Oregon Broadband Advisory Council Minutes January 22, 2015

Transcription

1 Oregon Broadband Advisory Council Minutes January 22, 2015 Attendees: Council Members: Susan Ackerman, Anne Carloss, Mary Beth Henry, Lonny Macy, Lake County Commissioner Ken Kestner representing Mike Smith, and Dave Sabala. Staff: Christopher Tamarin Oregon Business Development Department (OBDD) Others: Chris Burns of Charter Communications, Jerry Cady of LSN, David Childers of the Oregon Engineering Technology Industry Council (ETIC), Cameron Frasnelly of Douglas Electric, Cheryl Hiemstra of the Oregon Department of Justice, Craig Honeyman of the League of Oregon Cities, Andrew Kenny and Dan Runcie of Education Superhighway, Commissioner Ken Kestner of Lake County, Kim Lamb, Laura McKinney of the Oregon University System / ETIC, Sidra Metzger-Hines of the Oregon Office of Emergency Management, David Soloos of Oregon Department of Administrative Services, Eric Schmidt of Association of Oregon Counties, Carla Wade of the Oregon Department of Education, Rick Williams of Leidos/FirstNet Council Business: Vice-Chair Mary Beth Henry called the meeting to order and asked for guest introductions. Minutes A quorum was not present to approve the minutes. Chair and Vice-Chair Election A quorum was not present to hold the election. Updates: National Broadband Activity Chris Tamarin provided references on the following national broadband activity regarding infrastructure deployment, public policy and illustrations of the value of broadband adoption and utilization since the last Council meeting. President Obama on Broadband Chris noted that President Obama touched on Broadband in general terms in his State of the Union address, and he touched on it in detail on January 13 th, when he announced steps to help more Americans get access to fast and affordable broadband, stating that high-speed, low-cost broadband is needed to support economic revitalization. 1

2 The Obama Administration is: Calling to End Laws that Harm Broadband Service Competition: Laws in 19 states some specifically written by special interests trying to stifle new competitors have held back broadband access and, with it, economic opportunity. As a first step, the Administration is filing a letter with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging it to address barriers inhibiting local communities from responding to the broadband needs of their citizens. Aimed at municipal networks. Expanding the National Movement of Local Leaders for Better Broadband: As of today, 50 cities representing over 20 million Americans have joined the Next Century Cities coalition, a nonpartisan network pledging to bring fast, community-supported broadband to their towns and cities. They join 37 research universities around the country that formed the Gig.U partnership to bring fast broadband to communities around their campuses. To recognize these remarkable individuals and the partnerships they have built, in June 2015 the White House will host a Community Broadband Summit of mayors and county commissioners from around the nation who are joining this movement for broadband solutions and economic revitalization. Announcing a New Initiative to Support Community Broadband Projects: To advance this important work, the Department of Commerce is launching a new initiative, BroadbandUSA, to promote broadband deployment and adoption. BroadbandUSA will offer online and in-person technical assistance to communities; host a series of regional workshops around the country; and publish guides and tools that provide communities with proven solutions to address problems in broadband infrastructure planning, financing, construction, and operations across many types of business models. Unveiling New Grant and Loan Opportunities for Rural Providers: The Department of Agriculture is accepting applications to its Community Connect broadband grant program and will reopen a revamped broadband loan program, which offers financing to eligible rural carriers that invest in bringing high-speed broadband to unserved and underserved rural areas. Removing Regulatory Barriers and Improving Investment Incentives: The President is calling for the Federal Government to remove all unnecessary regulatory and policy barriers to broadband build-out and competition, and is establishing a new Broadband Opportunity Council of over a dozen government agencies with the singular goal of speeding up broadband deployment and promoting adoption for our citizens. The Council will also solicit public comment on unnecessary regulatory barriers and opportunities to promote greater coordination with the aim of addressing those within its scope. 2

3 NTIA Announces Broadband USA Program Following-up on the President s remarks, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling announced the BroadbandUSA initiative aimed at finding new ways to assist communities seeking to ensure their citizens have the broadband capacity they need to advance economic development, education, health care, and public safety. Community Broadband Solutions report A new report on Community Based Broadband Solutions was released last week by the National Economic Council and Council of Economic Advisers stating that, Affordable, reliable access to high speed broadband is critical to U.S. economic growth and competitiveness. Upgrading to higher-speed broadband lets consumers use the Internet in new ways, increases the productivity of American individuals and businesses, and drives innovation throughout the digital ecosystem. The full report is posted at Net Neutrality / Open Internet A draft Bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure Internet openness is being discussed on Capitol Hill. The Bill proposes to prohibit blocking lawful content and non-harmful devices, to prohibit throttling data, to prohibit paid prioritization, to require transparency of network management practices, to provide that broadband shall be considered to be an information service, and to prohibit the Commission or a State commission from relying on section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 as a grant of authority. The legislation will be the focus of hearings on Protecting the Internet and Consumers through Congressional Action in the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon. /BILLS-114hr-PIH-OpenInternet.pdf State Broadband Activity Chris Tamarin provided references on the following Oregon broadband activity regarding infrastructure deployment, public policy and illustrations of the value of broadband adoption and utilization since the last Council meeting. UM 1481 Update UM 1481 is an open proceeding investigating the Oregon Universal Service Fund. Last September, Brant Wolf of OTA provided a report to OBAC on UM 1481 and described a stipulation which was filed on September 22 nd jointly by the parties. The Joint Motion is described in OBAC s September 25, 2014 minutes. On January 12 th, the PUC denied the motion to adopt the stipulation. The Public Utility Commission of Oregon will hold a prehearing conference in these proceedings on February 11,

4 Oregon Broadband Map Chris reported that the Oregon Broadband Map is now off-line due to the end of funding. The annual cost of continuing to make the Map available is estimated to be about $15K. If the functionality could be established on one virtualized server, then the cost would be about $8K not including staff time, which would have to be provided on a time available basis. SandyNet Update Sandy continues to make progress on its SandyNet FTTH project. The underground fiber network is operated by the City of Sandy's municipally owned utility. The SandyNet network will pass all 4,000 of the community's homes, making symmetrical broadband offerings of both 100 Mbps and 1 Gbps available to all 10,000 city residents. The first homes were connected last September, and implementation will continue into the Spring of this year. SandyNet is offering voice and video in addition to ultra-highspeed broadband. The 100 Mbps data package is $39.95 and the 1 Gbps package is $59.95 with no caps or restrictions. The take rate is currently above plan. /d/d-id/ Frontier Communications delivers Gigabit Service Frontier Communications reported that it began providing residential Gigabit service this past November in Beaverton. Google Fiber Chris reported that Google Fiber delayed its decision on deploying Google Fiber in the Portland metropolitan area. One issue affecting the decision to delay are the current rules in Oregon Tax Law regarding state-level central assessment that values the company s assets including intangible assets to determine taxes. This issue may be addressed in the 2015 Legislative Session. Presentations: Cyber Security Laura McKinney and David Childers of the Oregon Engineering Technology Industry Council (ETIC) provided an update on significant progress in their efforts to establish a Center for Cyber Excellence in Oregon. We are facing cyber security threats from a wide spectrum of sources - criminals, political activists, social mal-contents, and nation states. Current and Trending Cyber Risks The Internet of Things (IoT) Data Protection during Transfer and Storage 4

5 Data Privacy Big Data Ransomware Cyber Espionage/Terrorism Power Grid SCADA Consumer Fraud/Identity Theft Weak and Stupid Human Firewall (There is no patch for stupidity) Not enough graduates with Cyber-Skills Cyber-extension includes the application of scientific research and new knowledge to cyber-security and cyber-awareness practices through end-user education. Graduates prepared with high-demand cyber skills, and certifications Expanded research to anticipate, prevent and monitor cyber risk, Partnerships with local workforce investment boards and community colleges to keep the workforce cyber-current, Partnerships with our industry associations and regional economic development organizations to help ensure small and medium size enterprises have information and access to needed resources, Trusted expertise for businesses and agencies when cyber threats are present. Legislative Concept 1910 is being developed to establish the Oregon Center of Cyber Excellence. It proposes to fund and create the center as an Extension Service that would be part of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, and establish a Board of Directors including members from Higher Education, Justice and Law Enforcement. We are seeking about $2.5 million in state support. Some funding may also come through ETIC which controls about $29 million in funding for engineering and technology purposes. [It was noted thought that HB 2728 has been introduced this session that would abolish ETIC and its association fund, and replace it with the Oregon Talent Council.] The Function of the center is defined as: Providing services and expertise to Oregon businesses and government agencies to assist with the planning, preparation, management or assessment of or the response to cyber issues; Coordinating cyber-security education among post-secondary institutions of education in Oregon in order to create meaningful cyber-educational standards; Developing cyber-competitions and other programs to build practical workforce skills necessary to address cyber-management and cyber-security threats; Sharing cyber-expertise and disseminating best practices for cyber-education and cyber-safety; Facilitating cyber-security research; and Encouraging industry investment and partnership with post-secondary institutions of education and other career readiness programs. 5

6 The center would not be a starting point, but a hub point. There are over 200 companies in Oregon, e.g. Intel-McAfee, Mentor Graphics, Tripwire, already engaged in cyber issues, the center would provide a point of coordination. The University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Portland State University, and the Oregon Institute of Technology have established an Oregon Cybersecurity Consortium are prepared to engage as a group with Oregon Industry through the Oregon Center of Cyber Excellence. OREGON CYBERSECURITY CONSORTIUM UO PSU OIT OSU The resulting consortium is prepared to develop course offerings, professional development opportunities and other capabilities to create and maintain a pipeline of graduates and professionals with deep cybersecurity expertise to enable Oregon industry to deliver cyber security solutions. There has been a request to build a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) laboratory in one of the Community Colleges do study threats and risks faced by SCADA systems in energy, telecommunications, and transportation. Oregon is one of five states that does not have a cyber-center. OBAC will watch for the Cyber Security bill to be dropped. Rick Williams noted that the Oregon Military Department has a cyber-unit and should be included in these discussions and initiatives. He also reported that the Pacific Northwest Economic Region holds Emerald Down, a regional cyber-security workshop. Oregon should engage with this group. Chris thanked Laura, David, and Rick for raising cyber-security as an issue before OBAC last year. It was adopted by OBAC a key issue for Oregon. Oregon Department of Education Carla Wade provided an update on Broadband in K-12 schools. On January 8 th, Carla as a member of the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) attended a web-conference meeting with the FCC E-Rate Program staff regarding enhancements. The FCC has been very engaged in listening to the concerns of the schools regarding broadband and rural challenges. 6

7 The FCC s modernization of the E-Rate program is a game changer in the challenge to equip Oregon schools with broadband network access and in-school distribution network infrastructure. In 2014 the FCC adopted two major orders re-orienting the E-rate program to provide support for high-capacity broadband services to and within schools and libraries; improving the administration of the program; and raising the annual E-rate funding cap. The first FCC E-Rate order Re-orients the E-rate program to focus it on broadband Adopts goals and measures for the program Significantly expands Wi-Fi funding for all libraries and schools Improves E-rate program cost-effectiveness through pricing transparency, encouraging consortia and bulk purchasing Streamlines and simplifies the E-rate application process and program administration Seeks comment on how to best meet the needs of the program going forward Internet access targets: 100 Mbps per 1,000 students (short term); 1 Gbps per 1,000 students (long term) 100 Mbps for libraries serving fewer than 50,000 people and at least 1 Gbps for libraries serving more than 50,000 people WAN target: Connection scalable to 10 Gbps per 1,000 students (long term) Record not sufficiently developed to establish performance measure and a WAN connectivity target at this time for libraries The second FCC E-Rate order Raises the annual E-rate funding cap to $3.9 billion Focuses on addressing the connectivity gap facing many schools and libraries, particularly in rural areas, by maximizing the options available for purchasing affordable high-speed connectivity Directs the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) to establish a performance management system to assess the effectiveness of policy changes and program administration Expands the definition of rural to include schools and libraries located in urban clusters with fewer than 25,000 residents Applications for the Funding Year 2015 are currently being accepted. Carla also reported that the Department of Education conducted a District Technology Capacity Survey in December There were 118 respondents from 107 districts and 11 programs out of 197 total districts. Most of the non-respondents were small districts with the lowest broadband connectivity. 7

8 54 districts (49%) are very confident in their district s overall technological capacity to successfully administer the Smarter Balanced tests 50 districts are somewhat confident 5 districts lacked confidence 2 districts expressed serious concerns 66 districts (59%) are very confident that their internet connection and schools networks can handle the transmission of the Smarter Balanced tests 42 districts are somewhat confident 2 districts lacked confidence 1 district expressed serious concerns 73 districts (65%) anticipate either no impact or an absorbable impact on other business uses of their network and internet connections 34 districts anticipate a slight negative impact 5 districts anticipate a significant impact 81 districts (73%) express no concerns that firewalls, network filtering software, or monitoring systems might impede delivery of the Smarter Balanced tests 15 districts didn t know 15 expressed concern Most of the smaller school districts did not respond. Despite the survey it is still difficult to predict what the Smarter Balanced Assessment experience will be this Spring. There are a lot of variables. Regardless of the outcome, the Smarter Balanced Assessment should shine a light on broadband service to schools in Oregon this year. The Department of Education will be working with local school districts to promote the enhanced E-Rate Program. Details and rules for the enhancements are still being developed at the FCC/USAC. The Department of Ed is also exploring collaboration with other agencies for procurement of broadband services and equipment. It was also noted that schools are often designated as emergency evacuation sites, there may also be access to support from the national FirstNet initiative. School districts should also confer with local first responders on Distributed Antennae Systems to provide for and meet public safety communications access needs within school buildings. Mary Beth suggested convening a meeting or forum for Schools and service providers to understand the new E-rate and other program resources and processes so that Oregon can take full advantage of these programs. We need to get all the right people in the room regarding this issue and funding opportunity. OBAC will explore how it can further support these efforts. Carla Wade s power points may be viewed on the OBAC website under this meeting date at 8

9 Oregon Office of Emergency Management Sidra Metzger-Hines provided an overview of OEM s Emergency Preparedness Planning Workshop scheduled for March 30 April 3 in Sun River. This Workshop was held for the first time last year with a tremendous response. There were a total of 133 attendees 74 Individuals representing 56 agencies from 34 counties 9 Individuals representing 5 Tribal Nations 3 Individuals representing 3 non-profit organizations 26 Individuals representing 17 state agencies 3 Individuals representing 2 federal agencies 3 Individuals representing 2 private entities 18 OEM employees This year, the Workshop will provide participants with training and information on programs, current issues and best practices related to all phases of emergency management, and is intended to build partnerships and strengthen collaboration. Four tracks will focus on specific areas of interest: Preparedness, Operations, Threats & Hazards, and Opportunities Partnerships & Successes. The intended audience is tribal, county, and state public safety staff, as well as DHS and FEMA preparedness grant recipients. A Cascadia Rising Exercise initial planning meeting will be held pre-workshop on Monday, March 30, There is no cost to register. Registration closes February 10, To date approximately 110 participants registered including representatives from 24 counties, 4 tribal nations, 8 state agencies, 4 federal agencies and 8 private / non-profit agencies. OEM will sponsor lodging for up to three representatives for each county and tribe. Chris reviewed a finding of the Council over the past year of discussions of disaster recovery planning, that given a major disaster, electric power and telecommunications will be critical for emergency response efforts and for recovery. The Council recommends that OEM have established contacts and channels of communication with the state s facilities based telecommunications service providers in order to be able to know the status of networks and be able to share that information with impacted communities and those responding to the disaster. Sidra noted that OEM has recently established a public-private partnerships position and it work on Cascadia event planning can help establish those relationships. 9

10 Work Session: 2015 OBAC Agenda The Council discussed its agenda for Prospective items include the key issues identified by the Council in its 2014 report. Promotional outreach for local engagement in broadband planning Broadband access K-12 schools FirstNet Public safety broadband communications Disaster recovery planning Leveraging federal funding programs for broadband Cyber security Mary Beth suggested that the Council might host another Education Summit given the E- Rate Program developments that were presented by Carla Wade. Jerry Cady observed that we need better coordination between the school districts, city governments, county governments, and other anchor institutions like public safety and healthcare to better identify common needs and resources from a range of sources to meet those needs going forward aligning needs with federal funding programs. Mary Beth noted that Broadband Planning Template could be used and fine-tuned to support that kind of effort and bring diverse parties together. Mary Beth also indicated that the new funding program and E-Rate Program changes and rule development are still in process and we want to have the details on the financial and technical resources available for the gathering. Hosting a Summit in an April 2015 timeframe was discussed Legislative Session A working list of bills and resolutions was distributed to Council members, but was not discussed in the meeting. Public Input: Chris shared recommendations that he received from Dr. Ed Parker regarding broadband for Oregon K-12 Schools. He recommends doing for schools what the Oregon Health Network did for healthcare facilities. Have competitive bidding to get a minimum of 100 megabits to every school in the state, with options up to 10 gigabits for larger schools that need more capacity and optional upgrades to higher speeds when schools find that they have underestimated the requirements Have competitive bidding for WiFi contracts to provide high-speed wireless everywhere inside the school or the school grounds connecting to the backbone link from the school. 10

11 Do not accept up to or best efforts Internet contracts. Have committed quality of service on links from each school to NWAX where they can connect to DAS at data rates sufficient for simultaneous real-time testing. Contract with an experienced marketing person who understands the problems and has the credibility to put the pieces together. Sell the concept of getting FCC funding for bringing super high speed broadband to every school, and thus to every community, in the state. Esteemed Resident Dave Sabala shared that Gordon French, legendary computer engineer and programmer who played a key role in the Homebrew Computer Club in Menlo Park, California is now receiving broadband service in Roseburg under Douglas FastNet s fiber to the home pilot project. Meeting Schedule: The January 22, 2015 meeting of the Oregon Broadband Advisory Council was held at the Local Government Center in Salem. The next meeting will be on Thursday, February 26, 2015 in Salem. Meeting information will be posted on the Council website at * * * 11