DIALING THE INTERTUBES:BROADBAND PROVISION INITIATIVES FROM THE STATE LIBRARY OF PAPENNSYLVANIA LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONOCT. 19, 2016 Bill Fee

Library Development Adviser for ITState Library of Pennsylvania

KINBER/PENNREN

OPTIONS FOR PENNSYLVANIA

• TV Whitespace• Fiber• Microwave• Google/Facebook• Mesh• FirstNet

TV WHITESPACE

• Leftover analog TV channels• Does not need line of sight• Redeployable• 5-10 mile circular coverage per unit• Uses library’s internet connection• May violate e-rate• Use currently under examination by FCC for Microsoft & schools• Legal according to opinion if distribution is less than 10% of library use

ADAPTRUM

ADAPTRUM DEPLOYMENT –BASE

ADAPTRUM DEPLOYMENT –ACCESS POINT

UNIT REGISTRATION

FCC REGISTRATION

FIBER

• Google Fiber – not yet in Pennsylvania• Kinber – Millions of dollars per hookup• Would have to be run for hundreds of miles total• Still need Last Mile• And, most importantly

MICROWAVE

• Expensive initial installation• Requires cooperation from tower owners and all FCC licenses• Prone to interruption• Shared by everyone within 15 miles of tower• Requires line of sight

GOOGLE/FACEBOOK

• Facebook is concentrating on Third World countries• Google is not in Pennsylvania, and not looking for new sites• Google installs around cities• New fiber/wireless direction is not suitable for rural areas

MESH NETWORKS

• Central connection with PCs connected to each other, rather than the connection• Computer range is about 200-300 feet• Can interspace radio repeater units• New technologies have 1-10 mile ranges• Can be connected via cloud• Requires line of sight or line of radio signal• Equipment can be expensive• Current methods operate best in Linux

CURRENT WIDE AREA MESH NETWORKS

• Brookline, MA• Tempre, AZ• Owensboro, KY• Portland, OR (partial)• Houston, TX (partial)

FIRSTNET

• Would have to be a partnership• Law enforcement/public safety network• Operates on lower bands than TV Whitespace but same channels• Approximately 10 years from full launch• Funded by Dept. of Homeland Security• Librarians and tech people often do not like to work with law

enforcement/Homeland Security

CURRENT PROBLEMS

• E-rate• State interpretation is different than library• Written by cable companies

• Cable companies, especially Mom & Pop• Lack of technological understanding in rural libraries• Trees

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

• Limit network speed• Fund non-e-rate network as pilot/alternative• Microsoft wins case• External use of signal is kept to less than 10%• Only give it to non-e-rate libraries

IT’S THE END OF THE SHOW AS WE KNOW IT…

“The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down what seemed to be a very deep well.”

--Lewis Carroll. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1916), p. 1.

Contact the presenters at: William Fee – wfee@state.pa.us

http://statelibrary.pa.us