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| 1/22/2007 9:40:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Fiber has economic development connection
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We believe that economic development is the most important reason for the city to continue pursuing fiber connections to homes and businesses.
Numbers are now starting to come out on potential costs of connecting to the internet over broadband lines that are light years better than the current system of phone lines.
There is no doubt the cost will be more than many will want to bear. However, we want city leaders to factor in the benefits to economic development efforts when looking at this issue.
If the top priority of economic development is jobs, than a fiber network is what those businesses and employees will use to connect to the world. Think of rail in the late 1900s or electricity after the turn of the century.
We wouldn't ask a business to locate here without telephone service. Not today, not 50 years ago. Yet today we sit at the end of the road and hope a business will bring jobs here without having tools like broadband networks for them and their employees to use.
This isn't just a race against cities like St. Paul, which is considering a very similar proposal to the Iron Range Community FiberNet. This is like being the gas station owner and watching the interstate being built around your community.
We cannot afford to be isolated from the world when it comes to broadband connections to the internet.
Bill Henning, a former economic development coordinator for Ely and current IRRRB board member, saw the importance of having fiber connections nearly a decade ago.
He and others worked to get Ely connected via fiber optic lines to the rest of the world. It wasn't easy, but today those connections allow companies to tap into that line if possible.
This new fiber project would allow 80 percent of the homes and businesses to connect via fiber lines, for lightning-level internet access. Today only a few have the ability to connect and the cost is high. The plan is to allow all to connect at a low cost.
Couldn't this be done by private industry? Sure. And if you remember when rural areas were waiting for large power and phone companies to connect to them, you know where that argument is heading.
Cooperatives were created and given federal assistance to make sure the country was on equal footing when it came to basic telephone connections and power lines. The same may have to be done with fiber networks.
Already we have the "digital divide" where larger cities are able to roll out wireless networks, the current top-used method of connecting to the net for many users.
You can sit in the waiting room at St. Mary's in Duluth and conduct business over the internet without plugging in your laptop. Minneapolis is looking to make that possible all across its city limits.
Ely will need to look at this as well. And let's not forget our good friends in the cell phone world who left us in analog service long after the rest of the country was switched to digital. Now our digital service has been made nearly obsolete without the latest improvements and needs to be upgraded. Can you hear us now, Verizon?
These three communication methods are the basic needs of companies today. Having wireless access for laptop users, updated cell phone towers for advanced services (including internet access) and the big pipeline to the rest of the world, fiber optics.
The digital world moves much faster than those who built this country when it was based on steel and timber. We used to be proud to say there are computer terminals at our library with internet access. In the business world, that's no longer a benefit, it's a sign of outdated technology.
We still need to have access to the internet for people who cannot afford it on their own. But what we're talking about is positioning our community to be able to attract businesses today and into the future.
In order to put more kids in the classrooms at our school, we need to have good jobs for their parents so they can live here. Those good jobs today need broadband connections similar to what FiberNet could provide.
City officials need to continue to make sure Ely is on the digital superhighway. Our economic future will likely depend on it.
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Reader Comments
Posted: Friday, January 26, 2007
Article comment by:
Mark Cherne
Internet connectivity is a key factor for any business making a decision on location. Without a fast internet connection at an affordable cost, very few businesses would consider bringing in a business. And very soon, the same will be said for residents. Your internet connection will be as important as water, electricity and other utilities.
In addition to fiber-to-every-address, other technologies should be investigated. Companies such as Stonebridge Wireless may be able to provide a broadband pipeline similar to fiber at a reduced cost.
The important thing is to keep moving down this path to provide internet as a utility to residents and businesses.
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