Microsoft is rolling out a rural broadband plan — BUT

Microsoft is rolling out a rural broadband plan — but the Iowa counties that benefit aren't rural

 https://amp.desmoinesregister.com/amp/1284298002

Microsoft is partnering with Network Business Systems to expand internet service to some 126,700 people who do not have broadband service. But the three counties in Iowa that will benefit — Scott, Muscatine and Clinton — are urban.

"They’re not rural," said David Peters, an associate professor of sociology at Iowa State University.

Microsoft is partnering with the Geneseo, Illinois, company as part of its Airband initiative, which seeks to expand broadband service to 2 million people living in rural America by 2022.

Rural residents have long suffered from unequal access to high-speed internet. Providers often avoid the most remote areas because of unfavorable economics: They demand a high infrastructure investment, but smaller population bases offer limited potential.

FCC data show that about 98 percent of Iowans in urban areas have access to high-speed internet. Conversely, only 77.4 percent of rural residents have broadband access.

 

A Microsoft spokeswoman later said the tech giant is "investing in technology and expertise as well as digital literacy skills training." The agreement also allows Network Business Systems to leverage Microsoft’s suite of products including Azure, Office 365, and Dynamics.
Network Business Systems already was considering expanding its territory, but the Microsoft pact "kind of sealed the deal for us," Hoffman said.

The provider uses wireless towers to beam internet service across remote stretches of Iowa and Illinois. The company uses a mix of technology, including utilizing television white space, the unused portion of television airwaves. 

Network Business Systems operates 120 towers and frequently partners with farmers to place receivers on top of grain bins. Each tower can transmit five to seven miles, she said.

That avoids the high cost of laying fiberoptic wire to connect remote areas. But the technology is still unfamiliar to many, so having Microsoft's backing should help persuade customers, Hoffman said.

 

She said Network Business Systems works with farms, businesses and homeowners, specializing in connecting rural areas.

"We want to get it to the underserved, first and foremost," she said. "That's what our company started with."

 

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[This is the same offer extended to Iowa, Illinois and South Dakota published in the Argus Leader a few days ago -- https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/business-journal/2018/09/13/microsoft-corporation-improve-internet-rural-south-dakota/1290942002/

The companies announced their partnership Thursday, with plans to expand broadband access in Iowa, Illinois and South Dakota. The improvements will help an estimated 126,700 get better internet.

The company is partnering with Microsoft is part of Microsoft’s Airband Initiative, a national effort to extend broadband access across the rural U.S.

Microsoft plans to improve coverage for 2 million people by July, 2022.

OUR PUC has further clarified that those in SD wil probably be the extreme SE corner of SD.

 Again: see the highlighted key words and what that REALLY means for you and your neighbors!

Looks good on paper in  some beaurocrat's office, but is 126,700 -- households or people--there could be 4-6 in a Rural household and so the actual farms getting the services might be 30,000+--????????

 

SPEEDCONNECT LEAVING SOUTH DAKOTA CONFIRMED

Confirmed via our PUC: Speed Connect leaving SD

Last week the FCC announced that Midco was the winning bidder to receive a subsidy for providing broadband in many of the very high cost rural CenturyLink areas in South Dakota.  A chunk of the Flandreau exchange is included in that coverage.  My understanding is that Midco will use a new generation fixed wireless product (up to 100 mbps) to meet their obligation.  It’s possible some of that coverage may serve part of your area but it is way too early in that process to know.  

This will NOT happen this year.

South Dakota Broadband Report Released August 2018

 SDN recently published a blog report on South Dakota "Rural S.D. “ahead of curve” in deploying broadband services"   Posted on Tuesday, August 21, 2018 in Broadband Internet , Member CommunitiesBlog written by Rob Swenson

2018 report is titled, “Connecting South Dakota’s Future: A Report on the Deployment & Impact of Rural Broadband.” The South Dakota Dashboard, an online community information service, compiled the report for the South Dakota Telecommunications Association and SDN Communications.

To download and view the entire report, go to
https://sdncommunications.com/media/files/Docs/SD-Broadband-Report-2018.pdf

Outtakes:

"According to a recent study, South Dakota ranked 35th in the nation for average or mean download speeds at 17.38 MB, compared to number one Rhode Island with an average speed
of 36.69 MB and Maine in 50th place with an average of 11.73 MB. In practical terms, this means that it takes roughly twice as long (59 minutes) to download a large, high-definition movie (7.5 GB) in South Dakota than Rhode Island.23"


SPARSITY AND DISTANCE: THE CHALLENGES WE FACE
South Dakota is a big, geographically diverse state. In some areas, especially western South Dakota, companies have to traverse great distances with wirelines and signals to ensure that all citizens are served. Because the costs to serve rural customers are higher and the benefits of a telecommunications network that is able to reach everyone accrue to all customers, the federal
government collects fees from telecommunications companies and customers throughout the country to assist with network investments and provide affordable “universal service.”

This Universal Service Fund (USF) provides resources to help telecommunications companies deliver services to locations in high cost areas, reduce the cost of telecommunications services for low-income households, increase access to telemedicine and rural health programs, and connect schools and libraries to the internet.
Because non-metropolitan telecommunications providers serve a smaller and relatively more dispersed customer base, they also incur higher costs per line. Resources provided by USF help play a critical role in keeping telecommunications affordable in rural communities. Across the country, total expenditures for the four USF programs totaled $8.75 billion in 2016.31 Of this total, telecommunications companies in South Dakota received nearly $100 million. [What!  With all that $ and we have neighbors -- within a mile or two (7-8 households) who cannot get this service--we are told we need to pay $5000 to run a copper line from a node 3/4 mile up to the corner to get this "TELCO" service.  Why isn't this $ available to NON-Phone Internet services who can do it faster, cheaper and sooner!!!!!!]

Rural communities in South Dakota also receive support from the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS), which provides loans, loan guarantees, and grants to help build telecommunications infrastructure. Between 2010 and 2017, broadband infrastructure investments in service areas of SDTA member companies financed through the RUS totaled $122.5 million. This included $93.4 million in loans under the Telecommunications Infrastructure Program and another $26.2 million in grants and loans provided under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act’s Broadband Investment Program. South Dakota companies have been particularly enterprising in taking advantage of available RUS funding. In FY 2017, approved RUS loans to South Dakota’s rural telecommunications carriers totaled $116.7 million and accounted for 17 percent of all dollars allocated nationally under the related RUS programs.

Meeting the Challenges
In 2011, Venture Communications began upgrading infrastructure with fiber-optics-to-the-home technology. Areas that were addressed initially included the Wessington Springs, Faulkton, Highmore, and Harrold communities which had some of the most antiquated plants. Six years later, by the end of 2017, Venture had replaced old copper plant with fiber optics for more than 95 percent of its customers. [Takes time IF the Telco is even willing to take fiber directly to the home and not use older existing copper lines which dumbs down the speed significantly] According to Venture Communications spokesperson Rod Kusser, the company’s fiber-to-the-home program gives customers far more options when it comes to download speeds and
services. “In many areas customers can choose an offering that approaches gigabyte speeds,” says Kusser. For year-round rural customers, fiber-based broadband provides a vital connection for
information, entertainment, and communications. For customers who summer on the lakes in the northeastern part of the state or along the Missouri River, they can work remotely with broadband
service that often exceeds what they get in their offices in major metropolitan areas.95% of Venture
customers have been converted to fiber.


Here's the entire News Conference regarding that report :


South Dakota Broadband Report News Conference

My take on this is that it's great there is some media attention to a problem that has existed for quite awhile and most of the solutions aren't going to be available in the next few months--lucky if in the next few years.  

BUT, like electricity -- if 25% of rural SD did not have electricity????

Rural water--there IS an alternative--called wells (so if there were a similar alternative for broadband, we could survive until Rural water became affordable and available to all). 

AND it's about choice--if you carve up certain areas so that --- sure there is broadband available, so check that off for a certain township, but what is the cost, what are the data limits, what is the "outage" history?  We don't just want what someone in DC "thinks" we need or want.  We want the same choices our urban neighbors have.

See post from DesMoines Register on a new system that was announced a year ago about Microsoft and low orbit satellites, TV air waves.  Sounds good, but when?  Not this year, when SpeedConnect abandons thousands of customers, not just in SD but everywhere but Michigan! 

SPEEDCONNECT to DROP ALL Internet Service (except in Michigan) by end of 2018

A SpeedConnect Employee emailed me yesterday (will be confirming via other reliable sources) that SC will only be offering ViaSat Satellite Internet in Michigan for Michigan only customers.  All other customers in the rest of the US will lose all types of Internet service from SC by end of 2018.

This is a change from what customers were told in their bills that ViaSat service would be provided via SC.  

BIG question as to who will pick up the customers?????

What Is Net Neutrality?

WATCH THIS 5 Minute VIDEO on Net Neutrality

CLICK to WATCH




 What Is Net Neutrality?

 https://www.prageru.com/videos/what-net-neutrality

Jon Gabriel

48.7K Views

Sep 10, 2018

For months, it seemed nearly every media figure was in hysterics over the impending repeal of net neutrality. Then, net neutrality was repealed… and nothing much changed. So what exactly is net neutrality, and why do so many people have such strong opinions about something they don’t understand? Jon Gabriel, editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com cuts through the hysteria to bring you the facts.