Gigabit Nation

The telehealth wave is making its mark in rural communities as well. When you live two and three hours away from the nearest doctor or healthcare facility, telehealth can be a godsend. Matt Larsen, owner of 20-year-old Wireless ISP (WISP) Vistabeam in Nebraska, says you can’t just lay down some fiber and routers, and call this a broadband success. You need leading-edge applications as well. Rural areas often lack the human and tech resources necessary for broadband to thrive. So Vistabeam is designing Community Empowerment Centers to offer communities: private Telehealth Consultation rooms;full-time Digital Navigators and reception area;digital skills and telehealth training; andInventory Rooms with shared computing devices and equipment. Socia and Larsen will give our Gigabit Nation audience tips and recommendations you can use right away.

[Here are the complete interviews of Deb and Matt that were interrupted by a system crash] Two long-time broadband experts explain how to boost broadband adoption in their communities by integrating telehealth in their digital strategy. These are early pioneers of broadband-telehealth integration. first the trash is Chattanooga. This city was the first to have border-to-border gigabit service available to everyone. Now they're setting the pace with telehealth. 1,000 free telehealth appointments are coming to one of the lowest income communities in Chattanooga, TN, plus home Internet access, new Chromebooks, and training. President and CEO Deb Socia of The Enterprise Center discusses the city’s digital intervention that will help residents who are susceptible to high incidences of stroke, heart disease, diabetes, and asthma. Chattanooga’s public gigabit network plays a key role in the telehealth delivery.

Get more impact from your communities broadband planning, listen to tips for increasing Affordability Connectivity Program (ACP) adoption, and meet winners who are making a difference in their digital communities. Two digital justice warriors share with Gigabit Nation secrets of their success at getting residents connected to broadband, digital inclusion, and telehealth. Rebecca F. Kauma is Digital Equity & Inclusion Officer for the City of Long Beach, CA. She is having great success making sure that everyone has a voice in the needs assessments and planning activities. Elizabeth Ramirez is the Community Digital Navigator for ACP in Waukegan, IL. In the last 60 days she engaged 230 households. 33% completing enrollment, while another 34% are approved for ACP and choosing their ISP. Kauma uses a “collective impact approach” in which her team goes deep inside of communities, engages groups within communities, and once everyone is convened, Kauma ensures everyone has an equal voice. Ramirez and ConnectWau

Today’s Gigabit Nation helps you build winning partnerships for the long-haul.  Whether it’s a wireless infrastructure covering miles or digital inclusion projects involving anchors institutions, communities are best served by suppliers who view the relationship has a partnership not a “get it and go” transaction. What question has you stumped? How do you find partnerships that are right for your community? Ask the right questions from the beginning. How do you know if it’s time to “cut bait” and move on? Understand why a pilot project can be the best thing for communities and suppliers.  Are digital warriors for today are: JJ McGrath is CEO (“Chief Everything Officer”) of TekWav, a wireless ISP (WISP). He has has more than 20 years of experience in Information Technology. TexWav has deep roots in the community and operates under the philosophy of, offer the quality of a larger company and deliver personalized service and support of a locally-owned business. Diane Connery is Director of the Pottsboro Publ

Gigabit Nation today explores how broadband can impact the Black Rural South. 38% of African Americans in this area lack broadband because the barriers to the technology are significant and deserve attention. Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies’ recent report lays out opportunities and policy changes that can turned around these residents’ broadband situation. And as billions flow, urban communities should scope out the tech that drives healthcare delivery! Particularly exciting are telehealth,Internet of Things (IoT) and smart home automation platforms. These technologies can make a difference for the 14 million homes that lack Internet access and digital tools, 75% of which are African Americans and people of color. Today's digital equity warriors are: Dominique Harrison, PhD, the Director of Technology Policy at the Joint Center’s Technology Policy Program. She recently published “Affordability & Availability: Expanding Broadband In the Black Rural South”. Dr. Harrison details how broadb

Today's episode salutes those communities that have taken the reins of their broadband or digital inclusion efforts! When leading local pols are disinterested or the state or federal governments are too restrictive, that’s when unofficial leaders rise up and lead successful projects. Here’s how you do it. And you don’t have to be Dr. “Bones” McCoy to launch winning telehealth in support of public effort either, but you do have to be good at developing partnerships that include competent healthcare talent. Libraries, barbershops, churches or other community organizations can lay the ground work for teams. Telehealth means more than just video chats with doctors. Today’s digital equity warriors are: Peter Caplan is Managing Consultant at the eHealth Systems & Solutions firm where he designs and manages telemedicine projects as well as conduct health IT and sustainable business planning for hospitals and physician group practices. Created a comprehensive telemedicine master plan for the Department of Inte

The pandemic displayed for us the genius of telehealth - but also its Achilles’ Heel. As millions of workers, students, and others went into lockdown, people everywhere from the comfort of their homes were able to see doctors. But over 14 million urban and 4 million rural homes have ZERO broadband and are left out of this digital miracle. The episode of Gigabit Nation explores strategies to ensure that these billions of dollars the federal government plans to spend on broadband are used smartly, equitably, and with better accountability. We’ll talk broadband planning, needs assessment, and accountability. And talk about genius, nothing says "pulse of a community" like laundromats! It’s a block party, gossip fest, kids’ playground and now, telehealth. Local libraries and volunteer groups are turning laundromats across the country into centers of learning and engagement. Today’s digital equity warriors are: Drew Clark's day job is telecom attorney at the CommLaw Group. But his a long-standing rep in the bro

Another $10 billion from the Treasury Department for broadband! But will urban broadband flourish as a result? It depends. Lobbying forces tend to swing to rural, so city leaders must insist on urban equity in government's broadband funding, and community stakeholders must keep local and state politicians' feet to the fire. This Gigabit Nation session explores ways to bring accountability into the broadband buildout processes. The 800-pound gorilla in the room is accountability in rural broadband funding. For nearly a decade $5 billion a year has been spent on rural broadband, but where's the beef!? More importantly, what can communities do to bring accountability for all of these billion of dollars in both rural and urban areas? Today's digital equity warriors are: Lori Sherwood is Director of Commercial & Market Development at Render Networks, and her managerial experience covers the both the client and the vendor side. Besides managing and facilitating broadband deployments, Ms Sherwood has also wo

NTIA’s $285-million CMC pilot program provides grants to eligible Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges or Universities (TCUs), and minority serving institutions (MSIs). NTIA is funding not only broadband for anchor institutions but digital programs that drive adoption (some agencies mostly fund network infrastructure). NTIA also is encouraging pilots to create 15-mile broadband umbrella around the institutions. Nationwide, broadband and telehealth deployments are only as good as the maps that guide them. LightBox create maps by combining granular location data with information from 2 billion Wi-Fi access points. Communities get a more detailed, accurate picture of broadband connectivity. Today’s digital equity warriors are: A graduate of HBCU undergrad and law schools, Scott Woods currently leads the Connecting Minority Communities (CMC) Pilot Program, and serves as a principal liaison between the CMC and BroadbandUSA program. Mr. Wood’s career of government service include

$65 billion for broadband! Mission accomplished? Not hardly! You can’t just throw money over the fence and declare victory over digital inequity. This session explores ways to make broadband legislation more effective for everyone, how to beat down anti-muni bills, and tactics for increasing community support. And should we expect even more federal money? Also, pay attention to essential infrastructure that comprises telehealth deployment. Telehealth kiosks are going to be critical when in come to deploying public health deep into communities, such as in libraries, K-12 schools, churches, public housing, even maybe laundromats. Today’s digital equity warriors are: Christopher Mitchell, a leading national expert on community networks and Internet access, is the Director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR). His MuniNetworks.org is a clearinghouse local government policies to improve Internet acces, and his interactive map tracks 600 community netwo

Currently there are 14 million people of color who cannot get telehealth while the FCC & USDA spends nearly $5 billion dollars/year to get telehealth & broadband for 4 million rural households.  Where is the parity in funding? Where is the justice?  Francella Ochillo, our guest today on Gigabit Nation talk show, is the Executive Director of the broadband  advocacy group Next Century Cities. She is definitely ready to fight the good fight for fast, affordable and reliable broadband access for all.  Ms Ochillo lays out in real terms the costs facing urban America if we don’t get parity in broadband spending. People are marching in the streets saying how important it is that Black people have an even playing field. Maybe they can detour for a few days to bring this message to Federal agencies that fund the good health of rural communities while missing the mark in their funding of urban health.  

11,944,370 urban residents have no access to telehealth but Federal agencies earmark billions for broadband and telehealth grants targeted to 3,829,802 rural communities. Urban communities want grant parity with rural. No broadband, no telehealth! Yet FCC finances broadband through the $20 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund but no urban fund. They award $4.15 billion for broadband in schools that's weighted to rural. Their Rural Heath Care Program has over $1 billion, while the Senate wants to add another $2 billion. Where‘s the urban healthcar parity? Angela Seifer, Executive Director for the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, joins us to discuss strategies for reaching parity in broadband and telehealth spending: identifying disparity in current broadband and telehealth  new funding coming from US House and Senate  expected benefits from funding parity 

Learn how Partners Healthcare, the City of Boston, and the state of Massachusetts created Boston Hope, a 1,000-bed field hospital with a telehealth-driven hybrid wired/wireless infrastructure – in just seven days! Listen to best practices for transforming your local healthcare capabilities with telehealth and community broadband, regardless of your city’s or county’s size. Our guest, John Campbell, serves as the Chief Information Officer for C, a division of not-for-profit Partner’s Healthcare. Campbell describes how the team: implemented a fully technology-enabled hospital, including a testing lab and pharmacy;deployed broadband, regular computers, and mobile devices; andthe massive push to get 10,000 physicians set up to do telehealth in just a few weeks; andsuccessfully herded cats. Boston Hope was created to treat patients on the road to recovery, while easing pressure on the others hospitalsproviding acute, ICU treatment for COVID-19 patients. Boston Hope likely will close when Boston has “flatten the

TECHNICAL GLITCH! Show start at 2 min, 30 sec. Free telehealth service until the pandemic is over, thanks to the power of broadband and cloud computing. Doug Tate, CEO of Alpha Technologies, realized that his data center technology for businesses is capable of linking indivuals with healthcare providers regardless of the computing device in either end. The key is a HIPAA-compliant cloud connection. He'll describe how it all works on my show today. Dr. R. Michael Greiwe is an broadband-savvy orthopedic surgeon and also CEO for telehealth firm OrthoLive. During this Coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Greiwe is making healthcare specialists, general practitioners and folks in general aware of benefit telehealth. In addition to their major projects, we will discuss: deployment challenges iPhones, Androids; deploying platforms that support provider-to-provider communication; andtools of the Telehealth trade.  Gigabit Nation is sponsored this month by Ready.net. Ready.net helps community broadband networks add subscribe

The Feds threw off the handcuff that cripple telehealth. Patients now can be treated in hotels, dormitories, and other alternative facilities using telehealth. But there’s not much time for celebrating. Communities slammed hard by COVID-19 foresee treating non-COVID patients using in telehealth in alternate facilities. Is your community ready?  Rena Brewer coaches our audience with tips to prepare their communities for a telehealth world, including site selection and and training local healthcare workers. Brewer is CEO of nonprofit telehealth vendor, Global Partnership for Telehealth, and oversees the Southeast Telehealth Resource Center. Creating alternative healthcare facilities demands quality broadband to power the telehealth. Ron Deus, CEO of wireless IPS (WISP) NetX Internet, helps our audience prepare a strategy for broadband coverage in underserved urban and rural communities.  Gigabit Nation is sponsored this month by Ready.net. Ready.net helps community broadband networks add subscribers and inc

Telehealth is important for monitoring coronavirus patients' condition while minimizing healthcare workers' exposure to the disease. But today's show discusses the greater value of using telehealth to offload a sizeable share of non-COVID-19 patients from hospitals and doctors: accidentsmental health treatmentstraumas - strokes & heart attacks  post-surgery monitoringelderly care COVID-19 also exposed the faultlines that is inherent in this country's broadband infrastructure. It has made networks groan under the stress of quickly shifting business, schools, and healthcare data to homes. What's the short- and long-term impact of this shift, especially as it pertains to telehealth? Kim Almkuist, the nurse practitioner overseeing telehealth initialives for the Wilson County [NC] Department of Health, describes how telehealth is improving healthcare. She also explains potential impacts on home healthcare of the feds relaxing restrictions on telehealth. Almkuist has the Wilson Greenlight public broadband nerw

Last year, the Tennessee governor and legislature freed co-ops of restrictions on delivering broadband to its members. Last month, the first co-op out of the gate announced its partnership with a local ISP to provide gigabit service to its members. Smart grid, public safety, and consumer and business services are some of the benefits middle Tennesseans will reap from the partnership. Chris Jones, President and CEO of Middle Tennessee Electric Member Corporation, William Bradford, president and CEO of United Communications and Fire Lieutenant Fritz Haimberger of the Peytonsville Volunteer Fire Department lay out the details.  There are several important lessons that co-ops nationwide as well as municipalities can learn from our guests.  Craig Settles hosts Gigabit Nation. He also assists communities with the business and marketing planning of their broadband networks.                

Arkansas used to lead the US in stroke deaths. Less then 1% of stroke patients statewide received the de-clotting drug alteplase (TPA).  Renee Joiner, (BSN, RN) Director of Arkansas SAVES Stroke Telemedicine Program and Tina Benton, (BSN, RN) Oversight Director of the Center for Distance Health explain how telehealth turned around the state's stroke recovery in the state. Arkansas's state healthcare broadband network, the Center for Distance Health at the UAMS and the Arkansas Department of Human Services formed Arkansas Stroke Assistance through Virtual Emergency Support (ARSAVES). This telehealth service connects 54 of the state’s 80 hospital. Now 33% of the patients in those hospitals who qualify for the stroke program to receive TPA. The state’s healthcare fiber ring supports several additional health and telehealth programs throughout the Arkansas hospital systems, including a huge trauma care program. You can read this about this and other stories in the report, “Broadband and Telehealth: In Sickness

Chattanooga soon will reach 100,000 subscribers for its public broadband network. And the telco/cable incumbents  would love nothing better than to crush the life out of the city’s network. Telehealth could keep EPB, the city public network, a step or two ahead of competitors. Dr. Laurie Davis and her medical practice (In Good Health) were part of a pilot test for a telehealth product and service and conducted by EPB. She recounts her experiences with telemedicine and how it has improve the healthcare her practice delivers. But the product also enables her doctors to do house calls for elderly patients who can't easily get from their homes to the office because of difficult travel logistics.    Chattanooga’s gig network and EPB are incredibly popular, and their commitment to telehealth reflects the their devotion to innovation on behalf of subscribers.  Dr. Davis and her staff use EPB broadband in their homes as well as in the office. In Good Health started in 2006 and built its reputation on the long-term

We could lower the nation’s collective healthcare bill if we leveraged telehealth. The FCC apparently got the message and plans to launch the Connected Care $100 million grant program. But some worry that the grant will become one more taxpayer-financed giveaway to giant telco/cableco. Former Commissioner Mignon Clyburn discusses the importance of community broadband to telehealth delivery. People who are the most vulnerable economically are affected most by FCC broadband and telehealth policy. Will decisions of the FCC majority - especially regarding Lifeline - widen the digital divide? Ms Clyburn lays out steps that broadband stakeholders can take to encourage effective FCC telehealth policy. John Windhausen, Excutive Director of the Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband coalition, simplifies for listeners the FCC's public comment process for the telehealth grant. He explains: the FCC's broadband funding mechanisms; the Noticice of Inquiry process and how regular citizens can participate; and how commun