Business Class Broadband – A Critical Infrastructure? 2007 RTC Conference Springfield, Illinois Bill Shuffstall, Dr. Ted Alter, Jeff Bridger, Sheila Sager, Dept Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Penn State University

Where Are we Heading? A discussion Broadband frames Consumer vs Business Class Broadband service Applications requiring Business Class Broadband infrastructure What do we know about Business Class Broadband service? Business Class Broadband – a critical infrastructure? What can we do?

Broadband - What it Means Delivery Technology Fiber Fiber Copper Copper Wireless WirelessProvider Private Sector Private Sector Municipal Municipal Private Public Partnership Private Public Partnership Delivery Model Closed Access Closed Access Open Access Open AccessUser Consumer Consumer Business (institution) Business (institution)

Consumer & Business Class General Characteristics Consumer Triple play Triple play Asynchronous Asynchronous Best effort (no guarantee) up to ? Mbps Best effort (no guarantee) up to ? Mbps Business class Business services Business services Synchronous Synchronous Guaranteed bandwidth Guaranteed bandwidth 10 to ? mbps 10 to ? mbps Redundant connections Redundant connections

Applications Requiring Business Class Broadband Service Disaster Recovery Off site data backup and storage Streaming video High resolution image provision Managed services Internet apps connecting business partners Virtual modeling ????

Who Uses Services Requiring Advanced Communication Infrastructure Business Banks Banks Consultants Consultants Manufacturers Manufacturers Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurs Managed service providers Managed service providersHealthcare Hospitals Hospitals Clinics Clinics Physician's offices Physician's officesGovernment Emergency services Courts Departments/AgenciesEducation K-12 Distance education Continuing education Workforce development

What Do We Know About Business class in rural communities Availability Availability Demand Demand Cost Cost

Business Class Service Availability No national or state data Antidotal examples indicate Availability in larger population centers Availability in larger population centers Few provider options Few provider options

Rural Demand – What Do We Know? Who uses business class service Who would like to use business class service What are the barriers – cost, availability What are the barriers – cost, availability Who should use it but doesn’t Why Why

Big Questions to Ponder Is advanced communication infrastructure necessary for sustainable rural economic and community development?

Big Questions to Ponder Do rural “advanced communications infrastructure” projects address business class broadband as well as consumer broadband service?

Big Questions to Ponder Should policies be adjusted to address advanced communications infrastructure gaps in rural areas?

Some Things We Can Do Think/talk about Business Class Service Across stakeholder groups Across stakeholder groups Educate/discuss with policy makers Identify local providers and gaps in “communities” Assess demand in community Consider alternative delivery models ?????

Thanks for your thoughts Want to continue this discussion… Bill Shuffstall Blogs Listserv Wikis Podcasts Web conferencing