01-20-2015 EDC Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Bill Stroot attended The Border to Border Broadband seminar on November 18, 2014. Broadband is the term used to describe high speed Internet. The Internet has become the network of choice for Americans to communicate. Social Media is also used as the term to describe the communications via the Internet. The wireline companies are asking the FCC to define Broadband as 100 megabit (Mb) delivered to the end users. Today the FCC has defined acceptable broadband as 4 Mb down to the end user from the Internet network and 1 Mb up from the end user to the Internet. The State of Minnesota had defined Broadband as 10 to 20 Mb down and 5 to 10 Mb up. Streaming Video such as Skype, Utube, and Netflix are the biggest users of bandwidth. When it comes to economic development, Broadband availability is very important. Site selectors for new business locations are asking who the Telephone Company is and their reputation for providing broadband is important.The second question is if Fiber Optics is available in the Industrial Park.The City of Pequot Lakes should obtain a map from TDS showing where Fiber Optic cable is located within the city that could be used to serve business. This then can be used as a tool to discuss business development with interested parties. One quote from the seminar was "you are not in Economic Development unless you can tell people where the fiber is located". In addition to the business themselves being served with Fiber Optics, many business also want to know if the area is adequately served because they are concerned about attracting employees who view broadband as a quality of life issue. Also work from home is becoming significant consideration for some companies. Here again the City of Pequot needs a better understanding of the services TDS offers in the rural areas so we can assure a prospective business that they will not be disappointed. Much of the discussion at the seminar was how to serve the unserved areas of Minnesota. Schools, Healthcare providers and the cities themselves are becoming the anchor tenants to attract broadband networks to unserved communities. But even served communities may not be adequately served in terms of access throughout the community. Issues such as: Do school children have access to adequate speeds to do their homework, can the sick receive tele-health services in their home, can folks at home work from home or shop from home etc. Quality of live is dependent on adequate broadband service in the entire community and area's surrounding the community. It is the rural area's that pose the greatest challenge. The cost to build rural broadband networks is just too great to be economical. Some wireless companies provide broadband in rural area's if they can access a structure high enough to install antennas. Then there still must be adequate population to support the investment. Rural areas are a real challenge to serve with Broadband. Some Senior citizens struggle with using technology. In Two Harbors,the school sponsored a technology class to teach senior citizens how to use technology. They partnered one senior person with one student and the student taught the other how to use smart phones, 'Pad, e-mail, shop on-line and other basics of the Internet. The training was custom to the senior's needs. The training lasted two hours per student per class.This was a low cost effort and was highly effective in encouraging people to use the technology that was available to them.The kids also learned much from this activity because many