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MINNESOTA TELEPHONE ASSOCIATION Telecommunications Guide December 2000
‘Digital Inclusion’, not
digital divide Many people worry that our nation’s rural areas will be left behind as the new high-speed, digital, global information economy roars ahead. There’s even a term for the gap between the digital “haves” and “have-nots” – the “digital divide.” But that divide is narrowing, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Federal Communications Commission. In fact, the situation is quickly evolving from one where access to technology is the problem to one where the main concern is educating people on how to use the new digital power. In this month’s installment of the Telecommunications Guide, we will look at the whole situation, including a unique University of Minnesota Extension Service training program called Access Minnesota Main Street that educates people in rural areas about the Internet and shows businesses how to take advantage of high-speed connections. Digital Gap Narrowing When it comes to the Internet, a recent U.S. Department of Commerce report found that access to the online world increased by 58 percent from Dec., 1998, to Aug., 2000. The report also found that the gap in Internet usage between men and women has disappeared and that the number of households with access to computers rose 21 percent. In addition, the report said that Internet access and computer ownership had risen for almost all groups, though there were significant differences for those with different income and education levels and those in different racial or ethnic groups. This was also the case for the old and young, single- and two-parent families and those with and without disabilities. When the issue is deployment of advanced telecommunications capability, or broadband, the FCC found that this is happening in a “reasonable and timely fashion” in Minnesota and nationally, according to a report released in August. This “Broadband Survey,” the second update to Congress on the subject since the 1996 Telecommunications Act, also showed appreciable growth in the deployment of high-speed services to residential customers, though the report noted that rural and low-income areas were vulnerable when it came to receiving these services in a timely way. Another recent study, done by the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA) for rural telcos that cover more than one-third of the land area in the “lower 48” but just under 6 percent of the U.S. population, found that rural areas were getting advanced services. This was true despite the fact that the cost of finishing the upgrade of rural telephone lines to broadband could total $10.9 billion, with costs for individual lines running between $4,100 and $9,300. (Not including the cost of equipment, transport or ongoing maintenance of the upgraded network.) NECA’s study reveals that 65 percent of rural lines will be broadband-capable by 2002, showing that rural telcos are rapidly deploying a broadband capable network. Paul Hoff, general manager and CEO of Underwood-based Park Region Mutual Telephone Company, says the FCC report “affirms that the nation’s telcos are deploying technology that provides advanced services to their customers and are willing to do so when there is a demonstrated need, not when it is mandated.” Hoff, whose company began upgrading facilities in 1995 to allow the delivery of advanced services over its 5,500 access lines, is worried that the FCC could mandate deployment if it decides the process isn’t happening fast enough. This could mean regulations on current providers to encourage competition in their communities, despite the fact that these places might be too sparsely populated to support more than one provider of advanced services. Demand Not Yet There Though broadband capacity is not universal, the demand for advanced services by customers isn’t always there even when the capacity exists. “We have a number of exchanges that don’t have a single request for DSL,” notes Hoff. (Digital subscriber line service allows conventional copper phone lines to provide Internet access and other data transfer at much higher speeds than dial-up modems.) Small rural telcos like Park Region and Crosslake Communications, headquartered in Crosslake, have DSL sign-up rates far lower than those in metro areas. Kevin Larson, Crosslake’s general manager, says only 22 of his 2,900 access lines buy the service, half are businesses and most of the rest are people who live in the Twin Cities during the week. Brent Christensen, manager of systems and business development for Madelia Telephone Company, reports 13 DSL customers in his com-pany’s 1,800 access lines. All three rural telcos say that businesses using dedicated lines (ISDN) for high-speed data transfer are the prime candidates to switch to DSL because it’s less expensive. In fact, a Polaris dealership in Madelia would have had to close without DSL because Polaris now requires its dealers to be online to finalize sales and transfer data. “It’s an issue of economic vitality for small towns,” Christensen notes. DSL will grow when costs come down a little and people see the benefit, all agree. “It took a long time to get 100 customers using the Internet,” says Larson, who reached that number in 1996. “Now we have about 600.” Adds Hoff: “The problem is getting people educated as to what they can do with high-speed access.” Training For Tomorrow Access Minnesota Main Street was an 18-month pilot program that did that, educating small-town businesses about e-commerce and about how to deal with the changes it’s bringing to the way business is done (the example of the Polaris dealer is just one case). Growing out of the Access Minnesota Internet demonstration program begun by the Extension Service in 1994, the “Main Street” program began in 1998 with a grant from USDA’s Fund for Rural America. The program’s curriculum is online but “classes are helpful,” according to Jane Leonard, who teaches them, “because they’re done in a computer lab so people can experience high-speed Internet access.” About 600 businesses at 22 sites around the state participated in the program’s free classes. While the grant ended, the program continues on a limited pay-as-you-go basis. It’s seeking additional funding to, in Leonard’s words, “buy down the costs so the program fee is something participants can afford and develop a ‘train the trainer’ program so more people can gain the information they need.” (Currently, only about five people can teach the course.) Even with a fee, Leonard says the program “is a bargain for how much information you get and how you can apply it to your business.” People who believe in the program also want it to continue because it has been so well received, even drawing interest from other states. Extension Service staff have already trained their compatriots in Oregon and Illinois. And the Minnesota Telephone Association is working to connect its member companies with the program. One such company is Madelia Telephone. Christensen, whose telco will sponsor four three-hour Main Street classes in February and underwrite costs for participants, knows the employees of one local company that could use DSL “but don’t even know they need it.” And he’s already looking to the future, hoping the classes will be such a success that they’ll be added to the area’s community education program. “We need to create an environment where our customers are on a level playing field and have the same opportunities and resources others in the state have when it comes to e-commerce,” he says. “It’s the nature of telcos to keep people connected and not only through fiber optic cable and advanced services, but through things like these classes.” Leonard offers these final thoughts. “If you can educate people, they’ll use high-speed connections because it makes people more productive,” she explains. “Once people see how these services work, they’ll start to buy them. And then everybody wins – the community, business and the local phone company.” More information about the Minnesota Telephone Association can be found online at www.mnta.org.
(c) 2001 Minnesota Telephone Association
Published by the Minnesota Telephone Association (MTA) |