1. Broadband
Investment Requires
ROI
Bill Coleman
Community Technology Advisors

2. Return on Investment
Who’s Making the Investment?
Who’s Getting the Return?
Critical Considerations for
Rational Decision-Making!

3. Broadband ROI Beneficiaries Providers
(public, private or public-private)
 Investment
 Capital
 Expertise
 Time
 Return
 Sales
 Profit
Communities
 Investment
 Rights of Way
 Return
 Critical infrastructure
 Employment
 Entrepreneurship
 Distance Education
 Tele-health
 E-government

4. Different ROI Hurdles
Private Sector
 Get capital back
quickly
 Generate profits to
drive stock price
 Financial return is the
dominant measure
Public Sector
 Need to meet debt
obligations
 Break-even, sustainable
enterprise
 Total community benefits
are priority
 Political ramifications
Cooperatives bridge across these
differences!

5. Feasibility Studies Increase
Clarity To Improve
Decision-Making

6. Blandin-funded Feasibility
Studies
Built/under construction
 Cook County*
 Lac qui Parle County*
 Red Wing
 Southwest MN
Broadband Services*
* Received ARRA $$
Waiting
 Todd County
 Cloquet Valley
 RS Fiber
 Northfield
 Redwood County
 Kanabec County

7. Feasibility Study Elements
 Market
 Current providers
 Current satisfaction
 Target markets
 Desired services
 Required pricing
 Engineering
 Technology choices
 Use of existing assets
 Fiber
 Conduit
 Poles
 Deployment costs
 Operations
 Funding
 Products
 Wholesale/retail
 Long-term planning
 Management
 Hired management
 Contract management
 Ownership
 Private
 Private-public
 Public
 Cooperative

8. Connect Itasca
Testing COS Systems Service Zones
Market Development
Tool

9. Service Zones
 Facilitates:
 Market research
 Broadband sign-up/subscription
 Engineering and costing
 Construction management
 Uses:
 Survey tools
 Social media and community champions
 Facilitates
 Locally owned networks
 Provider partnerships

10. A feasibility study should be an
iterative process, creating a
path towards achievable,
positive outcomes.
And provide documentation for
federal and state funding
applications.

11. Blandin Foundation
Feasibility Study Funding
 Grants of up to $25,000
 1 : 1 cash match
 December grant deadline for January funding

12. © Strategic Networks Group, Inc. 2014
The Return from Investment in
Broadband Infrastructure and
Utilization Initiatives
Insights from the 2014 SNG White Paper
Border to Border Broadband: A Call to Action
February 5, 2014
Saint Paul, Minnesota

13. © Strategic Networks Group, Inc. 2014
13
Let’s Start With What We Know…
• There is a relationship between broadband and
economic development.
• SNG research in the U.S shows…
– 56% of businesses and organizations said broadband is
essential for remaining in current location
– 56% of households said they would definitely/likely
relocate if broadband was not available
– 32% of households work from home or have a home-based
business
• RVA studies show that a FTTH network adds $5,000
to the value of a home.
Source: SNG Digital Economy Database n = 19,951 businesses and 9,318 households

14. © Strategic Networks Group, Inc. 2014
14
…and Broadband Means Jobs
Broadband is responsible for 23.4% of all new jobs
Percent of New Jobs
Related to Internet
By Size of Employer Group
35% 30.9%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
Source: SNG Digital Economy Database n = 6,177
Small businesses
create 12x more
Internet jobs
relative to large
firms
0%
29.1%
21.1%
19.1%
23.4%
Employees

15. © Strategic Networks Group, Inc. 2014
15
Why Drive Utilization?
For an individual business or organization, increasing utilization
by 10% means:
Increasing revenues by 24%
Decreasing costs by 7%
For a Region, it means :
Allowing businesses to be more competitive
Creating a demand for high-skilled workers
Adding fiscal revenues
Average multipliers identified by SNG from over 12,000 data records collected in 2009-10.

16. © Strategic Networks Group, Inc. 2014
16
Projected Impacts for Kanabec County
Moving from 27% to 100% connectivity
• $20.4 million ↑ in total incremental impacts
• 310 jobs created
• $6.6 million ↑ household income
• Impact on GDP: $21.6 million ↑
• $2.3 million ↑ direct tax revenues

17. © Strategic Networks Group, Inc. 2014
17
Projected Impacts for Lac qui Parle County
Existing 100% broadband availability
• $1.3 million↑ in total incremental impacts
• 22 jobs created
• $529,000 ↑ household income
• Impact on GDP: $1.4 million ↑
• $148,000 ↑ direct tax revenues

18. Want Impact?
Blandin Broadband Communities
may be the answer!
Promoting Broadband Access, Adoption and Use

19. Blandin Broadband Communities
 Create a community team to apply; application
process is open until October 17. Applying
communities receive free registration to 11/18-19
conference
 Two-year community commitment
 Selected communities receive:
 Leadership development
 Planning and project development facilitation
 Access to project funding

20. Contact Information
For more information on Blandin Foundation
http://broadband.blandinfoundation.org
http://blandinonbroadband.org
Bill Coleman
bill@communitytechnologyadvisors.com
www.communitytechnologyadvisors.com
651-491-2551