2010 Buyers Guide - Broadband Properties

In a Remote County, FTTH Is
A Lifeline to the World
For Cook County, Minn., fiber to the home represents the best hope for
keeping isolated communities viable.
By Masha Zager ■ Broadband Properties
If there were a prize for the most remote
area in the United States, Cook
County would be in the running.
About 5,000 people, or four per square
mile, live in this northeastern corner of
Minnesota, with Ontario to the north
and Lake Superior to the east. There is
only one town – the county seat, Grand
Marais – and only one industry, tourism.
Half the county is under water, ninetenths
of the dry land is owned by the
federal or state government and winter
temperatures routinely drop to 30 below
zero. The closest city of any size, Duluth,
is more than 100 miles away.
The Internet was slow to reach Cook
County. Until 1995, when community
members founded a cooperative ISP, not
even dial-up service was available. Today,
except for small pockets of wireless
and DSL access, most of the county still
has no broadband, and the condition of
the telephone network is so poor that
dial-up speeds are often limited to 10 to
20 Kbps. The Minnesota Ultra High-
Speed Broadband Task Force called
Cook County the most underserved
county in the state.
No Broadband, No Visitors
Despite the cold and the remote location,
Cook County residents were able
to eke out good livings, because the
county’s spectacular scenery and its
recreational opportunities – kayaking,
climbing, hiking and more – drew summer
visitors. But as the world became
more connected, the costs of isolation
grew steeper and the county’s economic
future began to look bleak.
According to county IT director
Danna MacKenzie, hotels, inns and
Without broadband, the residents of Cook
County are becoming increasingly isolated.
lodges report that guests are no longer
willing to stay in places without broadband,
and that college students will not
take summer jobs if it means losing touch
with the world. The owners of these accommodations
cannot participate in online
booking systems, offer video tours,
order goods online or do their banking
online. As commerce moves to the Web,
they are increasingly shut out.
Second-home buyers, too, hesitate to
buy in the area. Local realtors say many
sales have fallen through when potential
buyers learned they could not obtain
broadband. For example, a pair of Mayo
Clinic doctors looking for a summer
home showed interest in a Cook County
house until they realized they could
never work remotely.
Cook County natives who have
moved to the Twin Cities often inquire
about returning to the place where they
grew up, now that their employers – insurance
companies or other large corporations
– have seen the benefits of telecommuting
and are willing to let them
work from anywhere. “I get calls about
that frequently,” MacKenzie says. “It’s increasingly
common in the last two years.”
She has to tell them they can’t do it.
No Broadband, No Services
The residents of Cook County are becoming
more isolated while the rest of
the country becomes more connected.
In-person services that they once took
for granted are disappearing. The state
government is consolidating health care
services to save costs, which means that
residents (and visitors) will have to drive
more than 100 miles each way for anything
more than a routine medical appointment.
The state is also centralizing
the courts, making access to the legal
system more difficult for residents.
The antiquated telephone network is
cutting people off from the world and
making life more difficult and dangerous.
Local businesses lost 21 days of
telephone service last spring, MacKenzie
says – three weeks when they couldn’t accept
reservations, issue permits, or even
call 911. During a recent forest fire, the
Forest Service could not secure enough
bandwidth for emergency cell phone
coverage for first responders. The local
clinic has trouble communicating medical
records to its satellite offices and had
to locate its H1N1 flu vaccination clinic
in one of the few broadband-enabled
About the Author
Masha Zager is the editor of Broadband Properties. You can reach her at masha@
broadbandproperties.com.
62 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | November/December 2009