villages, it has now announced the first 30 communities selected to join the programme, which it is hoped will enhance everyday life for consumers and make it easier to do business in rural areas. There is a plan to continue this program for the rest of this year.

ThinkSmallCell has an interesting article where it asks if the drive towards the rural coverage is operator driven or regulator mandated. While it is a combination of both is most developed countries, in some developing nations it can just be that people are desperate and will find their own way. One example is people in remote villages in Mexico that are installing open source base stations from NuRAN to provide coverage to their villages. Another example is Nepal, where villagers are banding together to provide WiFi coverage to rural areas.

Opensource is another concept argues ThinkSmallCell that may also be an opportunity to connect some of the most remote and unserved communities which commercial organisations haven't been able to reach. It may also be useful for experiments and for colleges and universities with limited budgets. PA consultants have shown how to create a 2G base station using Raspberry-Pi. I have a feeling that we will see more projects like these soon.

Disguising Small Cells in Rural areas

We all want good mobile coverage but we do not want the cell towers in our backyard. The main reason being that somehow this can affect our health and maybe cause cancer. There is still no direct link between cellphone radiation and cancer as I have explained in an earlier post here.



As a result, the mobile operators have started disguising cell phone towers. A cellphone tower inside the bell tower, rear right, is seen over the Resurrection Lutheran Church in Ankeny, Iowa. In rural areas disguising also doesn't affect the scenery. 



The cactus cell tower in Arizona is another great example of coverage by stealth.



Small cells on the other hand is a whole new ball game. We are so used to seeing WiFi routers that people will probably not bat an eyelid with the small cell above by Vodafone in Cranborne.



Another disguise is the bird box cell booster, also by Vodafone. It picks up the mobile signal from the nearest network mast, and boosts it to provide better coverage in the surrounding area. This would definitely fit with the surrounding but getting power can sometimes be tricky.