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California Broadband Task Force Releases Report to Governor Schwarzenegger Today

The Children’s Partnership today commended the work of California Broadband Task Force (CBTF) and the release of its report, "The State of Connectivity: Building Innovation Through Broadband" noting its potential to broadly impact California’s future and the future of the 10 million children living in the state. The report was delivered to the Governor this morning and can be viewed at www.calink.ca.gov/taskforcereport.

The project's goal is broadband demand aggregation for our rural region, including Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties. The intent is to begin to understand and build a robust broadband market by increasing the supply of services (especially to under-served areas and constituencies) while at the same time growing business and home consumer demand.

Likening high-speed Internet to basic infrastructure needs such as power and roads, a state task force on Thursday urged a new push to make affordable broadband available to all Californians.

Saying such a system is crucial to the state's economic health, the California Broadband Task Force said government and private industry must team up to expand Internet access and increase speed.

In a final report by the California Broadband Task Force, the group said the state must continue to push for broadband across the state, to ensure residents and businesses realize the full economic, educational and social benefits of widespread high-speed access. The taskforce called on the state to invest in broadband deployment, ease permitting hurdles and create an e-health network in California that will help drive demand for broadband services.

The CETF is a non-profitable organization, but it has the support from the California Public Utilities Commission and state government funding of 60 million U.S. dollars to close what CETF called the "Digital Divide" in California by the year of 2017.

Can broadband really save healthcare? Well, technology is part of the solution for some of the industry's problems, such as physician and specialist shortages and disparities in access to care. But it's only part of the solution. And it also comes with problems of its own. (Read more about wireless health, telehealth, and more in the March HealthLeaders magazine cover story, Medical Breakthroughs That Will Change Healthcare.)

Local governments with less developed strategies may want to learn from one initiative observers consider a likely recipient of stimulus money: OpenCape is a consortium of local government and small business representatives in Cape Cod, Mass., who spent the last two years crafting a plan to deploy a broadband backhaul network for the entire cape.

In southern Tennessee, Chattanooga unveiled Monday, Sept. 13, its 1 Gbps broadband service, which city officials declare to be the fastest rate available in a U.S. city and tied with the fastest in the world.

More than 100,000 homes and businesses in Chattanooga now have access to the high-speed network, which is more than 200 times faster than the average download speed available in the U.S. EPB Fiber Optics, the city-owned power company, and Alcatel-Lucent plan to complete the build-out by 2011.

Today, Citizens for a Digital Future (CDF), a national coalition whose members support and advance public policies that encourage broad deployment and robust enhancement of broadband and digital technologies, launched in North Carolina.

"In order for consumers to have access to the latest technologies and best services possible, it is imperative for North Carolina to ensure its laws are keeping pace with the proliferation of new and innovative telecommunications options available today," said John Watson, Chairman of Citizens for a Digital Future. "Citizens for a Digital Future supports policies that encourage investment in and deployment of broadband and other digital technologies that enhance our lives in so many ways."

The goals of the one-year pilot project are to provide a convenient public service to users, stimulate economic development and tourism by drawing people to Alexandria, promote the image of Alexandria as a high-tech community, and test the feasibility of using wireless devices for municipal operations.

The Cabarrus Health Alliance (CHA), the NCTN project coordinator, signed a contract valued at up to $7.2 million with MCNC and the N.C. Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) as a major sub-contractor.

The Rocky Mountain state, which is currently hosting the Democratic National Convention in Denver, placed ninth in a recent “New Economy Index” that sought to benchmark indices of a knowledge-based economy.

Many of the leading players in the cable and satellite industries hail from the state, which is home to its industry technology consortium CableLabs. Reinforced by its winter skiing and its cool summers, the state’s high quality of life makes it a natural locale for many of industry-leading telecommunications conferences by the Aspen Institute, the Progress and Freedom Foundation, and Silicon Flatirons.

The state of Colorado has launched a series of pilot programs to create smart buildings and to implement distance learning and remote healthcare with the aid of telepresence, announced the state and Cisco Systems last week.

One pilot focuses on energy efficiency in towns and cities on the west slope of Colorado's Rocky Mountains, such as Grand Junction, where Cisco will work with Colorado to integrate power, lighting, HVAC, and computer networks across multiple buildings.

Colorado and Cisco are collaborating to demonstrate how advanced modeling and simulation tools can support pilot projects related to health care, energy and education -- key areas that will foster economic development and sustainable practices throughout the state.

Cisco has signed a memorandum of understanding with Colorado officials to establish the Colorado Connected Communities Initiative (CCCI), which will develop accessible education opportunities, advance the delivery and quality of health care, and reduce statewide energy consumption, Colorado officials said.

Broadband is the electricity of the 21st century, with the power to fundamentally change the way Colorado companies and other organizations do business, Gov. Bill Ritter said Friday.

"Expanding broadband (high-speed Internet) access has never been more important," Ritter said in opening the second annual Colorado Broadband Summit at the Level 3 campus in Broomfield.

The three-year project is designed to expand broadband capacity, upgrade public computing resources in libraries and advance access to employment, learning, health information and E-Government services, the commission said in a news release.

Part of the money -- $2.4 million -- came from the U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, which is funded by the federal stimulus act. The rest comes from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Colman-based Sioux Valley Wireless on today rolled out its WiMAX broadband Internet service to customers in and around Madison, making it the first small city in South Dakota to have access to the technology. The service was started in Sioux Falls recently by another company.

Congress has passed legislation that will require the government to keep closer tabs on who has access to the Internet and who does not.

“In today’s digital world, being connected to the Internet is critical to preserving and improving lifestyle,” says Brian Mefford, CEO of Connect Alaska’s parent company, Connected Nation. “Whether you live in a rural or urban area, broadband gives you the opportunity to work from home, take online classes, and market your products – all of which have a positive impact on the local economy. Yet, for thousands of Alaska residents, affordable access to high-speed Internet is still not available.”