Most of you know that I’m a big proponent of efforts to expand Internet speed and access on the Iron Range. I think it’s an initiative that has tremendous economic development benefits for this region.
The FiberNet project has been trying to drum up support for a Range-wide municipal-owned high speed network. Thursday night, the Range’s largest city of Hibbing essentially snuffed out that idea by opting out of the project. While I would have loved to see a universal, municipal network I had already begun to sense that such a structure would be very difficult to create, especially using the approach FiberNet has taken. The whole problem with expanding fiber networks in a region as wide as the Iron Range is the enormous expense with a very limited immediate return. It’s hard to put cities cash strapped from budget cuts on the hook for all the risk. So I understand the city councilors who were worried about cost. But other Hibbing leaders were still saying things like, why should we lay cable in sparsely populated areas? They’re missing the point.
Modern places consider power, phones and internet all to be public utilities that people should be entitled to purchase for a reasonable price.
So, Thursday’s defeat for FiberNet must not be the end of this discussion. I want to see the private companies who stoop so firm against municipal internet offer their proposals. How can Iron Range Resources, Range cities and private companies work together to use our financial resources to use the Internet to attract new business, e-commuters, creative professionals and more in areas that aren’t currently served by affordable high speed service? I don’t just meet meet the market needs (that’s being done) but to get ahead of the market, to launch this region into the forefront as a way to keep our economy strong decades from now when the mines close (again).
I swear, if nothing gets done to attract modern tech industry and a taconite plant goes down 10 years from now and everyone gets all weepy on the news (What’ll we do? What’ll we do?) I am going to be so pissed. We’ve got thousands of lakes! Affordable housing! Nice schools! Trees! No traffic! People will want to live here if we provide ways to make a living in the modern economy.
“How can Iron Range Resources, Range cities and private companies work together to use our financial resources to use the Internet to attract new business, e-commuters, creative professionals and more in areas that aren’t currently served by affordable high speed service?”
See: Spec building along 37. You can’t see the fiber (as it’s buried in there, but trust me – it’s there waiting for any occupant and has been for some time now)
Communications infrastructure is just one component in attracting businesses and residents. We still have vast areas of town that have no city sewer, water, or power. Think that might be *slightly* more important to some taxpayers than having city phone, city cable, and city Internet. At least that’s what rural residents tell me.
The spec building strategy misses the point and illustrates what’s been wrong with our strategy around here. We keep thinking like economic diversification will come with mid- and large-sized companies setting up shop and hiring 10-100 workers at a shot. My arguments have more to do with the fact that ANY real diversification will come in ones and twos and threes. People moving to the area to try something on their own and our people developing their own business ideas. These are people who can’t afford to lay down a T-1 line to their house, or the office they rent downtown. But if we bundle them together and serve them at once we can make it affordable in the long run.
I’m not going to tell a rural resident they need internet instead of sewers or power. I have always argued that high speed internet should be considered a utility in combination with these things.
And where in Hibbing don’t they have power? I know plenty of rural areas don’t have sewers, but power? That’s news to me.
“city power”, I should have explained that better. See: Everything East of 23rd Avenue & Dupont Road
I’ll clear a lunch appointment for the next time you are in town. I’d like to share a view from the provider’s prospective with you.
I can’t get you into the buildings without a long list of precautions, but I can, at the very least, show you a few reasons why I firmly believe fibernet was a good theory with a very poor business plan.
One more post and IT will likely have your blog blocked from my router 🙂
Fair enough, Zach. 🙂
I’ve always known that FiberNet was a somewhat flawed approach to this because of the difficulty in getting municipalities to agree on anything up here. I’d love to catch up with you on this in the future. Once the school year starts I’ll be in town more often and will try to get the lowdown.
Block me and five more blogs will rise to take my place! 🙂
Thanks for your thoughts on all this,
AB