oh, pretty sure they're looking at fiber. i wish they'd do microwave - much more cost effective. in none of the articles i have found have they named which counties.
----- Original Message ----- From: Josh Reynolds To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2016 10:34 AM Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Erate to expand broadband across Alabama I have heard of the same thing being done via microwave before. Basically using e-rate money to purchase licensed links to crossconnect schools or to provide them with an internet/wan connection, while using part of the capacity for other uses. Nothing against it, as far as I know. Also MoreNet here in Missouri does something similar with fiber. On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 10:22 AM, CBB - Jay Fuller <[email protected]> wrote: > > So - everything I had pretty much heard about this before - means this can't > be done and is illegal. > But actually - I guess not. If a local company in the state of Alabama > expands to connect school systems > using e-rate money , the additional pairs of fiber can be used for other > purposes, right? > > I know of this traveller company... (quoted in the article). They're a lot > like our WISPs, except we never hear > that they do any business. We are on a lot of the same towers. Apparently > they only do business customers. > > http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/02/schools_will_bring_high-speed.html > > Nearly three dozen Alabama public school systems will take the first step > this month to build their own high-speed Internet networks. > > It is the first phase of a plan to extend high-speed Internet into rural > Alabama announced by Gov. Robert Bentley in his Feb. 2 State of the State > speech. > > More school districts will follow in 2017 and 2018 until publicly owned > networks bring high-speed Internet to thousands of state students who don't > have it now, officials say. > > The schools will be seeking bids from companies who want to build, operate > and maintain – but not own - high-speed Internet connections to schools and > libraries, state officials say. > > Experts from across the state, led by Office of Broadband Development > Director Kathy Johnson, have been studying how to do it since July 2015. > > What the governor said > > "Technology is growing at lightning speed, changing the way we educate, > deliver healthcare and even start a business," Bentley said in his speech. > "Yet our communities and rural areas cannot tap into the potential that > Broadband access would bring." > > Other cities and counties across America are rapidly extending high-speed > Internet. A recent Washington conference showed how doctors are monitoring > patients over high-speed lines, students are watching live demonstrations > from distant colleges, and cities are putting free high-speed Internet into > community centers in low-income neighborhoods. > > Nearly 1 million Alabamians have no access to high-speed Internet, according > to a recent federal study, and 41 percent of them are in the state's rural > areas. > alabama broadband map.JPGThis map, which is several years old and was > generated for the Connect Alabama effort, shows Broadband or high-speed > Internet providers in rural Alabama. The lightest colored areas have 1 or 2 > providers and the darkest have 5 or more providers. > > Part of the reason is business economics. Running fiber cable or using > towers to beam Wi-Fi Internet access costs money. Private companies want a > return on that investment. > > "If you've only got 50 or 60 customers (in a town)," explains Tim Erwin, > owner and CEO of Huntsville's Traveller Multimedia Network, "how do you stay > in business?" > > State Education Trust Fund money > > In the first phase of Bentley's plan, State Education Trust Fund money would > match federal grants to build the fiber networks, Johnson said this week. > The federal grant program is called E-rate, and it can pay up to 90 percent > of the cost of running the fiber cable to rural areas. > > The federal share of the spending comes from fees paid by all Americans on > their telephone bills now. > > Bentley says rural connectivity won't just improve schools, law enforcement > communications and healthcare. He told the Legislature it will lead to > "enhanced economic development opportunities." > > The governor offered few specifics on how the state will take to make that > happen, but he did mention "cutting the bureaucracy" around Internet service > now and providing infrastructure. > > Cutting the bureaucracy could mean making it easier for companies to access > public rights of way and power poles to extend their services. It isn't > immediately clear what "providing infrastructure" might mean. > > Opelika and Auburn > > One example of the complications is found in Opelika and neighboring Auburn. > Opelika has a municipally owned and operated high-speed system that provides > television, telephone and Internet service to customers – so-called "Triple > Play" service. The city originally ran and connected its fiber cable to > create a "smart" utility grid, then realized it could provide additional > services. > > But Opelika is banned by state law from offering Internet service to > next-door Auburn because Auburn isn't in the Opelika city limits. Fencing > Opelika protects other commercial Internet providers. > > Those Internet providers, including large telecommunications companies such > as AT&T, Comcast and Charter, are leery of publicly owned Internet, to say > the least. > > But providing high-speed Internet to schools and libraries isn't as > controversial. > > "We have provided school buildings with power, water and roads," Johnson > said. "It's the government's role to also provide high-speed Internet." > > 'Not a horrible idea' > > "That's not a horrible idea at all," David Williams of the Washington-based > Taxpayers Protection Alliance said Tuesday of the school initiative. > > "This is money that's already there," Williams said of the E-rate program. > "I wouldn't want to see the tax rate increased to put into the program." > > Williams' organization opposes most publicly owned Internet as a bad > investment. He does not agree that providing high-speed Internet is "a core > government service." > > Devil in the details? > > Back at Huntsville's Traveller Multimedia Network, Erwin is already serving > rural areas with wireless connectivity across 2,700 square miles of North > Alabama, including service for major new developments like the Polaris plant > in areas without fiber access. > > "The issue comes down to how you make it happen," Erwin said of expanding > service. He believes Bentley is sincere, but he's worried that big players > could have undue influence in what happens next. "The usual suspects," he > calls them. > >
