[January 04, 2010] Stimulus funding gives boost to broadband Tweet Jan 04, 2010 (St. Cloud Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- When Sandy Hansen's Watkins agriculture supply business swapped its dial-up Internet connection for a high-speed one almost five years ago, she and her employees helped more farmers make decisions about whether to buy feed. "It just made everything a lot easier and a lot quicker," said Hansen, owner of Ag Venture Feed & Seed Inc. "We were able to provide more customers with detailed information." Ag Venture is just the kind of rural business local and state officials say is helped by expanding access to broadband Internet. Minnesota is getting $1.7 million in federal stimulus funding for mapping high-speed Internet access and showing where gaps in coverage exist -- which is often in rural areas. Local economic development officials and others say broadband access is a significant player in economic development and innovation. They argue that the state will need access to faster Internet connections as more businesses, schools and health clinics rely on online services. Still, local government agencies aren't poised to shell out funding for more access. But they plan to encourage providers to offer service in places where residents and businesses say they need it. The Legislature is expected to take up this issue in February as it considers recent recommendations made by a state task force advocating for high-speed Internet connections. Rick King, chairman of the Ultra High Speed Broadband Task Force, said about 94 percent of the state has access to broadband. But that's given the current definition of broadband under the Federal Communications Commission. That definition is much slower than where the state should be if it wants to be economically competitive, King said. The current definition of high-speed Internet is 768,000 bits per second, which translates into a two-hour movie taking 23 hours to download, King said. The task force would like the speed to become as fast as 10 million bits per second, making it so the same movie would take less than two hours to download. If the FCC changed its broadband definition to the task force's recommended 10 million bits per second, 18 percent of the state would have access to high-speed Internet, King said. Some local officials support more and better access to high-speed Internet. Tom Moore, president of the St. Cloud Area Economic Development Partnership, is one. "I think access to broadband is crucial to small businesses," he said. He said in the coming months a comprehensive economic development strategy will be created by local business leaders and elected officials. People from the four-county area -- Benton, Sherburne, Stearns and Wright counties -- will study local economic development needs. He said in 15 upcoming community forums throughout the four-county area, they will be asking residents about what they think community infrastructure priorities should be. That means they'll ask about access to high-speed Internet connectivity, Moore said. Private investment often follows new infrastructure, he said. "I think that's why broadband is such a great opportunity for businesspeople and entrepreneurs," he said. "It makes them able to compete globally." Nancy Hoffman, economic development director for Benton County, said she hopes providers can fill gaps where businesses and residents aren't getting access or do not find it affordable. She said she is working with a Blandin Foundation strategic advisory board to get more broadband access. The board recently applied for stimulus funding that could, if granted, make Benton County a demonstration community to use broadband in "new, creative ways," she said. The stimulus bill made $7.2 billion available for broadband initiatives. Hoffman said some holes exist in Benton County, particularly far east and some places in the north part of the county. More people need it, particularly businesses because it makes them more productive, she argued. "Productivity is everything," she said. "People don't have access or very good access. A couple people (that Hoffman talked to) are Web designers and it slows them down quite a bit," she said. "Dial-up just doesn't do it anymore." Fred Nolan, superintendent of Foley schools, said broadband has the potential to improve the way children learn, too. He pointed to a report he received last week that showed success in a program tested from summer 2008 to December 2009 in seven Central Minnesota school districts, including Foley schools, as well as St. Cloud Technical and Community College. The program was called Moodle. It allowed teachers to interact with students and parents online at any time and any place. Teachers created forums, homework assignment drop boxes, assessments and other tools for students to use. Administrators used it for teacher training and communication within and across districts. Needless to say, Nolan is a big fan of high-speed Internet. Foley schools and Benton Cooperative Telephone Co. even teamed up to offer parents a $25 rebate on this year's school fees if their family signed up for broadband services. He predicts more students will be taught online in the future. "To me, it's like the railroads of the 1900s," he said. "This is the railroad of the 21st century." Some challenges persist in getting more broadband Internet access to communities with gaps. Nolan said even if Minnesota gets 100 percent access to high-speed Internet, that doesn't mean everyone will be able to afford it. "It's a huge equity issue for rural Minnesota," he said. That means even if more schools wanted to use high-speed Internet to replace classroom activity a couple days per week, they can't mandate it unless people can afford to use it, he said. And funding could be an issue. Just like every organization facing budget concerns after fallout from a historic recession, money will be key in getting new initiatives going. Benton County likely won't put up funding, Hoffman said. "Especially now," she said. "It's not a good time because of budget cutbacks. It's hard to think of implementing something new." King said it would cost about $160 million to get the kind of statewide coverage his task force is recommending. He said it would require public-private partnerships to pay for the access. He thinks private investment will continue as it has in the past several years and is confident the state can reach goals recommended by the task force. But Hoffman expressed doubt the task force could reach its aspiration of getting 100 percent high-speed Internet access in Minnesota by 2015. Despite potential hurdles, she predicted broadband access will become as essential and ubiquitous as electricity became. "I think it can be done eventually," she said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. To see more of the St. Cloud Times or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sctimes.com. Copyright (c) 2010, St. Cloud Times, Minn. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]