Transcript Connecting Southwest Wisconsin Broadband Conference April

Connecting Southwest Wisconsin Broadband Conference  April 22, 2010
Federal Stimulus Broadband Programs
Bob Bocher
WI Department of Public Instruction
608-266-2127; [email protected]
(dpi.wi.gov/pld/arrabbfunding.html)
BadgerNet Broadband Network
(www.doa.wi.gov/badgernet)

1993 State Telecom Task Force Report
 Manage
transition to a competitive marketplace
 Stimulate private sector deployment of enhanced
telecommunications

2002 report on next generation network:
 BadgerNet
Converged Network (BCN)
 85% of school districts and public libraries on BCN
1. Wisconsin needs an affordable network with
adequate bandwidth to support multiple applications
and provide universal connectivity to accommodate
increasing demand.
2. Equity of access for all students regardless of age,
geography or economic status is needed. Wisconsin
has made a good start in its equity goal but must
continue forward to complete that mission.
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Schools, Libraries and Bandwidth Demand

School/library bandwidth subsidized by state/federal USF
 State TEACH program (http://www.teachwi.state.wi.us/)
 Federal E-rate program (http://www.usac.org/sl/)

Subsidies can’t keep up with demand, driven by:
 Hosted
services (aka cloud computing)
• Schools have remote student/administrative services
• Libraries have shared online catalogs, magazines
 Content
and access providers
• Schools video streaming events
• Libraries provide wireless access
 Changing
Web 2.0 landscape
The problem is not Internet
access but having sufficient
access as the demands of
the medium and patrons
grow rapidly.
“Our bandwidth is 1.5Mbps
but at 2pm so many people
were on the Internet it was
slower than dial-up.”
ALA Library Connectivity
Report (2007)
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BadgerNet and Bandwidth Demand

BCN Advisory Council reviews bandwidth issue
 Apply for ARRA broadband
grant funds to:
• Increase broadband speeds
• Decrease broadband costs

Aug 2009 DOA filed $28.7 million grant to bring fiber to:
 74 of the state’s
426 school districts
 385 of the state’s 470 public
libraries

Grants very competitive; $7 requested for $1 available

After lengthy review, grant approved in February
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DOA BadgerNet Fiber Grant


Grant benefits all school districts and libraries on BCN
 All public
libraries will get 20Mbps for $100/month
 All school
districts will get 100Mbps for $250/month
Parties now working on implementation
 Completing
federal paper work
 Must do environmental
and historic review of all 467 sites
 Some site visits
happening now, but no specific date on fiber
installs (“summer”)
 Bandwidth
increases likely to start in Q3
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BadgerNet and SW Library System
All 17 WI regional library systems manage WANs using BCN circuits.
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FCC National Broadband Plan (NPB)
(www.broadband.gov)

Mandated by ARRA, released March 16

Three key, long-term goals
1.
At least 100 million homes should have affordable
access to at least 100Mbps broadband.
2.
Every community anchor institution (CAI) should have
affordable access to at least 1Gbps broadband.
3.
Every American should have affordable access to robust
broadband.
America can no longer tolerate having digital
divides between ethnic groups, between
haves and have-nots, between those living in
big cities and those living in rural areas.
--Michael Copps, FCC Commissioner
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The NBP and FCC Actions

FCC to issue over 30 rule making notices

Reposition High Cost USF on focus on broadband (8.13)


Action starts this week on Connect America Fund
Support R&E “Unified Community Anchor Networks” (8.22)
 DPI filed comments on October 28 on fiber CAI

Reform E-rate
 “Give schools
and libraries more flexibility to purchase lowestcost broadband solutions.” (11.17)
 DPI filed comments on November
20, which Plan cites (p. 237)
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What Is Sufficient Broadband?
A: “As much as you can afford.”
A: “More than we have.”
A: “It’s determined by the number
of irritated patrons.”
A: “When you click, it happens.”
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