Gustavus Broadband Update: Middle Mile, Funding

[Nathan Borson]

Middle Mile

Rainforest Telecom has a wireless link from Juneau to Hoonah Mountain. On August 15, owner Wade McKeown was in Gustavus and was able to get a wireless connection from Hoonah Mountain to a location on the Gustavus hydro project access road.

 

Gustavus broadband project manager Nathan Borson spoke with McKeown and also with Tom Ervin, Alaska telecommunications manager for Alaska Power & Telephone. AP&T has purchased Gustavus Electric Company, so manages the hydro project area where the signal from Hoonah Mountain is available. Borson introduced McKeown and Ervin via email in hopes that the two companies can reach an agreement about siting a wireless receiver in the hydro project area.

 

Right now, the only non-satellite communications link from Gustavus to the rest of the world is AT&T's microwave network. For the network proposed in the Gustavus broadband plan to be viable, we need a cheaper, faster alternative to AT&T's middle-mile network. Rainforest Telecom has long been interested in providing such service, and getting a usable signal is a significant step forward.

 

At this point, there is not yet a proposal for establishing a middle mile connection, nor do we know the one-time or recurring cost of such a project. Ervin and McKeown did both say that they can provide service at a much lower cost than AT&T. Borson emphasized to both Rainforest Telecom and AP&T that the city of Gustavus is very interested in helping to foster competition in the middle mile, whether that means being an anchor customer, helping with permitting, building a shared facility, or finding grant funding.

 

Funding Update

Broadband technical consultant ICF International is investigating the applicability of the FCC's rural broadband experiments program to Gustavus. A teleconference to discuss their findings is scheduled for September 9.

 

Next Steps

• Follow up with Rainforest Telecom and AP&T to see if they are developing a plan and if there is anything the city can do to help.
• Continue working with ICF International to identify project funding.

The broadband project web site has been updated with this post. You

can always go there to see the latest news and status:

https://sites.google.com/a/corvid.info/gustavus-broadband-plan/

Nate

Nathan Borson, Co-Owner

Corvid Computing, Project Manager

City of Gustavus Broadband Plan

http://bit.ly/r48JAh

(907) 697-2810