Alpena and Montmorency

Counties

Rural Airband ProjectConnecting Rural Michigan with TV WhiteSpace Wireless Affordable Access, Unlicensed and Unbounded

Topics for Today

• Who are we and why are we here?

• The need for digital access in the 21st century

• The challenge of last mile connectivity in rural areas

• How are we helping?

• What is TVWS and 5G?

• Why Alpena and Montmorency counties?

• What applications are possible?

• Partnerships and collaboration - roles

• What does success look like?

• Timeline and next steps

Merit’s Mission

“Connecting organizations, building community”Merit serves the research, education and public sector communities as a trusted and valued partner. Merit advances member success, research, economic development, collaboration, and professional development by leveraging its network infrastructure, expertise and the value of its member communities.

• Founded in 1966 by UM, MSU, WSU

• Governed by 12 public universities

• Supported by over 350 affiliate members

Merit and Wireless

• Won and completed two Federal BTOP grant projects 2010-2013: >2,000 miles of new long-haul and middle-mile fiber to underserved areas of Michigan

• Still unmet need for affordable last mile solutions

• Led and completed national Wireless Innovation for Last Mile Access (WILMA) formal research study in 2016 working with five other state R&E networks within the national Quilt consortium

• Now seeking to actualize knowledge for the benefit of our Michigan community!

Microsoft and the Rural Airband Initiative

Need for digital access in the 21st century• The “Homework Gap” - “Approximately 70% of teachers assign homework requiring access to

broadband. In addition, about 65% of students used the Internet at home to complete their homework, which could include submitting assignments, connecting with teachers and other students through group discussion boards, working on shared documents as part of a group project and doing online research for a school paper. Parents rely on the Internet as well to be fully-informed on their child’s academic performance, with many schools turning to online grading systems.” (The FCC’s Broadband Taskforce)

• “The Connectivity Gap is leaving millions of our students behind, particularly children in rural and low-income communities. They are left without the ability to take advantage of the promise of digital learning and lack the opportunity to learn the critical skills they need to compete and lead in today’s workforce.” (The Education Superhighway)

• “Internet job searching reduced the length of unemployment by about 25 percent.” (Pacific Standard report)

• “National broadband is a much better investment than fast broadband. Getting everyone, however rural, up to 2 Mbps produces a much better return on investment than trying to make sure that urban areas have 50 Mbps…thus, in a world with constrained resources that is where we should be aiming our support. Not at all in laying fiber optic to every corner of the land: rather in putting in alternative, presumably mobile, solutions to the gaps in the current network.” (Tim Worstall, Forbes contributor)

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 500,000 information technology jobs will be created in the next few years. More than 5 million American families – one in 20 – derive some income from online, work-at-home employment. (Microsoft Research and Pew Research Center)

Challenge of last mile connectivity in rural areas

• Fiber builds can be expensive and not financially feasible

• Rural communities typically not areas of investment by commercial telecommunication companies

• Long distances between sites, low population density

• Sometimes only a single provider and limited options

How are we helping?

• Startup grants for multiple wireless base stations and receivers

• Expert advice on equipment vendor selection, the technology and its deployment

• Support, training and knowledge sharing

• Sustainability guidance

• Final report on community impact

TVWS Schematic and Gear

TVWS - Propagation

How do wireless spectrums compare and what is 5G, really?

“5G” is an emergent and not-yet-completely-defined standard. We believe true next generation wireless will be dynamic and multi-spectrum.

Why Alpena & Montmorency Counties?

Urban population ~14,000 + rural population ~25,000 = high impact potential

Strong community college anchor institution, with network training programs

Community network consortium already developed

Merit core fiber assets in place with robust capacity

Collaborative commercial ISP in the area, Allband

Significant underserved/under-connected population

TVWS spectrum available

Regional medical center & cancer center with UM Health collaboration

NOAA / Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary served by Merit – research potential

Tourism and agriculture offer potential additional applications of wireless

Economic development key to community’s future

What applications are possible for TVWS and 5G wireless?

High Speed Internet and affordable last mile connections where none were feasible before

“Homework gap” solutions – “Homework Hotspots”

Telemedicine / home healthcare

Marine sanctuary research

Support for tourism – provide connectivity that visitors expect

Environmental and agricultural research with IoT & sensors

School bus mobility applications

Other??

Allband Communications – Who are we?

Over 12 Years of Rural Broadband Impact!

• Allband Communications Cooperative (501c12)• Allband Multimedia LLC (Non-Regulated Services)• Allband Center for Education, Wildlife and Research (501c3)

• Last-mile Fiber to the Home (FTTH) and Wireless Technologies

• Specializing in Rural Broadband Development• Over 400 miles of fiber in a 300 square mile region• Has successfully invested over $16 million in our region• We have succeeded where the market has failed • While it has its challenges, wireless can be an answer for rural areas!• We have embraced the concept of hybrid networks…fiber fed

networks with both fiber and wireless distribution.

Allband Communications – The Mission

Mission: Our Mission, quite simply, is to enhance our communities through the opportunities that Internet access can provide…it is a GATEWAYservice.

But we can’t do it alone! That is why we are here…

Collaboration is key!• Merit• Microsoft• Government• Community• Hold that thought…..

Allband Communications and TV Whitespace

Why TV White Space? • It is far reaching…• It can handle bandwidth demands…• Trees don’t mean so much…• It has potential…

But it’s not cheap…at least right now!

Allband Communications – Use Cases

Allband has partnered with Microsoft, 6 Harmonics, and Merit to leverage the use of white space to provide a rapid, ready and reliable communication resource to communities.

•School bus project - currently testing Hillman, Michigan school district to demonstrate the capability of the white space bus project for student; homework gap.

•Monitoring - provides real time monitoring of wild life, personal and public property, public safety on trails, 911, etc…endless use cases.

•White Space High Speed Internet- utilized to provide service to individuals in densely wooded areas

•What else…think of any area where you never thought you could have access, add a solar panel and we are in business!

Allband Communications – School Bus Access

School bus project - currently testing Hillman, Michigan school district to demonstrate the capability of the white space bus project for student; homework gap.

Allband Communications – Monitoring/Observation

Monitoring/Observation - provides real time monitoring of wild life, personal and public property, public safety on trails, 911, etc…endless use cases.

Allband Communications – High Speed Access

White Space High Speed Internet- utilized to provide service to individuals in densely wooded areas

Allband Communications – The Secret?

What was the thought I asked you to hold? That Collaboration is key!

How can you help? What do we need to make this work? Who are my champions?

• Funding• Subsidies • Grants• Vertical/Horizontal Assets• Contracts

Partnership and collaboration – leadership roles

Merit Microsoft Allband Community Anchors

EquipmentVendors

University Partners

Executive Oversight X X X X

Project Management X X

Technical Expertise and Training

X X

Community Use Case Determination

X X X

Funding and In-KindContributions

X X X

Equipment Procurement

X X

Deployment Team and Technical Certification

X X X X

Production Support X X

Documentation X X

Development of Replicable Plan

X X

Research on Community Impact

X X

What does success look like?

Specific application(s) identified for each site

Allband and Merit teams trained

Local site operations established with responsible parties identified

Remote support processes established with Allband, Merit and equipment vendors

At least 10 (?) sites (base station radios and remote receivers) deployed – many more remote receiving stations

Everything documented and template plan created for other communities

Efficacy report completed

Next steps and timelines• Now through Fall 2018

• Collaboration approved

• At least 10 (?) sites and applications determined

• Determine community anchor partners (higher education, K-20, libraries, healthcare, government etc…)

• Equipment vendor selection

• Team identified and support roles determined

• Training

• Deployment and testing

• Processes and documentation developed

• Final report produced

Q & A

Thanks!