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Posts Tagged ‘National Telecommunications and Information Administration’

NH 2nd in Broadband Usage

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

According to a new report by the Economics and Statistics Administration and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, New Hampshire ranks second in broadband usage in the country at 78 percent, trailing only Utah at 80 percent.

In response to that report, State Broadband Director Carol Miller has issued the following statement:

“Although there is still work to be done to bring connectivity to rural unserved and underserved areas, this report speaks well for NH as a tech savvy state and our embracing of new technologies.  

NH has had the reputation of a high tech state in past years.  The notion that we were slipping began as more competition for the status materialized.  NH is indeed a hotbed for technologies and our universities and state incentives for business have had a major influence on that designation.  

NH is a great place for technology businesses. Our biggest assets are qualify of life, lower cost of living, and a dedicated team at the Division of Economic Development under the NH Department of Resources and Economic Development.  We have it all right here in NH.”

To see a copy of the report, visit esa.doc.gov/Reports/exploring-digital-nation-computer-and-internet-use-home.

Network New Hampshire Now to Break Ground on Statewide High-Speed Broadband Network

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Network New Hampshire Now (NNHN) has begun the first phase in bringing affordable broadband access to the state’s under-served citizens, schools and businesses by awarding a NH-based company a contract to construct a middle-mile fiber-optic network.

high-speed-broadbandNashua-based New Hampshire Optical Systems (NHOS) will soon begin construction of a 500+ mile high-speed network stretching from the seacoast to the southwest region, up to the northwest, the North Country, and through the lakes region. The $34 million project, one of the largest fiber networks in the country, is expected to bring many new construction and technology jobs to the state. When complete, the middle mile network aims to improve economic development in NH communities with little to no access to affordable broadband today.  

The middle mile network is the first and largest part of a three-phase initiative resulting from New Hampshire’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) federal grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which NNHN spearheaded. NNHN is a collaboration of NH-based public and private partners focused on building and interconnecting high-speed broadband networks in all 10 state counties. Additional projects include an enhanced wireless public safety network and public television network, connectivity for an intelligent transportation system, and last mile “fiber to the home” in two pilot communities. As the core component supporting many of these projects, the middle mile network is the recipient of the largest portion of the BTOP grant.

New Hampshire Optical Systems was chosen from among five finalists following an intensive, five-month open bid and evaluation process.

“It was a highly competitive process with tough federal grant requirements. NHOS met or exceeded all of the NTIA requirements soundly, while also submitting the lowest cost bid,” said Scott Valcourt, who leads New Hampshire’s BTOP grant for NNHN. “We believe NHOS will be a strong partner who will complete the project on time and on budget.”

NHOS is a for-profit fiber communications firm who is teaming with Waveguide, a Chelmsford, MA company with expertise in engineering, management, construction and maintenance of fiber optic networks. The companies’ executive teams have a strong track record of assembling fiber networks across N.H. and the northeastern U.S., including many of the Fortune 500 network providers, wireless carriers, and municipalities.  NHOS is investing $10 million of its own capital into the project, bringing the total investment in the middle mile initiative to $34 million. Along with this financial investment, the company plans to invest in NH workforce development with the establishment of an apprenticeship program in support of the project to help students in the state gain career training, experience, and jobs in advanced networking technologies.

“We are proud to be part of the effort to expand broadband throughout the state and the country,” said Dave Reusch, general manager of New Hampshire Optical Systems. “We believe our team is uniquely qualified to develop and manage the middle mile network.”

The “middle mile” forms the communications backbone linking a network operator’s core network to local systems and their user base – the same way Interstate 93 provides the corridor for traffic to and from other roads and their surrounding communities. The network will be open to any organization wanting to provide Internet services to end-users, including homes, schools, healthcare facilities, businesses and other enterprises. NHOS will build, own, and manage the middle mile fiber network, and will sell wholesale fiber connectivity along the route, as mandated by the BTOP grant requirements.

The NNHN project aims to dramatically increase broadband access throughout the state by creating an open access network, which will increase choice and competition among network providers, making it economically feasible for them deliver service to end-user communities across the state. It will also try to capitalize on as much existing, available fiber network assets in the state as possible.

NNHN has received $44.5 million in economic stimulus money from the NTIA to fund critically needed broadband expansion across the state. Led by the University of New Hampshire, Network New Hampshire Now was brought together by the NH Division of Economic Development. It was guided by the Governor’s Telecommunications Advisory Board (TAB), and the 2008 New Hampshire Broadband Action Plan. The grant will be matched with nearly $22 million in private cash and in-kind funding.

UNH Awarded $1.7M For Broadband Internet Mapping Project

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

The U.S. Department of Commerce has awarded the University of New Hampshire’s Geographically Referenced Analysis and Information Transfer (NH GRANIT) project approximately $1.7 million to manage a program that will inventory and map current and planned broadband coverage available to the state’s businesses, educators, and citizens. 

unhThe New Hampshire Broadband Mapping Program (NHBMP) is a coordinated, multi-agency initiative funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and is part of a national effort to expand high-speed Internet access and adoption through improved data collection and broadband planning.

GRANIT, which is housed at the UNH Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS), serves as the statewide geographic information system (GIS) clearinghouse.

“The results of the mapping activity will be an important determinant in future broadband access across the state, which is important for all citizens in terms of economic development, education, health care, public health and safety, and quality of life issues,” says GRANIT director Fay Rubin of the Complex Systems Research Center at EOS.

The state’s nine regional planning commissions will collaborate with GRANIT on data collection and verification activities, as well as conduct regional broadband planning activities. Additional support will be provided by a variety of state agencies, including the Division of Economic Development, the Office of Energy and Planning, and the Public Utilities Commission.

Carol Miller

Carol Miller

“We are pleased to set this project in motion. It’s a great example of how collaboration between public and private agencies works for the betterment of all,” says Carol Miller, director of broadband technology at the New Hampshire Division of Economic Development. She adds, “In addition, we will be providing information that will help to develop and track the national broadband plan.”

The Southwest Region Planning Commission (SWRPC) based in Keene is taking the lead role among the regional planning commissions for the project. “This initiative comes at a time of challenge and represents a significant opportunity to address the infrastructure needs of our communities and our state so vital in maintaining a vibrant economy,” says Tim Murphy, executive director of SWRPC.

The project is comprised of two components: a two-year broadband availability inventory and mapping effort, and a four-year planning initiative.

The inventory will use service-area data collected from the 60-plus public and commercial entities, both landline and wireless, that provide broadband services in the state. These data, describing service availability, type, and technology, will help to identify areas of the state that are unserved or underserved by the current broadband infrastructure. Data will also be collected on broadband availability at individual community anchor institutions, including schools, libraries, medical/healthcare locations, public safety offices, and state, county, and municipal buildings. 

The planning component of the NHBMP will incorporate the information collected and the momentum generated by the mapping activities into regional broadband plans throughout New Hampshire. It will involve establishing regional broadband stakeholder groups to identify barriers to broadband deployment, promote collaboration with service providers, facilitate information sharing regarding the use of and demand for broadband services, and develop broadband plans for each region of the state. 

NTIA has now awarded 41 grants to states and U.S. territories totaling approximately $78 million under the program. In addition to NH, the most recent round of awards went to Iowa, Montana, Utah, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The agency expects to finish announcing awards under the program in early 2010. 

The data collected and compiled under the national program will be used to develop publicly available state-wide broadband maps and to inform the comprehensive, interactive, and searchable national broadband map that NTIA is required by the Recovery Act to create and make publicly available by February 17, 2011.

According to Rubin, the NHBMP is scheduled to deliver a preliminary assessment of areas of the state that are unserved or underserved by broadband to NTIA by this spring.

“We will be contacting agencies, organizations, businesses, and residents in the state and we hope that there will be a high degree of interest in and support for this effort. Collecting accurate and comprehensive data will be critical for the project’s success,” Rubin says.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state’s flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students.