Following is a lightly edited copy of the material I submitted to Google for the nomination of the deep downstate for participation in the Google high speed fiber project. My earlier communications with Debbie Hillman, in particular, downplayed the potential for Google since, basically, they could design a drag strip that ended in a gravel road.
The region has no way to "get out" of local connectivity, relatively low density, and little urbanization. In short, unattractive.
That all changed on Wednesday-Thursday when I got wind of a grant to Norlight communications for a downstate fiber network. That meant that the competitive scene and provisioning economics for Google shifted:
Google would not have to bear all "first cost" of the build. Buried fiber's about $40K a mile, aerial is about $15K. To do an incremental capacity isn't a lot of money (by corporate measures) and Google's play would be to connect to high speed *wireless* hubs serving the region.
I've been tracking their work on wireless the last few years; copper is *so* 90s. Wireless and mobile will be huge.
The copy, with one minor redaction, is as submitted to Google. The structure's a tad odd: the submission had to be 400 characters for intro and 2000 characters (not words, mind you) for the body of the proposal.
Thanks, again, to Debbie Hillman and the Northern Alliance for the good thoughts on this.
Copy follows:
Goreville Illinois Google Fiber Submission (Southernmost Illinois Broadband)
Submitted to Google, 20100326 ~3:15pm CDT
Southernmost Illinois Broadband
Which Organizations?
Volunteer: Illinois Broadband Deployment Council.
Illinois Local Food and Farms Coalition with Debbie Hillman of Evanston.
I evangelize sustainable economies.
Rural here - ignored by major telecoms.
Closer to Memphis than Chicago.
Economy - fragile in good times. Horrid now.
Why should Google choose your community?
You shouldn't, exactly. Goreville's typical.
Region ~400K people ~10K square miles. Low density. DSL's out - loop length. Dial up unreliable. Areas out for a week: no UPS in CO. Some satellite - rapid displacement by ~1Mb wireless.
Figure 80% take rate from Dial Up to "faster" for existing Internet users which comprise >60% of households. Industries - gone away. 90s - Coal failed. 80s - tore out the train tracks. Kids leave. I know. I grew up on the Mississippi. 25 years in NYC. Came back to an empty region. Lost clients - dial up killed.
This was just announced this week. It drove this last minute proposal.
Norlight plans ~500 miles of trunk and backbone delivering 10Mb Ethernet. (Their press release may overstate the actual award as $22.7MM. Norlight estimates 78-percent of the 24 counties included in their proposal currently unserved by a broadband ISP.
Google can play an *incremental* cost, not all first costs.
Google gets experience with middle and last mile high speed *wireless* points of presence. Gain strategic insight into fast mobile and tethered consumers.
Google might consider a fiber loop spanning IL, TN, IN, MO and KY to tie our region together. Southeast Missouri has the same aches we do.
Our "win" = Stop chasing smokestacks*
Collaborate regionally.
Stop giving away the farm. Create business. Build a sustainable food system: processing, season extension, distribution systems with information-driven bid-ask systems. Video training. Trade with major "foodsheds" in Chicago, Evanston area, St. Louis, and to our South.
Leverage lathes of "Maker Culture" and DIY Manufacturing.
1940s: town blacksmith in Grand Tower Illinois forge-welded a broken truck axle.
2015-2020: fabricate truck in situ from open source designs hosted at Google SketchUp 18.3
Entertainment and recreation on high speed & low latency = education and MRIs run for free.
We need a network. Thank you for your kind consideration.
*Drabenstott, 2010
-30-
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
TechneBlog: Heartland Papers - policy wonking on rural development
TechneBlog: Heartland Papers - policy wonking on rural development
Past Silos and Smokestacks:
Transforming the Rural Economy
in the Midwest
By Mark Drabenstott
With contributions from Sean Moore
Past Silos and Smokestacks:
Transforming the Rural Economy
in the Midwest
By Mark Drabenstott
With contributions from Sean Moore
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