Bill Coleman speaks to Arrowhead Regional Development Commission

1. Broadband in the Arrowhead Region
What’s good enough?

2. Broadband Fun Facts
• Faster broadband
– Recently reaffirmed by the FCC:
• anything less than 25 Mb/3 Mb is not broadband
• Mobile cellular is not a substitute for a fixed connection
– FCC standard increased 30-fold between 2008 and 2016
– Some ISPs increased speeds 100-fold in same period
– Comcast just raised all speed tiers by 50 Mb
• Households
– Use more than 250 GB of data/month and rising
– Have 13 connected devices; 50 devices by 2022
• Computers, phones, fitness devices, home security, medical
devices, thermostats, personal assistants, watches, home
appliances, cars, farm animals, sensors, tractors,

3. Digital Divide Index
Describing today, driving the future!
Minnesota USA
Source: Purdue University, Robert Gallardo

4. Winning!
Losing!

5. Broadband
Upload
Speed
Affordability
Reliability
Mobility
Latency
Download
Speed
Assess Your Community’s Broadband

7. DEED
OBD
Border
to Border
Broad-
band
Grant
Eligibility
All red
areas are
a priority

8. Arrowhead Broadband Infrastructure

9. Cellular Data Coverage

11. New FCC Rural Broadband Subsidies
CAF II
• Capital subsidies to large
carriers
– CenturyLink
– Frontier
– Windstream
– Consolidated
Communications
• 10 Mb/1 Mb minimum
• FTTN DSL services
ACAM
• Operating subsidies to mid-
size carriers
– Arvig
• Required minimum
depending on deployment
costs
– 25 Mb/3Mb
– 10 Mb/1 Mb
– 4 Mb/1 Mb
• FTTH or FTTN

12. FCC CAF II and ACAM Eligible Areas
CAF II ACAM

13. DSL Speed/Distance Chart
Understanding the Impact

14. FRONTIER’S LINDSTROM EXCHANGE
Red circles = 3,000 foot radius = 25 Mb/3 Mb and higher
Blue circles = 9,000 foot radius = between 25 Mb/3 Mb to 10 Mb/1 Mb

15. FRONTIER’S LINDSTROM EXCHANGE
Those within the circles, about 10% of land area, may meet the 2022 state goal of
25 Mb/3Mb; no one would meet the 100 Mb/20 Mb2026 state goal.

16. WHAT ABOUT WIRELESS?
Wireless relies on fiber!

17. Fixed Wireless
• Increasingly robust with fiber-fed towers,
especially on the prairie
• Many combinations of technologies and
spectrum
– Balancing of power and bandwidth
– Licensed, lightly licensed and unlicensed
– Speed decreases with distance from towers
– Latency/delay increases with each “hop”
– Trees eat wireless
– Hills hide wireless
• Available/affordable Internet backhaul required

18. Cellular
• 4g/3g coverage can be spotty in rural
• Speeds decrease with distance from towers
• Beware of ** on “unlimited” data plans
• 5g requires fiber to within 1,000 feet of customer

19. Satellite
• Latency/delay affects advanced use
• Weather affects reliability
• Same unlimited** considerations as cellular

20. Fiber Infrastructure Investment –
a good choice?
• FTTH cost about $4,000 - $12,000 per home
• 70% of homebuyers require broadband
• A fibered home is worth $3,000-$5,000 more
• Connected residents save $1,500 per year
• Switching from satellite/cellular to FTTH save $$

21. What else costs about $10,000?
10 year-old stuff on Craigslist!

22. Tools and Resources
• DEED Office of
Broadband
– Grant program
– Maps and data
– Liaison with broadband
providers
• Federal Government
– USDA Rural
Development
– US Commerce – NTIA
– FCC
• Blandin Foundation
– Community Broadband
Resources Program
– Robust Network
Feasibility Study
– Broadband Communities
Program/IRBC
– Blandin on Broadband
Blog & BF web site
• ARDC/Counties
– Data
– Grant writing
– GIS Mapping

23. Conclusions
• Technology
– Feast or famine for NE MN rural areas –
• FTTH or… almost nothing
• Fixed wireless is a poor choice in NE MN
• Policy
– Subsidies are required to spur investment
– Border to Border Grant Program critical
• (www.mnbroadbandcoalition.com)
• Opportunities
– May 31 Blandin Broadband Communities deadline
– Stay tuned for more information on IRBC