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Better Broadband for Mapau Moutere and Ruby Bay Coast – a personal note

I just received this amazing personal statement of how important better broadband is for families in our community. Everything Cathie says will resonate with almost everyone in our region :   innovative business efforts, family involvement in education and school work , overseas extended family contact, home entertainment and learning …

I reprint it here with Cathie’s permission , and encourage you to read it, comment on it, share it with friends ….and if you feel so inclined, to send me your own personal statement betterbroadbandformrm@gmail.com

Thanks John …… I will ask my husband, Andrew, to write to you with more details regarding his business issues with poor internet.  (He is selling software from Spain, which is owned by a Chinese company headquartered in California, into US state-governments, so he has a uniquely global perspective!)

From a personal/family point of view, we cannot stream movies, and YouTube videos usually struggle.  Skype, or any other form of web-based AUDIO and video conferencing, is next to impossible, as the upload and download rates differ so significantly.  This means that it is rarely possible for my parents in Scotland to spend time ‘face-to-face’ with their grandchildren:  Despite the technology we have, effective communication is ‘relegated’ to landline telephone connection.

School work is increasingly moving to devices and ‘google docs’ with high levels of collaboration.  It routinely requires high-spec visual presentation, movie clips, sound processing, etc.  My children – and I have 4 – will be using only increasing amounts of bandwidth as time goes on.  They are yet to get their own devices, but this is only months away.  Without significant increases in bandwidth their ability to work with, relate to, and learn from their school mates – and others around the globe – will be severely restricted.  When we talk about learning another language in order to better communicate and relate to people, we’ll mean computer language, not human language.  With technology use and development in an exponential growth pattern, the competitive advantage for my children in the future will be visual, creative and curiosity driven, integrating human factors into an increasingly data-driven world .

I do not believe it is unrealistic to expect 4-5 people in our family to be working at HD video streaming levels of bandwidth in the very near future (3-5 years).  Note that this is without taking into account play and entertainment activities, which will swamp other data demands and require increasing amounts of capacity, at levels we would find extreme to even consider today.  Data storage for personal use only 20 years ago used to be measured in MB, then it became GB, and now we’re buying it in TB … that’s x1000 growth … exponential creation and streaming of content at levels that were unimaginable a generation ago.  Can we even conceive the thought of what our children will view as essential for life and business?

Personally, I am about to launch a retail business that, despite its brick and mortar feet, is essentially an internet business.  The shop will be at Mapua Wharf, but my Point of Sale system, Accounting system, Stock Inventory system, Customer Service portals, etc. will all be Cloud-based.  99.9% uptime of sufficient bandwidth is therefore commercially essential.  I am already concerned that I’m going to be running this on a piece of copper wire and one-dot mobile coverage.  While an add-on to my modem will hopefully improve the quality of my cell connectivity, this is a huge risk to my business model.  The ‘dematerialisation’ of retail means that my internet channels should generate most of my business, with the shop showcasing my products (like a museum!) and providing a ‘retail entertainment’ environment for customers and a ‘research and development’ function for my staff, rather than being the driving force of the business.  My connectivity with my business systems and warehouse will be THE most critical factor in the growth and development of the business.

Connectivity infrastructure will be the basis of the economic health, wealth and development of this region.  There must be a plan for complete coverage of high speed connection, and hubs of blistering speed for data-intense businesses to centre around.  This is no different to the impact of roads, ports and railways during the industrial age.  It is not smart that some of the most innovative and development-minded individuals in the region are right now focused on building bigger pipes.  This area can a focal point for building world-changing businesses discovering new employment opportunities, developing new wealth generators for the region, and discovering life-quality enhancers for people all round the globe.    Now is the time to develop a plan that stays AHEAD of the technology growth and uptake curve, pulling development along and inviting innovation and inward investment.

I sincerely hope that the work of you and the rest of the team helps us get there!

With warm thanks and kind regards,

…….Cathie

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The Long and the Short of it….

As you know I am involved in several community and regional efforts to get better broadband for our region.

I’ll be  be honest with a disclaimer- I definitely want and need better broadband service for myself, my family, Lynne for her remote work for NZTA, and  my business efforts . But I am also aware that hundreds of others in our communities feel pretty much the same way.

I’ve been attending meetings for the Tasman district Digital Enablement Plan (DEP) to make sure we in Mapua Ruby Bay and Moutere have a voice  in this region wide effort and to network with the other small and large communities in Tasman (by the way, the TDC committee I’m on  is 100% behind continuing efforts to improve broadband access and speeds across the region regardless of the actual outcome of our funding application, and there are some very highly skilled and motivated members from all of the local regions in Tasman).

I’ve been asked to make a statement about e-learning developments opportunities – ie education.

here’s my working draft – unfortunately what appears in the DEP has to be limited to 1/3 of this !

The short version of the Digital Enablement Plan contribution:

The demand and the supply of educational and on-line training opportunities on the worldwide web  have developed at explosive rates, and in an historically unprecedented  manner.

The dramatic growth of  MOOCS (Massive Open Online Courses) has democratised university education,  challenging both outdated delivery methods and the high effective costs of time and money required .Those with initiative and decent broadband access anywhere in the globe  can now take their own education into their own hands – in hundreds of specialised fields in the arts and humanities, sciences, engineering, or commerce. Who amongst us could afford to go to Yale for a course in Financial literacy  form a Nobel prize winner, to Stanford for a course in Programming for Artificial Intelligence, to LSE for a course in Constitutional Law, etc   Of course these developments in free, open access online education do not provide full certification – yet – but they definitely offer unprecedented possibilities for lifetime learning.

Development in these more academic online university offerings are more than matched by a proliferation of high quality , online practical skill training (e.g. Linkedin’s Lynda.com) . Do you or your family members or employees want to learn how to become skilful at Microsoft’s office suite (Excel, Word, Powerpoint ), Adobe’s art and design or video programs,  Website construction and development , Photography,  3D animation,  Moodle for education, Cloud computing? Google for business , Php and MySQL programming, etc? Now you can, at very low cost, on your own time, from home.

So, education (not certification -yet) is being democratised and most access and participation costs dramatically decreased. Most, but not all, fat least or the residents of Tasman. The barrier of inadequate broadband service throughout the region still exists, and it is stifling our access to these new opportunities for making our businesses, our employees, and our families smarter, better trained, and better educated.   Better broadband speeds in the smaller, dispersed communities (minimally VDSL) as well as in the higher density towns (preferably fibre based broadband using existing infrastructure for local schools) is an absolute necessity for the realisation of this creative potential.

The long version of the Digital Enablement Plan contribution:

Both the demand and the supply of educational and on-line training opportunities on the worldwide web  have developed at explosive rates, and in an historically unprecedented  manner. A decade ago  a few top universities like MIT and Stanford started putting their written course material online as open access courseware. Today, most of the very best university academic communities are effectively open access. Barriers of distance and affordability  have been broken down – but the barrier of high speed internet access remains for many. Tasman especially.

The dramatic growth of  MOOCS (Massive Open Online Courses) has democratised university education,  challenging both outdated delivery methods and the high effective costs of time and money required .These platforms now offer the  full monty: well edited lecture videos, interactive and collaborative forums, regular assessment and real-time feedback from sophisticated  personalized systems that are integrated with lectures,  Google hangouts or Webex conference style  collaboration ,  and blended learning opportunities where instructional staff and students consult in real time. Those with initiative and decent broadband access anywhere in the globe  can now take their own education into their own hands – in hundreds of specialised fields in the arts and humanities, sciences, engineering, or commerce. Who amongst us could afford to go to Yale for a course in Financial literacy  form a Nobel prize winner, to Stanford for a course in Programming for Artificial Intelligence, to LSE for a course in Constitutional Law, to Edinburgh for a course in Pharmacology, from Duke for a philosophy course on Critical Thinking, to  Washington for a course on public speaking skills and communication…and on and on.  Of course these developments in open access online education do not (yet) provide full certification, but they definitely offer unprecedented possibilities for lifetime learning.

Combine these changes in expanded high quality online university offerings with the proliferation of high quality , online more practical skill training (e.g. Linkedin’s Lynda.com) and global online distribution channels for intelligent discussion of dramatic and new changes in science, engineering, art, history  and design (think Ted Talks ) , and one can see that opportunities for learning anything and everything by anyone has exploded. Do you or your family members want to learn how to become skilful at Microsoft’s office suite (Excel, Word, Powerpoint ), Adobe’s art and design or video programs,  Website construction and development , Photography,  3D animation,  Moodle for education, Cloud computing? Google for business , Php and MySQL programming, etc? Now you can, at very low cost, on your own time, from home. Education (not certification -yet) is being democratised.

The important takeaway idea here is that

  • universities as a “marketplace of ideas” ,
  • instruction and training in practical, applied areas to enable employees and businesses work and produce smarter  and
  • platforms to provide interesting interactive content that enhances the  literacy and numeracy of general citizens

have all just taken a dramatic leap forward. But access to each of these developments requires higher speed broadband. Without it, the people of Tasman will fall behind the rest of the world, and the rest of the country. With it they will be able to tap the creative potential that undoubtedly exists  in the Tasman region, from the many retirees (18% over 65 vs 14% national average) who want to update skills and re-enter the workforce on a flexible basic to  the many remote workers and small businesses who want to live in the region for its lifestyle yet compete for jobs and business in the domestic and international marketplace.  But better broadband speeds in the smaller, dispersed communities (minimally VDSL) as well as in the higher density towns (preferably fibre based broadband using existing infrastructure for local schools) is an absolute necessity for the realisation of this creative potential.

 

 

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Better Broadband for Mapua

This is a slightly amended  article I wrote for the  Coastal News…and a call to action to the local community. The community initiative here has been endorsed by the Mapua District Community Association

“Better Broadband for  Mapua, Ruby Bay Coast, Moutere”

If you

  •  live in the Mapua, Ruby Bay Coast, Moutere region and
  • would like to register  your interest in better broadband services as part of a local community effort,

please contact John Fountain  before the end of September at the email address betterbroadbandformrm@gmail.com. John is the contact person for a working party of local residents and businesses. We are developing a strategy for collectively lobbying and negotiating with Telecommunication service providers so that we can get high(er) speed broadband, soon.

The article below , adapted from John’s article in the September issue of the Coastal News explains who we are and what we are aiming to do.

While the rest of New Zealand and the world powers ahead in obtaining ultra fast broadband – and the wealth of consumer, business and educational services on the internet this infrastructure enables – most households and businesses in the Mapua, Ruby Bay Coast, Moutere region (MRM) are bogged down with either very slow speed, or no speed, broadband “service”.

This is not acceptable. Many frustrated individual households and businesses like mine have tried one on one negotiating for improved speeds with suppliers like Chorus, Spark and Vodafone to no avail. So seven of us in the MRM region have formed a Broadband Working Party under the auspices of the Mapua & Districts Business Association, and endorsed by the Mapua District Community Association,  to try to take some collective action to get better services for businesses and households in our communities . The issue isn’t “ultra fast fibre optic broadband for all” -a laudable ideal but perhaps unaffordable – rather it is about better speeds with wider spread VDSL service and better access to dispersed users with no access at all in the MRM region.

Recently I had an hour long interview for a well paid and interesting part time job from employers based in Wellington. The interview was supposed to have been a video conference call. As it turned out we might as well have talked on the phone or, in order to make a better impression, I should have flown to Wellington for the interview. Why? Because upload speeds are so pathetic where I live in Mapua that the interviewers were unable to see me at all and download speeds are impossibly slow for any clear video at my end. In a competitive job market where interviews are regularly held online now, how exactly can I sell myself without a visual presence when everyone else applying for that job can?

Mine isn’t the only case.

  • A local, high level policy advisor engaged with consultants and team members in Wellington,  drives from Mapua to Nelson daily to be able to conduct video conference calls with her North Island colleagues, or to upload large files for collaborative work.
  • A local IT engineer doing remote diagnostics and software development regularly drives into office space in Nelson/Richmond rather than work online from home
  • A photographer/documentary editor and creative artist wanting to upload and download video simply gives up or moves to an office – or home – elsewhere
  • Employees and contractors of banks, advertising and video companies located overseas struggle to work remotely from home with inadequate two way internet connections
  • Teens and others who enjoy online gaming for entertainment and social connection get stymied when congestion sets in
  • Parents of school age children and teens want to be involved with their children’s education , an education that increasingly relies on online activity and homework using Google docs for education, YouTube, and learning management systems like Moodle, with a high level of collaboration. There is high speed bandwidth (fibre) at school for children to work with, but not for the children or their parents at their homes.(families may wish to read Cathy Gould’s letter)
  • An experienced instructor trying to deliver online education services and tutorials domestically and internationally has to abandon their project
  • Visiting tourists in local accommodation along the Great Taste trail are told to restrict their video uploads or streaming video downloads, or wait till they leave the area to upload their videos and engage in video chats with families and friends abroad
  • Households and families wanting access to improved variety and quality of streaming video and television services for education or training or entertainment, give up and end up watching only free to air TV programmes.

If you live in the Mapua, Ruby Bay Coast, Moutere region and are interested in registering your interest in better broadband services as part of a local community effort, please contact me (John)  before the end of September at betterbroadbandformrm@gmail.com. We would definitely like to hear from you.
One of our aims is to document and measure the extent of discontent with existing service. Another is to try to assess the magnitude of lost opportunities in jobs, business, education and household entertainment. So we’re  planning to create a database and a Google map of the MRM region with pins at the addresses of every concerned resident household or business, colour coded by the degree of dissatisfaction with existing service and the numbers of people affected.  Our threshold target is 200+ pins, but personally I hope there will be closer to 500+ concerned residents, businesses, contract workers, employees, artists in the region. Finally, we will eventually take some action to negotiate directly with the broadband service suppliers in our area about getting better service. By registering your interest I will be able to email you directly about progress and strategy . (We also worked closely with a sub committee of the TDC in a separate process that is underway developing a region wide application for limited amount of Government funding for better broadband and mobile coverage in the region).

Cheers

John Fountain.

PS: If you have already sent an email to John there is no need to do so again. To date around 45 residents (100+ people) have responded – as per the following draft map (this is ONLY a draft and is not -yet –  regularly updated  ). To be effective , we are going to need hundreds of pins, and identifiable clusters of residences, remote workers, and businesses – not abstract mesh-block regions as Chorus maps show – to make a solid  business case for better service.

draft map sept 19

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