Re: [WISPA] It can mean everything
You're so right. Anywhere we can find a child suffering the ravages of catastrophe, unlimited taxpayer dollars are called for, to make his life easier. After we've all lost our homes due to foreclosure and our businesses are closed due to everyone else being broke, these poor children will STILL be happy. Then we just have Congress bail us ALL out, and buy all new homes and new cars and new internet services. Cripes. My heart aches at every person's misfortune...whether it's the disabled man who lives next to me with the wife who has suddenly had to be hospitalized for psychosis or the kid in my youth group who has her seizure disorder go wildly out of control, or any of the millions of tragedies that occur around the globe every year. This does NOT in the slightest justify indebting every taxpayer the point that he can NEVER get out of debt nor his children. Sorry. I am in complete disagreement with you. insert witty tagline here - Original Message - From: John Scrivner j...@scrivner.com To: WISPA General List wireless@wispa.org Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2009 10:33 PM Subject: [WISPA] It can mean everything I used to say our government had no place in broadband. One thing happened that changed my thinking to some degree. A small rural town called Bluford, Illinois used to have no broadband until a few years ago. At that time I never used 900 MHz gear because it was out of my budget. Bluford was full of trees. It is a very poor community which led me to believe they could not afford the high price of 900 MHz CPEs. Basically Bluford defined the Digital Divide. My attitude toward USDA grants was They should stay out of this but if someone will get the money it might as well be me. I shot for the moon. I budgeted for Waverider 900 MHz (The only 900 MHz gear available at that time) and a new tower. I asked for free installs for all residents. I ran surveys of every person in town. In short I did everything the USDA required of the grant and then some. I even went to broadband conventions and told others how to apply for grants. Then a miracle happened. My grant was funded. I received $310K to build service into Bluford. It was the nicest setup I had ever done. The people of Bluford were ecstatic. Over 60% of all residents bought service. We built a free community technology center at the local grade school. We gave free broadband to the schools, the village hall, the fire department, etc. as a condition of the grant. Bluford was doing great. Still, this had not really changed my thinking that Uncle Sam should keep out of the broadband business. One child did change my mind. An 8 year old boy in Bluford got leukemia shortly after we setup the new broadband there. Dad and son, alone, faced the dark days ahead. These people were poor folks facing the horrors of cancer. Despite all this adversity and gloom the boy had only one major mental obstacle which really cut to the core for him. He could not face the prospects of having to be held back a year of school. You see, he was forced into isolation from killing off his immune system as a consequence of the bone marrow being destroyed and replaced. He desparately wanted to finish school with his class. The schoool called me and asked if we could help with the broadband grant program we had won. We did. We bought a pan-tilt-zoom camera and set it up on a roll around cart along with a speakerphone in his classroom. We installed broadband in his home for free using 900 MHz radios to bust through the trees. The boy attended classes virtually through this system. He beat his cancer. He also finished his year with his fellow students. How much is this worth? It seems to me that this particular broadband application is much like the Priceless description we see in those VISA commercials. But let's try to put a dollar amount on it. Is it worth $310K to be able to do this? Is it possible that this one boy's hope alone is worth $310K and the fact that the whole town now has broadband is a bonus? Maybe it is ok to let our leaders lead for a change. I have seen many bad things come from bad government in my 43 years on this earth. I have been fortunate enough to see some good things too. Until recently I thought cynicism was going to rule the day forever in regard to government. I thought patrotism was dead. I thought the American Dream had faded and spoiled into a nightmare. Sadly the government has done much to amplify those feelings. Regardless of your politics you have to be worried. Maybe it is ok to have hope too. Maybe we should try for once to say that we will take our leader's lead and try to stimulate our economy through broadband deployment. I am willing to give it a shot. Maybe this will not work but maybe it will. What if success or failure of this program is more dependent on how we make use
Re: [WISPA] It can mean everything
I've seen many projects such as John described done very well --- with private funding! -RickG But with respect to future debt; would it not be wise and just for that nation to declare in the constitution they are forming that neither the legislature, nor the nation itself can validly contract more debt, than they may pay within their own age, or within the term of 19 years. Thomas Jefferson, September 6, 1789 On Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 3:58 PM, rea...@muddyfrogwater.us wrote: You're so right. Anywhere we can find a child suffering the ravages of catastrophe, unlimited taxpayer dollars are called for, to make his life easier. After we've all lost our homes due to foreclosure and our businesses are closed due to everyone else being broke, these poor children will STILL be happy. Then we just have Congress bail us ALL out, and buy all new homes and new cars and new internet services. Cripes. My heart aches at every person's misfortune...whether it's the disabled man who lives next to me with the wife who has suddenly had to be hospitalized for psychosis or the kid in my youth group who has her seizure disorder go wildly out of control, or any of the millions of tragedies that occur around the globe every year. This does NOT in the slightest justify indebting every taxpayer the point that he can NEVER get out of debt nor his children. Sorry. I am in complete disagreement with you. insert witty tagline here - Original Message - From: John Scrivner j...@scrivner.com To: WISPA General List wireless@wispa.org Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2009 10:33 PM Subject: [WISPA] It can mean everything I used to say our government had no place in broadband. One thing happened that changed my thinking to some degree. A small rural town called Bluford, Illinois used to have no broadband until a few years ago. At that time I never used 900 MHz gear because it was out of my budget. Bluford was full of trees. It is a very poor community which led me to believe they could not afford the high price of 900 MHz CPEs. Basically Bluford defined the Digital Divide. My attitude toward USDA grants was They should stay out of this but if someone will get the money it might as well be me. I shot for the moon. I budgeted for Waverider 900 MHz (The only 900 MHz gear available at that time) and a new tower. I asked for free installs for all residents. I ran surveys of every person in town. In short I did everything the USDA required of the grant and then some. I even went to broadband conventions and told others how to apply for grants. Then a miracle happened. My grant was funded. I received $310K to build service into Bluford. It was the nicest setup I had ever done. The people of Bluford were ecstatic. Over 60% of all residents bought service. We built a free community technology center at the local grade school. We gave free broadband to the schools, the village hall, the fire department, etc. as a condition of the grant. Bluford was doing great. Still, this had not really changed my thinking that Uncle Sam should keep out of the broadband business. One child did change my mind. An 8 year old boy in Bluford got leukemia shortly after we setup the new broadband there. Dad and son, alone, faced the dark days ahead. These people were poor folks facing the horrors of cancer. Despite all this adversity and gloom the boy had only one major mental obstacle which really cut to the core for him. He could not face the prospects of having to be held back a year of school. You see, he was forced into isolation from killing off his immune system as a consequence of the bone marrow being destroyed and replaced. He desparately wanted to finish school with his class. The schoool called me and asked if we could help with the broadband grant program we had won. We did. We bought a pan-tilt-zoom camera and set it up on a roll around cart along with a speakerphone in his classroom. We installed broadband in his home for free using 900 MHz radios to bust through the trees. The boy attended classes virtually through this system. He beat his cancer. He also finished his year with his fellow students. How much is this worth? It seems to me that this particular broadband application is much like the Priceless description we see in those VISA commercials. But let's try to put a dollar amount on it. Is it worth $310K to be able to do this? Is it possible that this one boy's hope alone is worth $310K and the fact that the whole town now has broadband is a bonus? Maybe it is ok to let our leaders lead for a change. I have seen many bad things come from bad government in my 43 years on this earth. I have been fortunate enough to see some good things too. Until recently I thought cynicism was going to rule the day forever in regard
Re: [WISPA] It can mean everything
I chose Scriv Tom's Stories. When I first started Scriv, Rick Harnish, Marlon shaffer spent a lot of time and energy assisting me whenever I asked for help. They never said 'no', they never ignored my requests no matter how simple or ignorant of the facts I was. My system is still small, but growing. We are getting there. If I were to make a recommendation, I would listen closely to what John Scrivner, Tom DeReggi, Rick Harnish and others who given so much to you and I say and recommend. There are reasons why they are where they are. Ron Wallace Hahnron, Inc. 220 S. Jackson Dt. Addison, MI 49220 Phone: (517)547-8410 Mobile: (517)270-2410 e-mail: rwall...@newgenet.net rwall...@tigernet.bz -Original Message- From: John Scrivner [mailto:j...@scrivner.com] Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 01:33 AM To: 'WISPA General List' Subject: [WISPA] It can mean everything I used to say our government had no place in broadband. One thing happenedthat changed my thinking to some degree. A small rural town called Bluford,Illinois used to have no broadband until a few years ago. At that time Inever used 900 MHz gear because it was out of my budget. Bluford was full oftrees. It is a very poor community which led me to believe they could notafford the high price of 900 MHz CPEs. Basically Bluford defined theDigital Divide. My attitude toward USDA grants was They should stay outof this but if someone will get the money it might as well be me. I shotfor the moon. I budgeted for Waverider 900 MHz (The only 900 MHz gearavailable at that time) and a new tower. I asked for free installs for allresidents. I ran surveys of every person in town. In short I did everythingthe USDA required of the grant and then some. I even went to broadbandconventions and told others how to apply for grants.Then a miracle happened.My grant was funded. I received $310K to build service into Bluford. It wasthe nicest setup I had ever done. The people of Bluford were ecstatic. Over60% of all residents bought service. We built a free community technologycenter at the local grade school. We gave free broadband to the schools, thevillage hall, the fire department, etc. as a condition of the grant. Blufordwas doing great. Still, this had not really changed my thinking that UncleSam should keep out of the broadband business.One child did change my mind.An 8 year old boy in Bluford got leukemia shortly after we setup the newbroadband there. Dad and son, alone, faced the dark days ahead. These peoplewere poor folks facing the horrors of cancer. Despite all this adversity andgloom the boy had only one major mental obstacle which really cut to thecore for him. He could not face the prospects of having to be held back ayear of school. You see, he was forced into isolation from killing off hisimmune system as a consequence of the bone marrow being destroy ed andreplaced. He desparately wanted to finish school with his class. The schooolcalled me and asked if we could help with the broadband grant program we hadwon. We did. We bought a pan-tilt-zoom camera and set it up on a roll aroundcart along with a speakerphone in his classroom. We installed broadband inhis home for free using 900 MHz radios to bust through the trees. The boyattended classes virtually through this system. He beat his cancer. He alsofinished his year with his fellow students.How much is this worth?It seems to me that this particular broadband application is much like thePriceless description we see in those VISA commercials. But let's try toput a dollar amount on it. Is it worth $310K to be able to do this? Is itpossible that this one boy's hope alone is worth $310K and the fact that thewhole town now has broadband is a bonus?Maybe it is ok to let our leaders lead for a change.I have seen many bad things come from bad government in my 43 years on thisear th. I have been fortunate enough to see some good things too. Untilrecently I thought cynicism was going to rule the day forever in regard togovernment. I thought patrotism was dead. I thought the American Dream hadfaded and spoiled into a nightmare. Sadly the government has done much toamplify those feelings. Regardless of your politics you have to be worried.Maybe it is ok to have hope too. Maybe we should try for once to say that wewill take our leader's lead and try to stimulate our economy throughbroadband deployment. I am willing to give it a shot. Maybe this will notwork but maybe it will. What if success or failure of this program is moredependent on how we make use of this program than whether or not the programis right or wrong? This is possibly the most unique opportunity of ourlives. The government is basically telling us they want us to save thecountry. They are opening up the bank and saying to us, What would you doto make broadband a stimulating force to aid this country's economy if moneywas not a barrier to your success? I am going to have to step up
Re: [WISPA] It can mean everything
In regards to the USDA grants, doesn't the choosen equipment have to be certified for use with USDA funds? So you could deploy Alvarion/Trango/Canopy but you can't use something like Staros/Mikrotik/Tranzeo??? Kurt Fankhauser WAVELINC P.O. Box 126 Bucyrus, OH 44820 419-562-6405 www.wavelinc.com -Original Message- From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On Behalf Of Tom DeReggi Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 1:52 AM To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] It can mean everything well John's is a wonderful story. With $8billion, I see no reason why as an industry we can't replicate John's story 26,000 times. There are obstacles and risks in everything in life. But battles can be won. We already wons several battles on the terms of the new stimulus bill. I see no reason why we can't win more battles shaping the bill. The biggest advantage a WISP has is they have a pre-existing self sustaining business already, to build upon. That should increase the chances that an existing WISPs will win grants. It also means we have to ask for the money, because if we don't, someone else will. Tom DeReggi RapidDSL Wireless, Inc IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband - Original Message - From: Travis Johnson To: WISPA General List Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 1:47 AM Subject: Re: [WISPA] It can mean everything John, What you did for the community and the individuals in that area is very cool. Something you should be proud of for the rest of your life. However, let's play the other side of this Broadband Stimulus package. What if, because of all this free money, two new competitors come to this area? And what if they all deploy 900mhz? They really have nothing to lose because they don't have any customers right now anyway. And it's not their money that is having to pay for all the equipment, etc. so even if it doesn't work, they don't care. So, what if this new money brings all these government leaches out, right into the wireless broadband market? What if you wake up tomorrow and have 2 or 3 new competitors in your area? What about if they start using 3.65 along with all your deployments? Again, they have nothing to lose because it wasn't their money and they don't care if they cause problems for anyone else, because they are collecting $250k per year salaries and they will ride it until it dries up. This whole package could be a HUGE mess for our entire industry. :( Travis Microserv John Scrivner wrote: I used to say our government had no place in broadband. One thing happened that changed my thinking to some degree. A small rural town called Bluford, Illinois used to have no broadband until a few years ago. At that time I never used 900 MHz gear because it was out of my budget. Bluford was full of trees. It is a very poor community which led me to believe they could not afford the high price of 900 MHz CPEs. Basically Bluford defined the Digital Divide. My attitude toward USDA grants was They should stay out of this but if someone will get the money it might as well be me. I shot for the moon. I budgeted for Waverider 900 MHz (The only 900 MHz gear available at that time) and a new tower. I asked for free installs for all residents. I ran surveys of every person in town. In short I did everything the USDA required of the grant and then some. I even went to broadband conventions and told others how to apply for grants. Then a miracle happened. My grant was funded. I received $310K to build service into Bluford. It was the nicest setup I had ever done. The people of Bluford were ecstatic. Over 60% of all residents bought service. We built a free community technology center at the local grade school. We gave free broadband to the schools, the village hall, the fire department, etc. as a condition of the grant. Bluford was doing great. Still, this had not really changed my thinking that Uncle Sam should keep out of the broadband business. One child did change my mind. An 8 year old boy in Bluford got leukemia shortly after we setup the new broadband there. Dad and son, alone, faced the dark days ahead. These people were poor folks facing the horrors of cancer. Despite all this adversity and gloom the boy had only one major mental obstacle which really cut to the core for him. He could not face the prospects of having to be held back a year of school. You see, he was forced into isolation from killing off his immune system as a consequence of the bone marrow being destroyed and replaced. He desparately wanted to finish school with his class. The schoool called me and asked if we could help with the broadband grant program we had won. We did. We bought a pan-tilt-zoom camera and set it up on a roll around cart along with a speakerphone in his classroom. We installed broadband in his home for free using 900 MHz radios to bust through the trees. The boy attended classes virtually through this system. He beat his cancer
Re: [WISPA] It can mean everything
We were never told we had to use anything from any approved list of vendors. I do know that Waverider did become a USDA Approved Vendor after we had our grant but we were not told we could not use them. We did help get Waverider listed as an approved Vendor at that time after the fact. I think it is simply having the vendor provide some general information about making sure they are an Equal Opportunity Employer, they don't cause environmental destruction, they don't support terrorism, yadda yadda... We had to do the same thing to become USDA approved to receive the funds. There are some hurdles to being qualified for receiving federal funds but most of it was stuff we needed to do anyway like making sure all of our accounting was in proper order. What I foiund was that many of the things that make your company qualified to receive federal funds can be easily accomplished with some time with your attorney and accountant. It was well worth the effort in our case. Scriv On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 2:20 PM, Kurt Fankhauser k...@wavelinc.com wrote: In regards to the USDA grants, doesn't the choosen equipment have to be certified for use with USDA funds? So you could deploy Alvarion/Trango/Canopy but you can't use something like Staros/Mikrotik/Tranzeo??? Kurt Fankhauser WAVELINC P.O. Box 126 Bucyrus, OH 44820 419-562-6405 www.wavelinc.com -Original Message- From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On Behalf Of Tom DeReggi Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 1:52 AM To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] It can mean everything well John's is a wonderful story. With $8billion, I see no reason why as an industry we can't replicate John's story 26,000 times. There are obstacles and risks in everything in life. But battles can be won. We already wons several battles on the terms of the new stimulus bill. I see no reason why we can't win more battles shaping the bill. The biggest advantage a WISP has is they have a pre-existing self sustaining business already, to build upon. That should increase the chances that an existing WISPs will win grants. It also means we have to ask for the money, because if we don't, someone else will. Tom DeReggi RapidDSL Wireless, Inc IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband - Original Message - From: Travis Johnson To: WISPA General List Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 1:47 AM Subject: Re: [WISPA] It can mean everything John, What you did for the community and the individuals in that area is very cool. Something you should be proud of for the rest of your life. However, let's play the other side of this Broadband Stimulus package. What if, because of all this free money, two new competitors come to this area? And what if they all deploy 900mhz? They really have nothing to lose because they don't have any customers right now anyway. And it's not their money that is having to pay for all the equipment, etc. so even if it doesn't work, they don't care. So, what if this new money brings all these government leaches out, right into the wireless broadband market? What if you wake up tomorrow and have 2 or 3 new competitors in your area? What about if they start using 3.65 along with all your deployments? Again, they have nothing to lose because it wasn't their money and they don't care if they cause problems for anyone else, because they are collecting $250k per year salaries and they will ride it until it dries up. This whole package could be a HUGE mess for our entire industry. :( Travis Microserv John Scrivner wrote: I used to say our government had no place in broadband. One thing happened that changed my thinking to some degree. A small rural town called Bluford, Illinois used to have no broadband until a few years ago. At that time I never used 900 MHz gear because it was out of my budget. Bluford was full of trees. It is a very poor community which led me to believe they could not afford the high price of 900 MHz CPEs. Basically Bluford defined the Digital Divide. My attitude toward USDA grants was They should stay out of this but if someone will get the money it might as well be me. I shot for the moon. I budgeted for Waverider 900 MHz (The only 900 MHz gear available at that time) and a new tower. I asked for free installs for all residents. I ran surveys of every person in town. In short I did everything the USDA required of the grant and then some. I even went to broadband conventions and told others how to apply for grants. Then a miracle happened. My grant was funded. I received $310K to build service into Bluford. It was the nicest setup I had ever done. The people of Bluford were ecstatic. Over 60% of all residents bought service. We built a free community technology center at the local grade school. We gave free broadband to the schools, the village hall, the fire department, etc. as a condition of the grant. Bluford
Re: [WISPA] It can mean everything
In my younger years, I use to write grants for a non-profit. It is not difficult, you just need know the guidelines and have a good business plan, as well as some common sense. As Scriv mentioned, it is important now that you work with your attorney and accountant and get things in order. It is also important to get your business certified for any type of extra help that you qualify for. For example, we are certified as a WOSB, Woman Owned Small Business, as well as Viet Nam Veteran. There are certifications also for minority owned, veteran owned and disable veteran owned. I think because of this clause in the stimulus bill that, hopefully, this will keep big business from grabbing up all the monies. Certifications are made when you apply to the Certified Contractors Registry. Another thing that I noted when reading the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Other than providing wireless service, one has to offer community projects, such as, community centers, public safety, jobs for local citizens, etc. In my opinion, if these monies are distributed in the spirit the act was written in, this could be the biggest boon, ever, to the WISP community. Victoria Proffer CEO St. Louis Broadband www.stlbroadband.com On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 3:02 PM, John Scrivner j...@scrivner.com wrote: We were never told we had to use anything from any approved list of vendors. I do know that Waverider did become a USDA Approved Vendor after we had our grant but we were not told we could not use them. We did help get Waverider listed as an approved Vendor at that time after the fact. I think it is simply having the vendor provide some general information about making sure they are an Equal Opportunity Employer, they don't cause environmental destruction, they don't support terrorism, yadda yadda... We had to do the same thing to become USDA approved to receive the funds. There are some hurdles to being qualified for receiving federal funds but most of it was stuff we needed to do anyway like making sure all of our accounting was in proper order. What I foiund was that many of the things that make your company qualified to receive federal funds can be easily accomplished with some time with your attorney and accountant. It was well worth the effort in our case. Scriv On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 2:20 PM, Kurt Fankhauser k...@wavelinc.com wrote: In regards to the USDA grants, doesn't the choosen equipment have to be certified for use with USDA funds? So you could deploy Alvarion/Trango/Canopy but you can't use something like Staros/Mikrotik/Tranzeo??? Kurt Fankhauser WAVELINC P.O. Box 126 Bucyrus, OH 44820 419-562-6405 www.wavelinc.com -Original Message- From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On Behalf Of Tom DeReggi Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 1:52 AM To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] It can mean everything well John's is a wonderful story. With $8billion, I see no reason why as an industry we can't replicate John's story 26,000 times. There are obstacles and risks in everything in life. But battles can be won. We already wons several battles on the terms of the new stimulus bill. I see no reason why we can't win more battles shaping the bill. The biggest advantage a WISP has is they have a pre-existing self sustaining business already, to build upon. That should increase the chances that an existing WISPs will win grants. It also means we have to ask for the money, because if we don't, someone else will. Tom DeReggi RapidDSL Wireless, Inc IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband - Original Message - From: Travis Johnson To: WISPA General List Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 1:47 AM Subject: Re: [WISPA] It can mean everything John, What you did for the community and the individuals in that area is very cool. Something you should be proud of for the rest of your life. However, let's play the other side of this Broadband Stimulus package. What if, because of all this free money, two new competitors come to this area? And what if they all deploy 900mhz? They really have nothing to lose because they don't have any customers right now anyway. And it's not their money that is having to pay for all the equipment, etc. so even if it doesn't work, they don't care. So, what if this new money brings all these government leaches out, right into the wireless broadband market? What if you wake up tomorrow and have 2 or 3 new competitors in your area? What about if they start using 3.65 along with all your deployments? Again, they have nothing to lose because it wasn't their money and they don't care if they cause problems for anyone else, because they are collecting $250k per year salaries and they will ride it until it dries up. This whole package could be a HUGE mess for our entire
[WISPA] It can mean everything
I used to say our government had no place in broadband. One thing happened that changed my thinking to some degree. A small rural town called Bluford, Illinois used to have no broadband until a few years ago. At that time I never used 900 MHz gear because it was out of my budget. Bluford was full of trees. It is a very poor community which led me to believe they could not afford the high price of 900 MHz CPEs. Basically Bluford defined the Digital Divide. My attitude toward USDA grants was They should stay out of this but if someone will get the money it might as well be me. I shot for the moon. I budgeted for Waverider 900 MHz (The only 900 MHz gear available at that time) and a new tower. I asked for free installs for all residents. I ran surveys of every person in town. In short I did everything the USDA required of the grant and then some. I even went to broadband conventions and told others how to apply for grants. Then a miracle happened. My grant was funded. I received $310K to build service into Bluford. It was the nicest setup I had ever done. The people of Bluford were ecstatic. Over 60% of all residents bought service. We built a free community technology center at the local grade school. We gave free broadband to the schools, the village hall, the fire department, etc. as a condition of the grant. Bluford was doing great. Still, this had not really changed my thinking that Uncle Sam should keep out of the broadband business. One child did change my mind. An 8 year old boy in Bluford got leukemia shortly after we setup the new broadband there. Dad and son, alone, faced the dark days ahead. These people were poor folks facing the horrors of cancer. Despite all this adversity and gloom the boy had only one major mental obstacle which really cut to the core for him. He could not face the prospects of having to be held back a year of school. You see, he was forced into isolation from killing off his immune system as a consequence of the bone marrow being destroyed and replaced. He desparately wanted to finish school with his class. The schoool called me and asked if we could help with the broadband grant program we had won. We did. We bought a pan-tilt-zoom camera and set it up on a roll around cart along with a speakerphone in his classroom. We installed broadband in his home for free using 900 MHz radios to bust through the trees. The boy attended classes virtually through this system. He beat his cancer. He also finished his year with his fellow students. How much is this worth? It seems to me that this particular broadband application is much like the Priceless description we see in those VISA commercials. But let's try to put a dollar amount on it. Is it worth $310K to be able to do this? Is it possible that this one boy's hope alone is worth $310K and the fact that the whole town now has broadband is a bonus? Maybe it is ok to let our leaders lead for a change. I have seen many bad things come from bad government in my 43 years on this earth. I have been fortunate enough to see some good things too. Until recently I thought cynicism was going to rule the day forever in regard to government. I thought patrotism was dead. I thought the American Dream had faded and spoiled into a nightmare. Sadly the government has done much to amplify those feelings. Regardless of your politics you have to be worried. Maybe it is ok to have hope too. Maybe we should try for once to say that we will take our leader's lead and try to stimulate our economy through broadband deployment. I am willing to give it a shot. Maybe this will not work but maybe it will. What if success or failure of this program is more dependent on how we make use of this program than whether or not the program is right or wrong? This is possibly the most unique opportunity of our lives. The government is basically telling us they want us to save the country. They are opening up the bank and saying to us, What would you do to make broadband a stimulating force to aid this country's economy if money was not a barrier to your success? I am going to have to step up and be part of the solution. I hope all of you do the same. John Scrivner President - Mt. Vernon. Net, Inc. Trweasurer - WISPA On Sun, Feb 15, 2009 at 11:16 PM, rea...@muddyfrogwater.us wrote: Not me. If it's wrong, it's wrong. I'm not going to say it should not be done and then go after the money for myself. I'd have to hide my face forever.Money comes and goes. Conscience is forever. insert witty tagline here - Original Message - From: Marlon K. Schafer o...@odessaoffice.com To: WISPA General List wireless@wispa.org Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 10:11 PM Subject: Re: [WISPA] What does this mean to wisps? Me? I'm gonna go for as much grant money as I can get. What else can we do? marlon Well, whatcha gonna do?
Re: [WISPA] It can mean everything
John, What you did for the community and the individuals in that area is very cool. Something you should be proud of for the rest of your life. However, let's play the other side of this Broadband Stimulus package. What if, because of all this "free" money, two new competitors come to this area? And what if they all deploy 900mhz? They really have nothing to lose because they don't have any customers right now anyway. And it's not their money that is having to pay for all the equipment, etc. so even if it doesn't work, they don't care. So, what if this new money brings all these "government leaches" out, right into the wireless broadband market? What if you wake up tomorrow and have 2 or 3 new competitors in your area? What about if they start using 3.65 along with all your deployments? Again, they have nothing to lose because it wasn't their money and they don't care if they cause problems for anyone else, because they are collecting $250k per year salaries and they will ride it until it dries up. This whole "package" could be a HUGE mess for our entire industry. :( Travis Microserv John Scrivner wrote: I used to say our government had no place in broadband. One thing happened that changed my thinking to some degree. A small rural town called Bluford, Illinois used to have no broadband until a few years ago. At that time I never used 900 MHz gear because it was out of my budget. Bluford was full of trees. It is a very poor community which led me to believe they could not afford the high price of 900 MHz CPEs. Basically Bluford defined the "Digital Divide". My attitude toward USDA grants was "They should stay out of this but if someone will get the money it might as well be me". I shot for the moon. I budgeted for Waverider 900 MHz (The only 900 MHz gear available at that time) and a new tower. I asked for free installs for all residents. I ran surveys of every person in town. In short I did everything the USDA required of the grant and then some. I even went to broadband conventions and told others how to apply for grants. Then a miracle happened. My grant was funded. I received $310K to build service into Bluford. It was the nicest setup I had ever done. The people of Bluford were ecstatic. Over 60% of all residents bought service. We built a free community technology center at the local grade school. We gave free broadband to the schools, the village hall, the fire department, etc. as a condition of the grant. Bluford was doing great. Still, this had not really changed my thinking that Uncle Sam should keep out of the broadband business. One child did change my mind. An 8 year old boy in Bluford got leukemia shortly after we setup the new broadband there. Dad and son, alone, faced the dark days ahead. These people were poor folks facing the horrors of cancer. Despite all this adversity and gloom the boy had only one major mental obstacle which really cut to the core for him. He could not face the prospects of having to be held back a year of school. You see, he was forced into isolation from killing off his immune system as a consequence of the bone marrow being destroyed and replaced. He desparately wanted to finish school with his class. The schoool called me and asked if we could help with the broadband grant program we had won. We did. We bought a pan-tilt-zoom camera and set it up on a roll around cart along with a speakerphone in his classroom. We installed broadband in his home for free using 900 MHz radios to bust through the trees. The boy attended classes virtually through this system. He beat his cancer. He also finished his year with his fellow students. How much is this worth? It seems to me that this particular broadband application is much like the "Priceless" description we see in those VISA commercials. But let's try to put a dollar amount on it. Is it worth $310K to be able to do this? Is it possible that this one boy's hope alone is worth $310K and the fact that the whole town now has broadband is a bonus? Maybe it is ok to let our leaders lead for a change. I have seen many bad things come from bad government in my 43 years on this earth. I have been fortunate enough to see some good things too. Until recently I thought cynicism was going to rule the day forever in regard to government. I thought patrotism was dead. I thought the American Dream had faded and spoiled into a nightmare. Sadly the government has done much to amplify those feelings. Regardless of your politics you have to be worried. Maybe it is ok to have hope too. Maybe we should try for once to say that we will take our leader's lead and try to stimulate our economy through broadband deployment. I am willing to give it a shot. Maybe this will not work but maybe it will. What if success or failure of this program is more dependent on how we make use of this program than whether or not the program is right or wrong? This is possibly the most unique opportunity of our lives. The government is
Re: [WISPA] It can mean everything
well John's is a wonderful story. With $8billion, I see no reason why as an industry we can't replicate John's story 26,000 times. There are obstacles and risks in everything in life. But battles can be won. We already wons several battles on the terms of the new stimulus bill. I see no reason why we can't win more battles shaping the bill. The biggest advantage a WISP has is they have a pre-existing self sustaining business already, to build upon. That should increase the chances that an existing WISPs will win grants. It also means we have to ask for the money, because if we don't, someone else will. Tom DeReggi RapidDSL Wireless, Inc IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband - Original Message - From: Travis Johnson To: WISPA General List Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 1:47 AM Subject: Re: [WISPA] It can mean everything John, What you did for the community and the individuals in that area is very cool. Something you should be proud of for the rest of your life. However, let's play the other side of this Broadband Stimulus package. What if, because of all this free money, two new competitors come to this area? And what if they all deploy 900mhz? They really have nothing to lose because they don't have any customers right now anyway. And it's not their money that is having to pay for all the equipment, etc. so even if it doesn't work, they don't care. So, what if this new money brings all these government leaches out, right into the wireless broadband market? What if you wake up tomorrow and have 2 or 3 new competitors in your area? What about if they start using 3.65 along with all your deployments? Again, they have nothing to lose because it wasn't their money and they don't care if they cause problems for anyone else, because they are collecting $250k per year salaries and they will ride it until it dries up. This whole package could be a HUGE mess for our entire industry. :( Travis Microserv John Scrivner wrote: I used to say our government had no place in broadband. One thing happened that changed my thinking to some degree. A small rural town called Bluford, Illinois used to have no broadband until a few years ago. At that time I never used 900 MHz gear because it was out of my budget. Bluford was full of trees. It is a very poor community which led me to believe they could not afford the high price of 900 MHz CPEs. Basically Bluford defined the Digital Divide. My attitude toward USDA grants was They should stay out of this but if someone will get the money it might as well be me. I shot for the moon. I budgeted for Waverider 900 MHz (The only 900 MHz gear available at that time) and a new tower. I asked for free installs for all residents. I ran surveys of every person in town. In short I did everything the USDA required of the grant and then some. I even went to broadband conventions and told others how to apply for grants. Then a miracle happened. My grant was funded. I received $310K to build service into Bluford. It was the nicest setup I had ever done. The people of Bluford were ecstatic. Over 60% of all residents bought service. We built a free community technology center at the local grade school. We gave free broadband to the schools, the village hall, the fire department, etc. as a condition of the grant. Bluford was doing great. Still, this had not really changed my thinking that Uncle Sam should keep out of the broadband business. One child did change my mind. An 8 year old boy in Bluford got leukemia shortly after we setup the new broadband there. Dad and son, alone, faced the dark days ahead. These people were poor folks facing the horrors of cancer. Despite all this adversity and gloom the boy had only one major mental obstacle which really cut to the core for him. He could not face the prospects of having to be held back a year of school. You see, he was forced into isolation from killing off his immune system as a consequence of the bone marrow being destroyed and replaced. He desparately wanted to finish school with his class. The schoool called me and asked if we could help with the broadband grant program we had won. We did. We bought a pan-tilt-zoom camera and set it up on a roll around cart along with a speakerphone in his classroom. We installed broadband in his home for free using 900 MHz radios to bust through the trees. The boy attended classes virtually through this system. He beat his cancer. He also finished his year with his fellow students. How much is this worth? It seems to me that this particular broadband application is much like the Priceless description we see in those VISA commercials. But let's try to put a dollar amount on it. Is it worth $310K to be able to do this? Is it possible that this one boy's hope alone is worth $310K and the fact that the whole town now has broadband is a bonus? Maybe it is ok to let our leaders lead for a change. I have seen many bad things come from bad
