Gustavus Broadband Update: Funding Wait, AP&T Visit, ICF Contract Extended

[Nathan Borson]

Funding Wait Continues 

There has been little activity on the Gustavus Broadband project in the last month. 

• We are waiting for the release of the notice of funding availability for the Community Connect grant we intend to apply for. That will likely happen in June or July.
• We are waiting, without much hope, for the legislature to act (or not) on the city's request for funds to match the community connect grant, as described in the last update.
• We are waiting for the road to the hydro project to clear enough that a bucket truck can be safely driven up there to simulate a tower for testing signal strengths between there and Hoonah Mountain, so we can develop a concrete middle-mile proposal.

Alaska Power and Telephone Visit

Broadband project manager Nathan Borson met with the IT Manager for Alaska Power and Telephone (AP&T) when he was visiting Gustavus last Friday with other AP&T executives as they finalize purchase of the Gustavus Electric Company.

• As their name implies, AP&T provides Internet and voice services in many of the communities where they provide electrical energy. They have a middle-mile microwave network in Southeast Alaska, though it does not extend to Hoonah or Gustavus. AP&T also plays a very prominent role in the Southeast Alaska Broadband Strategy (in which Gustavus is not mentioned).
• I met with Kyle Sorensen, who was here to assure the Gustavus Electric takeover goes smoothly from an information technology standpoint. He is not responsible for the company's public telecommunications offerings, but he often works with the vice president who is. We discussed the city's broadband goals and plan and AP&T's network and offerings in other communities.
• As far as I could tell, AP&T has no plans for offering Internet service in Gustavus. However, Kyle will pass on the information from our meeting.

ICF Contract Extended

As planned, the city of Gustavus and ICF International have extended the contract for broadband technical consulting. The new expiration date of the contract is the end of 2015. The extension does not change the scope of work nor increase the amount that could be paid for the work; it merely extends the period of performance.

Next Steps

The GCN Board will be convening this month to discuss various broadband funding scenarios and strategies, as well as ongoing GCN operations

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