Oregon Broadband Advisory Council Minutes August 25, 2016

Transcription

1 Oregon Broadband Advisory Council Minutes August 25, 2016 Attendees: Council Members: Commissioner Stephen Bloom, Joseph Franell, Wade Holmes, Lonny Macy, David Soloos for State CIO s Office, Dave Sabala, Michael Smith and Michael Weidman. Staff: Christopher Tamarin Oregon Business Development Department (OBDD) Others: Stuart Taubman of Electric Lightwave, and Amy McLaughlin of the Oregon Department of Education Council Business: Chair Joe Franell called the meeting to order and asked for guest introductions. Minutes Michael Weidman moved that the July 28, 2016 minutes be approved as distributed. Dave Sabala seconded the motion. The Council passed the motion. Updates: Chris Tamarin provided references on the following national broadband activity regarding infrastructure deployment, technology, market trends, public policy and illustrations of the value of broadband adoption and utilization since the Council s last meeting. FCC Issues 2016 Broadband Progress Report While the nation continues to make progress in broadband deployment, many Americans still lack access to advanced, high-quality voice, data, graphics and video offerings, especially in rural areas and on Tribal lands. Access to both fixed and mobile broadband services is required. Key findings of the report include the following: 10 percent of all Americans (34 million people) lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps service. 39 percent of rural Americans (23 million people) lack access to the FCC s broadband benchmark standard of 25 Mbps/3 Mbps. By contrast, only 4 percent of urban Americans lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps broadband. The availability of all fixed terrestrial services in rural America continues to lag behind urban America at all speeds. 41 percent of Americans living on Tribal lands (1.6 million people) lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps broadband 1

2 Approximately 41 percent of schools, representing 47 percent of the nation s students, lack the connectivity to meet the Commission s short-term goal of 100 Mbps per 1,000 students/staff. Telephone Company Broadband subscriber losses According to research from Leichtman Research Group (LRG), major telephone company broadband losses are accelerating, more than doubling from a year ago. Collectively, major tier 1 and 2 telcos lost 360,000 broadband subscribers in 2Q16, compared with 150,000 in 2Q15, while major cable company had broadband net additions of 553,000 subscribers in 2Q16. Telco broadband losses have been accelerating, with net losses for four of the past five quarters, reports LRG. Over the past year, cable companies have added about 3.5 million broadband subscribers, while major telcos have lost about 500K, reports LRG. Broadband Public Private Partnership Comcast will receive $4 million in state money to extend broadband internet access in nine towns in western and north central Massachusetts. Under a deal announced between the Massachusetts Broadband Institute and Comcast, Comcast will use the money to extend its existing network in those towns to 1,089 new homes and businesses. The state money gives Comcast an incentive to deliver high-speed internet to residents of rural regions, where it would otherwise not be cost-effective. Under the deal, Comcast agreed to extend coverage to 96 percent of each town. "This public-private partnership will deliver sustainable, reliable, and cost-effective broadband connectivity to nine rural communities that previously faced significant coverage gaps, allowing nearly 1,100 households and businesses to participate more fully in the digital economy," Gov. Charlie Baker said in a statement. The cost of constructing the hybrid fiber-optic/coaxial cable network will be borne by the state and Comcast. A state bond bill approved $5 million to connect underserved towns. The Massachusetts Broadband Institute, which is overseeing the project, is taking $1 million for its expenses. Larkin said that money covers the work MBI did reaching the cable expansion deal, including overhead, staff and financial and legal expertise. The choice to use Comcast came after a competitive bid process and significant debate. Comcast was the only bidder in seven towns. ml 2

3 Comcast is testing DOCSIS 3.1 Comcast is leveraging its investments in latest generation DOCSIS 3.1 to deliver Internet access at speeds as high as 1 Gbps over its existing HFC network infrastructure to customers in Chicago. Comcast reports delivering gigabit speeds over the network infrastructure that already passes millions of homes. Comcast launched Gigabit Pro, in selected service territories last year. Offering Internet symmetrical Internet speeds of 2 Gbps, Gigabit Pro is now available in some 18 million homes across the U.S. and 2.4 million in the cable company s Greater Chicago Region. Comcast followed up the launch of Gigabit Pro in February by announcing plans to launch DOCSIS 3.1-based Xfinity gigabit broadband services over its existing network infrastructure in Atlanta and Nashville. A trial service was launched in Nashville in June. Looking forward, Comcast aims to initiate new Xfinity gigabit service trials in Detroit and Miami in the second half of this year with Monthly subscription prices start at $ plus applicable taxes and fees, though Comcast said it will also test promotional pricing schemes during trial periods. Further information is available at Xfinity.com/gig. Hillary Clinton has aggressive broadband plans In the speech this month laying out her economic plan, Hillary Clinton said she wants to make sure every household in America is connected to broadband by She noted that about 5 million households with school-aged children do not have access to broadband in the home, which means those kids can t use the internet to do their homework or communicate with their school or teachers, which puts them at an academic disadvantage. This issue has been labeled the Homework Gap. 5G Mobile Wireless Standards AT&T is engaged in preliminary discussions with China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Huawei, Intel, KDDI, LG, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Qualcomm, Samsung, SK Telecom, Telstra and Vodaphone to collaborate on and accelerate the development of industry standards for next-generation 5G wireless broadband technology. AT&T expects 5G wireless networks will deliver Internet data at speeds times faster than today s average. AT&T announced that it is seeking to accelerate 5G trials designed to test overthe-air interoperability of 5G equipment. This and other 5G initiatives are key to AT&T s strategic plan, as well as those of other carriers, ISPs and participants throughout the wireless broadband industry value chain. That includes employing software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) to re-architect its network infrastructure in order to launch new cloud-based apps and services faster and at less cost over mobile wireless networks. The first global 5G industry standard specifications are expected in

4 Average broadband speeds Broadband Speeds in the US are steadily increasing. The average in the U.S. just went over 50 megabits for the first time ever. That average, megabits per second is 42 percent higher than the same period last year, and upload jumped even more is 51 percent higher year over year. This is all based on the 8 million or so daily tests conducted on Speedtest s website and apps. Comcast Xfinity took the honors for fastest speed on average, but its 125 megabits wasn t that much higher than the competition: Cox with 118 and Charter Spectrum with megabits-for-the-first-time/ State Broadband Activity Updates Chris Tamarin provided references on the following state broadband activity regarding infrastructure deployment, technology, market trends, public policy and illustrations of the value of broadband adoption and utilization since the last Council meeting. Google Fiber suspends plan to bring fiber optic Fiber to Portland The Wall Street Journal report and Google has confirmed that it has suspended fiber plans to bring Google Fiber to the Portland metro area. The Journal reports that Google is shelving plans to lay fiber optic cables in Portland as it changes its overall strategy, switching from FTTH to wireless technology because cable has proved too expensive and time-consuming. Electric Lightwave Integra Telecom Holdings, Inc. announced today that it is splitting into two stand-alone businesses, Electric Lightwave and Integra. This separation establishes Electric Lightwave as a pure-play, fiber-based network services company. Electric Lightwave is the largest regional fiber-based provider in the western United States, serving more than 5,400 large enterprise customers, wholesale carriers, web content providers, government organizations and educational institutions. Its broad fiber footprint includes more than 8,000 miles of long-haul fiber, connecting 23 fiber markets in which it has over 4,000 miles of metro fiber, serving over 3,000 commercial buildings, 125 cellular towers and 100 data centers. The separation creates dedicated personnel and infrastructure for Electric Lightwave and Integra, and each business will have separate operating and financial metrics going forward. See the press release at 4

5 Oregon partners with Ireland An alliance has been established between Ireland and the State of Oregon. A three-year Ireland-Oregon Start-up Exchange Partnership has been signed by ConnectIreland has and Business Oregon. Start-ups in industries including agriculture technology, marine technology, Internet of Things, and semiconductor technologies, will be targeted. Rural Distance Learning strategies Residents of Oregon s Lake County have not had the opportunity to attend college without driving long distances, moving to urban centers, or taking impersonal and often inadequate online classes. But that is changing. Advanced telecommunication technology installed with USDA Rural Development financing is enabling Lake County residents to fully participate in a variety of classes at neighboring Klamath County s Klamath Community College (KCC). With expanded Distance Learning educational opportunities, more remote rural residents are able to obtain an education where they live and improve their career outlook while ensuring their communities continue to thrive. Broadband in Condon The City of Condon believes that universal access to reliable, affordable high-speed internet access services in our community is essential for our City s economic vitality and quality of life. Broadband has transformed the ability to communicate, participate, create, educate, inform, and drive economic and community development. It is the function of government to provide essential services to the community, and the City believes broadband is an essential service on par with electricity, telephone, sewer and water services. On April 6, 2016, the City adopted its Broadband Adoption and Utilization Strategic Plan. (See Exhibit A.) The Plan reflects the City s vision of leveraging current regional technology planning efforts in broadband infrastructure and City investment in public and private partnerships to meet the City s goal of universal access to affordable high-speed internet access. 5

6 Work Session: 2016 Broadband in Oregon Report The main focus of this month s meeting is the Broadband in Oregon report which is due in 67 days. Progress has been made on the report, and Chris distributed an updated working draft to the Council members. The Infrastructure Trends and Technologies / Industry Structure and Broadband Projects section is taking shape. The report will highlight broadband infrastructure projects from cities, counties, tribes, public private partnerships, CAPs, telcos, cablecos, mobile and fixed wireless providers. Input has been requested from AOC, LOC, OTA, NWTA, and OCTA. The Broadband Accessibility and Broadband Affordability sections are in place but need to have data and maps updated. This has been held to September, so that the information would be current for the report. In the Broadband Technology Adoption and Utilization sections, content references have been identified for Telehealth, but is awaiting input from Miles Ellenby. Good progress has been made in Energy Management - Dave Sabala and Commissioner Bloom provided the narrative with an analysis of data from a survey of power utilities in process. Excellent content references identified for Educations and is awaiting input from Anne Carloss and the Department of Education has been asked for and update on E-Rate applications and awards. Under E-Government, Lonny Macy is working on the Oregon Tribes AOC is working on Cities -- Survey Questions see LOC is working on Counties -- Survey Questions David Soloos is working on Oregon.gov report We include public safety in this section and Steve Noel has been asked for his assistance in providing a current status on FirstNet. We will highlight recent Pew, FCC and NTIA reports, and cite the Oregon Broadband Adoption Survey for the section on Broadband Adoption. This as an issue equally important as infrastructure, specifically the significant difference in the rates of adoption by urban and rural communities. The Councils list of Broadband Related Challenges and Opportunities is set. Chris will distribute additional draft report updates by the September 22 meeting. Public Input: Oregon Connections Telecommunications Conference The twenty-first annual conference will be held in Hood River on October 20 and 21. There is a call out for Oregon Connections Award nominations, and Early-Bird 6

7 registration ends on September 9 th. Information on the conference may be found at Meeting Schedule: The August 25, 2016 meeting of the Oregon Broadband Advisory Council was held via GoToMeeting and conference call. The next meeting will be on Thursday, September 22, 2016 in Salem. Meeting information will be posted on the Council website at * * * 7