NTEN Blogs Municipal Wireless

Nonprofits need to engage in the development of municipal wireless programs to ensure that their clients and stakeholders will benefit, understand how they can deliver services in new ways because of this access, and prepare clients and stakeholders for the change. Keep up to date on the latest by following the NTEN Connect blog.

Nonprofits and Broadband: Community Call Summary

In case you were wondering, we don't like the digital divide here at NTEN. In fact, we like it so little, we think every nonprofit has a responsiblity to work against it. It's an issue we care about deeply, so we're really excited about all the administration's moves to widen broadband access in the U.S.

We want you to be excited too, so we're going to try to make sure you know what's going on and how you can take part. To that end, we hosted a community call last week with Misty Perez from FreePress and Sheldon Mains. There are oodles of great links and resources below about everything from BTOP to Net Neutrality.

Peruse and enjoy, then take some action:

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Free Nonprofit Tech Webinars and Resources for NTEN Members

Flickr: HowiePoonNTEN has been growing by leaps and bounds over the last few years, in both membership and programming, and we have a few new free sessions you should take advantage of this month:

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Provide the Nonprofit Voice to America's Broadband Plan

Flickr Photo by Chi KingThe Federal Communications Commission is seeking public comment on how to draft America's national broadband plan. It's essential that they hear from us.

If you're an NTEN Member -- or have been lurking around for awhile -- you know that Universal Broadband Access is an issue we care deeply about.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 set aside $7.2 billion for broadband stimulus. It also requires the FCC to begin drafting a national broadband plan. The plan will help determine the future of Internet access across the country.

As organizations with a stake in the future of communications, we must ensure that the commissioners hear our call for fast, affordable, ubiquitous, and open Internet access.

You have until Friday, June 8, to file comments online at the FCC website.

I learned about the public comment period in an email from Free Press. They're doing some fabulous organizing around universal access and have provided some basic talking points for comments to the FCC. Read the quick facts below, see Free Press for more info, and comment today!

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Tech Policy Summit: Broadband Innovation -- You're Invited!

Check out this event taking place in San Mateo next month. It's free for nonprofit staff!

TPS: Broadband Innovation, taking place May 11, 2009 in conjunction with the 3rd annual Tech Policy Summit conference, is designed to assist community and business leaders by offering best practices for improving Internet access and adoption. Produced by Tech Policy Central, the daylong event will provide an in-depth look at state and federal efforts to improve broadband deployment and the call to develop a comprehensive national broadband strategy.
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) will keynote the summit, which will also feature policy experts from AT&T, Comcast, One Economy, Connected Nation, Level 3 Communications, IBM, The Children's Partnership and the California Emerging Technology Fund, among others.

Registration is free to nonprofit, academic and government employees and the corporate rate is $195.

View the agenda and sign up online at http://events.techpolicycentral.com

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TXT Messaging Isn't Just for the Kids Anymore

In November, I was lucky enough to sit on a panel on text messaging for advocacy at the Convio Summit. My co-panelists, Matt Wilson from Mobile Commons and Kristin Kich of NARAL Pro Choice America both had some great case studies about using mobile to build lists and generate actions.
There were lots of great questions during the session, including the very appropriate one about just who is texting anyway. Much like social media, there's an assumption out there that the only people who are texting are kids. That was probably true as recently as 2006/07. But it's not anymore!
Nielson Mobile has just released statistics that indicate that EVERYONE is now texting. In the last quarter of 2007, the number of text messages consumers sent outpaced the number of calls they make and receive. According to 160Characters, the number of text messages has been steadily increasing:
Qtr 3, 2007: 226 calls / 193 texts
Qtr 4, 2007: 213 calls / 218 texts
Qtr 1, 2008: 207 calls / 288 texts
Qtr 2, 2008: 204 calls / 357 texts
Of course, it's still heavily skewed towards the kids. Teens age 13-17 send and receive an average of 1,742 text per month, compared to "just" 231 calls. But the dominance of text messages is clear in several age categories:
All Subs: 204 calls / 357 texts
12 & Under: 137 calls / 428 texts
Ages 13-17: 231 calls / 1742 texts
Ages 18-24: 265 calls / 790 texts
Ages 25-34: 239 calls / 331 texts
Ages 35-44: 223 calls / 236 texts
Ages 45-54: 193 calls / 128 texts
Ages 55-64: 145 calls / 38 texts
Ages 65+: 99 calls / 14 texts
So if you've been thinking that text messaging wasn't a good way to reach to your audience, you may want to think again. The President-Elect doesn't have a mobile strategy for nothing.

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How Fast is Your Internet Connection?

Access to the Internet is one of the issues we care about most here at NTEN. The United States is a lowly 15th in the world when it comes to broadband access, and that's almost certainly having an adverse effect on how thousands of nonprofits are able to serve their clients and stakeholders.

It's so bad, FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps has admitted, "America's record in expanding broadband communication is so poor that it should be viewed as an outrage by every consumer and businessperson in the country."

What are we going to do about it?

As a pretty competitive person, I was motivated by the Communication Worker's of America's newest campaign, Speed Matters. The campaign tests your Internet connection and compares it to the communities around you, as well as the rest of the world.

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