Just over an hour ago I received an email blast from the Minnesota Ultra High Speed Broadband Task Force (you can see it after the jump) with a letter from the Task Force Chair, Rick King, lauding their achievement. While I’m a fan (and friend) of the member who represented the Twin Cities metro area, Mike O’Connor (and his post), I must admit that I’m not as enthused as Mike or others since I was consistently disappointed in the lack of the Task Force addressing the current state of broadband and that it is largely controlled by the private sector (e.g., Comcast, Qwest) throughout the entire Task Force adventure leading up to this recommendation report.
The ultimate recommendation is for universal access to broadband as, “…a minimum of 10 to 20 megabits per second download and 5 Mbps upload” which, in my opinion, might be fine today but will be woefully inadequate within five years and, unfortunately, was missing entirely recommendations on something much more important to the future of broadband in Minnesota: who controls it.
As I progressed through reading the report (PDF) when it was released, an interesting quote jumped out and it about sums up the importance of broadband to the future of Minnesota and came from Kate Rubin, President of the Minnesota High Tech Association (with my emphasis), “Another key aspect of an innovation ecosystem is ubiquitous and affordable broadband access throughout Minnesota. Broadband is as essential as oxygen to ensure a high quality of life and a globally competitive future for our citizens, businesses, and communities.”
Yep. Broadband is as essential as oxygen, especially for anyone in technology who reads Minnov8! The kicker? The lion’s share of Minnesota citizen’s broadband footprint has “caps” on usage and that metaphorical “oxygen” is mostly controlled by the private sector. While the Task Force invested lots of time in the report detailing everything surrounding broadband BUT private control of this essential and fundamental conduit to the internet, my hope was that the Task Force would directly (and emphatically within the report) drive the point home that the Legislature must confront the question of public/private collaboration, public broadband policy, regulation and laws with something as fundamentally important to our future as access to the internet.
Instead, here was the lukewarm description of government’s leadership role:
Role of Government
Government has, or can have, a variety of roles to play with respect to broadband policy, broadband adoption, and consumer protection. Different levels of government (federal, state, local) have differing levels of jurisdiction and responsibility in the making of public policy regarding broadband.
Government plays an important planning and policy•making role with respect to establishing and achieving broadband goals. While it has regulatory authority too, it must also be recognized that actions the government takes or does not take have direct impacts on such things as time to market, the competitive playing field, and end-users paying for broadband services. In the final analysis, perhaps government’s overarching responsibility is to ensure affordable, ubiquitous access to broadband for all those who want and need such services, while making sure our state and nation remain competitive in the global economy. Further, government has a responsibility to make sure that our critical broadband infrastructure is safe and secure.
What I took from that section was a soft cautionary message to the Legislature in favor of the private sector (“actions the government takes or does not take have direct impacts“) and that perhaps the Legislature should just focus on the “have-nots” and leave the “real” broadband to the big boys in the private sector (“perhaps government’s overarching responsibility is to ensure affordable, ubiquitous access to broadband for all those who want and need such services“).
Without minimizing the extraordinary complexity of making public policy surrounding broadband–and the steep investments made by the private sector in fast broadband while mobile broadband also continues to accelerate–it’s naive for the Task Force to think a strategic deployment of “ubiquitous broadband,” an infrastructure that is “safe and secure” and one with inherent “consumer protections” is going to happen without significant governmental involvement. There should have been an entire section of the report devoted to both sides of the net neutrality debate so the folks in our State Legislature had a grasp of the issues they should be dealing with when crafting broadband public policy, regulations and laws.
As you may already know, the MN Broadband bill passed the House (Update: Senate passage likely this week and then off to Governor Pawlenty for signature). Rather than Minnesota showing “leadership” in this area, instead those of us who know internet access and speed is vital to the future of Minnesota, our nation and, of course, your innovation (regardless if that innovation conflicts with the competitive products offered by the same provider for your internet access) will have to rely on the Federal Communications Commission and their foresight and leadership to ensure internet broadband doesn’t turn in to a tollway.
Today, March 31st, 2010 is officially the last day of the Minnesota Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force. Please click here to read the last Letter from the Chair marking this event and celebrating the teams accomplishments.
You can continue to visit the Minnesota Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force’s website to download the report and access other relevant information.
All,
I am not a betting man. Had I been one, I would have placed a pretty big bet on the Task Force succeeding as the odds would have been against me. I mean, seriously, who would have thought that 23 people, with diverse backgrounds and conflicting interests, would have worked so well together? That we would put an agreement on paper and influence others enough to likely pass legislation to codify our recommendations?
Well, we did it. And today, almost two years after its inception, the Ultra High-Speed Broadband Task Force ceases to exist. In what seems like the perfect farewell gift, the Minnesota Legislature will very likely approve a bill capturing our recommendations, and the Governor will sign it into law in the next two weeks.
Is the new law what I would have written had I had a magic wand and lived in the Land of Unlimited Resources? Maybe not.
It is, however, wise, forward-looking legislation that positions Minnesota as a leader in the nation. Now, with the National Broadband Report released, I think our wisdom as a state shines even brighter.
While the Task Force’s report was almost 150 pages long, our key recommendations were narrowly defined: we wanted universal access to Ultra High-Speed Broadband in Minnesota, we defined Broadband as a minimum of 10 to 20 megabits per second download and 5 Mbps upload, and we wanted the state to set a comparative goal within the U.S. and the world. Furthermore, we felt that there had to be some sort of ongoing institution to ensure that the objectives were pursued. It’s all in the bill.
With this, my last letter as Chair, I would like to recognize the talent and the hard work of each and every Task Force member, the supporting staff and friends across the state who freely gave us their work, ideas, advice and enthusiasm to create the report and pass the law (well, getting closer anyway – should be next week!). It has been my privilege to meet and work with each of you.
Together, we have contributed to making Minnesota a better place to live and work. And, a leader among the States in our great country.
I should have placed that bet.
Warmest regards,
Rick King
Your ex-chair