{"id":996,"date":"2017-03-07T18:54:13","date_gmt":"2017-03-07T23:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/?p=996"},"modified":"2017-03-14T17:53:13","modified_gmt":"2017-03-14T21:53:13","slug":"exploring-the-state-of-fiber-broadband-in-maine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/2017\/03\/exploring-the-state-of-fiber-broadband-in-maine\/","title":{"rendered":"In the slow lane: the state of Fiber Broadband in Maine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Maine has a\u00a0three-part internet access problem that is affecting our collective economic prospects. Scarce rural access, slow internet speeds and expensive \u00a0data plans are causing us Mainers (and our companies) to not\u00a0gain the full benefits of modern cloud-computing services and infrastructure\u2014and we are\u00a0actually <em>overpaying<\/em> for connectivity, relative to other\u00a0cities in\u00a0the USA\u00a0and even across\u00a0the world. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fastmetrics.com\/internet-connection-speed-by-country.php\" target=\"_blank\">Sources<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>However, Maine is also one of the rare\u00a0states with an <strong>advanced fiber-optic network<\/strong>, called the <em>Three-Ring Binder<\/em>, strung throughout its\u00a0territory, connecting (some) rural areas to (some) population centers.<\/p>\n<p>Learn more about its genesis (from both private and federal investment dollars) at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mainefiberco.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Maine Fiber Company<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Maine Fiber Company owns and operates an extensive high-capacity dark fiber network in the northeastern US. The network is largely an open-access middle-mile infrastructure and is available to all carriers and service providers on a non-discriminatory basis.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-997\" src=\"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/MFC_ALL_ROUTES_CSize_Apr_2014_618x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"618\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/MFC_ALL_ROUTES_CSize_Apr_2014_618x800.jpg 618w, https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/MFC_ALL_ROUTES_CSize_Apr_2014_618x800-232x300.jpg 232w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 618px) 100vw, 618px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>So that&#8217;s the good news; we have a solid foundation. But there are many\u00a0<strong>barriers<\/strong> to broadband expansion and competition in Maine, including\u00a0geographical barriers (rural sparsely-populated areas) that discourage commercial profit-driven development, and also <strong>opposition<\/strong> from \u00a0incumbent telecom companies who strive to make pole attachment difficult and lobby (and litigate) against community-owned networks.<\/p>\n<p>Where market forces have failed to provide choice, quality of service, and modern speeds, a feasible\u00a0solution is for communities to build their own networks, as Rockport did (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mainebiz.biz\/article\/20150713\/CURRENTEDITION\/307089986\/1088\" target=\"_blank\">see news story<\/a>). Maine, with its Three-Ring Binder network, has the necessary &#8220;dark fiber&#8221; to allow communities and local service providers to connect and offer very fast speeds at lower prices than the incumbents.<\/p>\n<p>Check these<strong> informative resources<\/strong>\u00a0to learn more about the national movement for community-owned broadband.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/nextcenturycities.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Next Century Cities<\/a> (nextcenturycities.org)<\/li>\n<li>the <a href=\"https:\/\/muninetworks.org\/content\/about-us\" target=\"_blank\">Community Broadband<\/a> project of ILSR<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/scrawford.net\/publications\/academic-journal-articles\/\" target=\"_blank\">Susan Crawford<\/a>, a cyberlaw professor, telecom expert, and advocate for community-driven development.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>A VISION FOR MAINE<\/h4>\n<p>As a software company owner\u00a0and resident, my\u00a0vision for Maine in\u00a0the 21st century is for us to\u00a0become a\u00a0State with the highest percentage of its population connected via <strong>Gigabit Fiber networks<\/strong> \u2014to each other, and to the world.<\/p>\n<p>Why &#8220;Gigabit&#8221;? It&#8217;s all about the speed of getting things done.<\/p>\n<p>Many\u00a0professional services will benefit from faster downloads <strong>and uploads<\/strong>, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>remote medical imaging\/diagnostics (aka\u00a0telehealth)<\/li>\n<li>video production<\/li>\n<li>consumer cloud services like offsite hard-drive\u00a0backups<\/li>\n<li>sharing\u00a0big data with\u00a0AI computing engines for business analysis<\/li>\n<li>streaming virtual reality data for field-augmented holographic vision<\/li>\n<li>video conferencing<\/li>\n<li>smart building controls<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">especially<\/span>\u00a0need improvements to our <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">upload<\/span> speeds, where the lopsided\u00a0difference is indefensible by existing providers (it&#8217;s about economics, not physics).<\/p>\n<p>Quick quiz: do you know <em>why<\/em> your office <em>downloads<\/em>\u00a0are (somewhat) fast, but <strong>upload<\/strong> speeds are slow, at around\u00a05Mb or 10Mb? Short answer: internet providers built out their networks as if the internet was passive TV; we can consume data but we can&#8217;t easily &#8220;broadcast&#8221; or publish anything ourselves.<\/p>\n<h4>UNDERSTANDING SPEED<\/h4>\n<p>21st Century states need<strong>\u00a0Gigabit speed<\/strong>, which is<strong> 1,000 Mbps.<\/strong>\u00a0To compare: currently most of us with Cable internet access in Maine have a top speed of 50Mb for downloads \/\u00a05Mb for uploads. (Note again the huge disparity between upload and download speed.)<\/p>\n<p>To understand how measurements are made, learn\u00a0this simple rule: \u00a0<em>&#8220;<strong>B<\/strong>ytes are for storage, <strong>b<\/strong>its are for data&#8221;<\/em> \u00a0and\u00a0the ratio of:\u00a0 1 <strong>B<\/strong>yte = 8 <strong>b<\/strong>its.<\/p>\n<p>So this means you could describe\u00a0speeds or file sizes interchangeably, by converting\u00a0&#8220;bits-to-bytes&#8221; but it&#8217;s best to stick with the <strong>B<\/strong>\u00a0(storage)or <strong>b<\/strong>\u00a0(data) as appropriate.<\/p>\n<p>e.g.\u00a0 8Gb (speed) = 1GB (file size), and 1Gb (speed) = 125MB (file size).<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #999999;\"><em>You&#8217;ll note that 125 x 8 = 1,000<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a chart with common examples of file\u00a0sizes versus the data transfer speeds it would take to download:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fastmetrics.com\/how-fast-is-fiber-optic-internet.php\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1005 \" src=\"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/download-speeds-matrix-fiber-optic.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"661\" height=\"358\" srcset=\"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/download-speeds-matrix-fiber-optic.png 736w, https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/download-speeds-matrix-fiber-optic-300x162.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 661px) 100vw, 661px\" \/><\/a><em>Chart courtesy of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fastmetrics.com\/how-fast-is-fiber-optic-internet.php\" target=\"_blank\">FastMetrics<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>PRACTICAL BENEFITS<\/h4>\n<p>Let&#8217;s study a particular use case: online (cloud) backups, for personal or corporate archiving. Let&#8217;s say you\u00a0have a small 500gb hard drive that needs continuous, offsite backups&#8230; here&#8217;s how long it would take to do the initial upload to a cloud backup service over\u00a03 different upload speeds.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Typical: 5 Mbps Upload speed<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1026\" src=\"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/500-GB-5Mbps-upload.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"559\" srcset=\"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/500-GB-5Mbps-upload.png 960w, https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/500-GB-5Mbps-upload-300x175.png 300w, https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/500-GB-5Mbps-upload-768x447.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s over 9 days to do a first-time sync. Ever completing that transfer is highly unrealistic, especially if its with a laptop that you need to take from office to home and back, interrupting the progress.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Better\u00a0speed: 200 Mbps upload rate:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1027\" src=\"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/500-GB-200-Mbps-upload.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"943\" height=\"542\" srcset=\"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/500-GB-200-Mbps-upload.png 943w, https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/500-GB-200-Mbps-upload-300x172.png 300w, https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/500-GB-200-Mbps-upload-768x441.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A 5 hour transfer time is much more reasonable; set it in motion before bed and by the morning\u00a0it will be complete.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dream speed: with a 1 Gbps upload rate:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1028\" src=\"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/500-GB-1000-Mbps-upload.png\" alt=\"1gb transfer speed\" width=\"950\" height=\"543\" srcset=\"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/500-GB-1000-Mbps-upload.png 950w, https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/500-GB-1000-Mbps-upload-300x171.png 300w, https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/500-GB-1000-Mbps-upload-768x439.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Just think of how productive we could be with video uploading and sharing projects (like uploading your marketing videos to Youtube); with transferring gigabyte\u00a0datasets across corporate locations; streaming Virtual Reality data in real-time; and many more business activities\u2014and I am purposefully not mentioning the benefits to all the myriad\u00a0<em>entertainment<\/em>\u00a0services available, since such\u00a0&#8220;non-critical&#8221; uses\u00a0(download 40\u00a0music files per hour! watch 5 different movies at home!) can be used to detract from the urgent necessity of better speeds for actual business or professional applications.<\/p>\n<div id=\"country-with-fastest-internet-speed\" class=\"content-bloc\">\n<h4>WE CAN DO BETTER<\/h4>\n<p>From the linked Akamai report, and according to PCMag:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2026better government planning in South Korea has improved internet connection speeds across the country dramatically. Additionally, a competitive Korean ISP market has led to exceptional service levels for end users. In the city of Cheongju, <a href=\"http:\/\/au.pcmag.com\/networking\/30145\/feature\/fastest-isps-2015-south-korea#\" target=\"_blank\">average internet speeds to citizens of 124.5Mbps<\/a> are standard. Further, <a title=\"1Gbps internet plans\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fastmetrics.com\/1000-mbps-internet-service.php\">1Gbps internet plans<\/a> are available in South Korea for just $20 USD.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-bloc\">Maine&#8217;s ConnectME defines broadband as:<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-bloc\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"content-bloc\">\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b><i>The ConnectME Authority Board currently defines effective broadband as 10 Mbps\/10 Mbps \u2013 10 megabits down and 10 megabits up. <\/i><\/b>Areas that have maximum available broadband speeds of at least 10 Mbps\/10 Mbps are considered <b><i>served<\/i><\/b>. Areas with available broadband speeds that are lower than 1.5 Mbps download are considered <b><i>unserved<\/i><\/b>. Areas where the maximum available service is between 1.5Mbps download and 10Mbps\/10Mbps are considered <b><i>underserved.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\">\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<div class=\"content-bloc\">My office currently pays $75\/mo for a 30Mb\/5Mb plan. Here&#8217;s what a widely-used speed test shows I am\u00a0getting at this moment:<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-bloc\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"content-bloc\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1040\" src=\"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/my-speed-test-now.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"654\" height=\"459\" srcset=\"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/my-speed-test-now.png 654w, https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/my-speed-test-now-300x211.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 654px) 100vw, 654px\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"content-bloc\">This is a shared cable network, so when other users nearby are using the internet, speeds will slow. But 6Mb upload is not acceptable in today&#8217;s world,\u00a0and according to Maine&#8217;s standards. What can be done?<\/div>\n<h4 class=\"content-bloc\">A CALL TO ACTION<\/h4>\n<div class=\"content-bloc\">So let&#8217;s join together to create better connectivity options in our state! Here&#8217;s how, specifically:<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-bloc\"><\/div>\n<ol>\n<li class=\"content-bloc\">Ask your ISP for faster upload speeds. When they tell you it&#8217;s impossible or will cost $500\u2013$1,000 per month for a &#8220;business plan&#8221;, go to steps 2\u20137.<\/li>\n<li class=\"content-bloc\">Join the <strong>Maine Broadband Coalition<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/mainebroadbandcoalition.org\/maine-legislature\/\" target=\"_blank\">visit their website<\/a>) and track the latest issues concerning our state.<\/li>\n<li class=\"content-bloc\">Ask your State Rep or Senator (<a href=\"https:\/\/openstates.org\/find_your_legislator\/\" target=\"_blank\">find them here<\/a>) for help in encouraging\u00a0any\u00a0state-level initiatives to help Maine advance the cause of 21st century connectivity.<\/li>\n<li class=\"content-bloc\">Ask your town to join Next\u00a0Century Cities; we have <a href=\"http:\/\/nextcenturycities.org\/member-cities\/\" target=\"_blank\">6 in Maine<\/a> so far!<\/li>\n<li class=\"content-bloc\">Follow Maine&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.maine.gov\/connectme\/\" target=\"_blank\">ConnectME<\/a> agency (charged with community broadband development) and speak out;<\/li>\n<li class=\"content-bloc\">Buy your service from an ISP (internet service provider) who offers better packages than the bigger brand names.<\/li>\n<li class=\"content-bloc\">Ask your town if they have plans to create\u00a0a municipally-owned or managed &#8220;internet utility&#8221; to fill voids left by the private sector.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maine has a\u00a0three-part internet access problem that is affecting our collective economic prospects. Scarce rural access, slow internet speeds and expensive \u00a0data plans are causing us Mainers (and our companies) to not\u00a0gain the full benefits of modern cloud-computing services and infrastructure\u2014and we are\u00a0actually overpaying for connectivity, relative to other\u00a0cities in\u00a0the USA\u00a0and even across\u00a0the world. (Sources.) &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/2017\/03\/exploring-the-state-of-fiber-broadband-in-maine\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;In the slow lane: the state of Fiber Broadband in Maine&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,31,13,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-legal","category-partnerships","category-technology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p415hC-g4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=996"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1047,"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/996\/revisions\/1047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}