For New Yorker: Opportunity Online, Day 2

Yesterday (June4) was the second and final day of the Opportunity Online Summit in New York State. We listened to a couple more presentation and did table topics which allowed us to exchange information and brainstorm (services, connectivity, funding, political considerations & support).

One of the things I learned is that Internet access is not recognized by the Federal Communication Commission as a service, but as information. (I believe that I have that wording correct.) This means that Internet access is not regulated or even thought about the same way as telephone access. So even though we may consider the Internet to be as important as telephone or electricity, it is not yet considered in that light by regulators. We were encouraged by one speaker to make comments at www.fcc.gov about communication regulations, when items come up for comment.

If you are interested in funding for broadband access, then keep an eye on www.ntia.gov for notice of funding availability. Libraries should contact the New York State Library for information on grants that will be available through the NTIA and USDA. There is stimulus funding (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) to enhance broadband access in unserved and underserved areas, and for underserved populations. For more information on that, go to www.nysbroadband.ny.gov.

The table I was at noted that we spent two-days talking about "broadband" but generally we all use the phrase "high-speed". I think one of the things we'll need to do is to educate people on what we really mean when we say "broadband". We're talking a minimum of 1.5 megabits per second (mbps). I asked someone during break how this compared to my connection speed at home. The answer is that it my connection speed at home could be similar, but is likely slower. A library's Internet speed would be influenced by the number of computers sharing the connection, so what a library would actually want would be speeds much greater than 1.5 mbps.

Broadband access can be via wire (e.g., fiber or cable) or wireless.

The final speaker of the day was Ed Hemminger, who is the Ontario County Chief Information Officer. Hemminger did an excellent job talking about how they have expanded broadband access in his county and what their plans are for the future. He provided good information and illustrated them with interesting stories. They are putting their fiber on telephone poles because it is easier. (They also ran into problems with "fiber-seeking backhoes".) He said that the average cost per mile for aerial fiber is $35,000, and that burying fiber is more expensive.

Hemminger implored people to think about how they could aggregate demand, then use that aggregated demand to attract a broadband service provide.

One of the problems that was noted during table topics is that small, small rural towns and libraries will need help in understanding broadband and positioning themselves to acquire access. We talked about using library trustees, volunteers, tech-oriented interns, and perhaps consultants from the State Library to help with this effort. (Those consultants, BTW, don't exist at the moment, but our table hoped the State Library might create them.)

Over the course of two-days, lots information was tossed out and suggestions made. I suspect that some of the suggestions didn't sit well with everyone, but we needed to get ideas out of the table because we know that not every idea will work everywhere.

Now that the Summit is over, the real work begins. I believe that the State Library has identified 85 libraries that are could apply for available funding. For the rest of us, there is advocacy work that needs to be done and partnerships that need to be built. Our smaller communities and libraries will not be able to do this on their own. For those that are truly, truly interested in rolling up their sleeves and making a difference in New York State in regards to broadband access, you can volunteer at bband at mail dot nysed dot gov .

This Opportunity Online Summit is one of several happening across the United States with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The American Library Association and Connected Nation, as well as the New York State Library, were instrumental in helping this event to occur. Because of the various resources behind this event, there was information and stuff provided that would not have been possible otherwise. In addition, the web page for New York is going to be enhanced with information from the two-day event, including videos. This will give participants and many other people information that they can use as we work on making broadband -- high-speed Internet access -- available to more people, communities and libraries in an affordable and sustainable manner.

BTW One item that we received was a reusable travel coffee mug. I notice today that the mug is biodegradable! Very cool!

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