Re[2]: Southeast Conference

[Nathan Borson]

Hello Lori,

 

I regret that I won't be able to attend the SE Conference communications committee meeting next week. For what it's worth, here is a review of what Gustavus has been up to; please pass on as you feel appropriate, and feel free to call or email if you have any questions (or suggestions!).

1. The city of Gustavus owns and operates (via contractor Corvid Computing) a municipal Internet service known as the Gustavus Community Network (GCN).
   1. GCN started as Gustavus SEAKNet, one of five Southeast Alaska communities connected in 1995 under a federally-funded initiative by the Alaska State Library, University of Alaska, and Southeast Regional Resource Center. The original service was four dial-up lines with a 56 Kbps frame relay backhaul to UAF.
   2. After the first year of grant-subsidized operation, Gustavus SEAKNet was independently owned and operated by the Gustavus Community Association and its volunteers. Over the years, subscriber fees and volunteer labor were sufficient not only for operations, but to expand and upgrade service, first adding dial-up lines, then upgrading the backhaul to a commercial satellite service and later a terrestrial T1 circuit, and also adding wireless and DSL broadband in limited areas. GCN had a high of about 205 subscribers in 2005, almost all of them dial-up. GCN was also able to professionalize first administration, and later operations and maintenance, ending its dependence on volunteers. After Gustavus incorporated in 2004, the Gustavus Community Association disbanded and GCN became part of the City of Gustavus.
   3. Since 2006, GCN has lost customers to newly-available satellite and mobile broadband services. With a shrinking customer base and no clear price, coverage, or performance advantage over new private telecommunication services, GCN has exhausted its budget reserves and its continued operation is in doubt.
2. Neither current GCN service, nor current service from other providers, is anywhere close to adequate for Gustavus. No current option offers universal coverage, nor the performance, the reliability, nor the affordability we seek.
1. In 2012, GCN completed a state-funded  that identified a goal of 100 Mbps Internet access to every occupied facility throughout the city. The scope of the plan was limited to the last mile and considered various technical and business models. It recommended a city-owned and operated underground hybrid fiber-coax last-mile network estimated to cost $2.4M. Since 2012 the City of Gustavus has unsuccessfully sought funding to design and build the proposed network. Gustavus has considered USDA programs, but existing 4G service from AT&T, even though it probably serves at most half the population of Gustavus, appears to make our project mostly or entirely ineligible for Community Connect and other USDA programs.
2. It has also become apparent since 2012 that, given current middle-mile capacity and prices and competing services, GCN may not be able to operate the proposed network sustainably.
3. For affordable broadband, we need faster and cheaper upstream Internet access. Therefore, current planning efforts therefore focus on alternative middle-mile options.

At this point, we are facing an extensive broadband plan revision to address the middle mile and the funding opportunity presented by FCC reforming the Universal Service Fund into the Connect America Fund. Because of the greater scope and complexity, Gustavus may lack the local will and/or capacity to move forward. A regional approach may be required to develop a viable and sustainable comprehensive solution. I would be very interested in pooling resources and dividing effort with other communities who are in a similar under-served situation. Please contact me if we can help each other!

 

Sincerely,

 

Nate

 

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Nathan Borson, Co-Owner

Corvid Computing, System Manager

Gustavus Community Network, City of Gustavus

907-697-2810