Spanning the Digital Divide: A County-wide Broadband Proposal

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Spanning the Digital DivideA County-wide
Broadband Proposal

• by
• Robert C. Worstell

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The Scene

• Broadband is the cause of the Digital Divide.
• Broadband can be the cure of the Digital Divide.
• We can span our own Digital Divide.

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Whats the Digital Divide?

• The divide between those with access to new
  technologies and those without.
• Larry Irving
• NTIA

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What Is Broadband?

• Dial-up is a garden hose
• Broadband is a 12 inch main water line.
• Dial-up gives you a taste of what youre missing
  
• Broadband gives you real access to services.

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Why is Broadband Important?

• Wal-Mart Effect
• Footloose Industries
• Bedroom Communities

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Broadband Could Solve It

• Cities can promote e-commerce
• New locally owned IT businesses
• IT integration of what we already have

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Why Cant We Get Broadband?

• Insufficient ROI from rural areas
• Wrong broadband technology applied
• Wrong business plan used
• Wrong scale bit and piece

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Right Technology

• Fiber optic right size, wrong cost
• DSL / Cable cost cant get you there from here
• Satellite cost in the sky
• Wireless cost just right

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Whats Wireless?

• Einsteins cat
• Cordless phone
• Sheriffs radio

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Right Business Model

• Venture capital fire sale fuel
• Single operator a handful get it
• Rural cooperatives stable expansion
• Electric cooperatives
• Telephone cooperatives
• Rural water districts

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Right Scale - Countywide

• Marry with fiber solves ROI
• Treat as a utility
• Coop sells network access to service providers
• Service providers sell services to customers

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So Far

• Need to span the Digital Divide
• Wireless Broadband best way to do this
• Best plan is cooperative
• Countywide is best plan

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Install Stage 1
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Install Stage 2
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Install Stage 3
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Install Stage 4
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Install Stage 5
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Under research
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So

• Rural counties effect of the digital divide.
• Digital divide best crossed with big pipe
  broadband.
• Best broadband to use is Wireless positive ROI.

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And

• Best use is by cooperatives.
• Best implementation is as a countywide utility
• Best of all it can pay for itself as it goes.

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Our Digital Divide will have to be spanned
sooner or later -

• We might as well be the ones to do it - now.
• Contact worstellr_at_yahoo.com
• More information available at chaos.atc.org/rwo
  rstell