Shawnee’s FTTH Project:
Focused Economic Revitalization & Sustainable
Transformation of Southeastern Illinois
Historical Background
• Shawnee Telephone Company was originally
incorporated in 1948 under the name of
Equality Telephone Company. In 1966 Equality
Telephone purchased Hardin County
Telephone, and almost since inception
Shawnee initiated its long and prosperous
relationship with the Rural Electric
Administration (REA) and Rural Utility Service
(RUS).
Background (cont.)
• In 2005 Shawnee started to deploy FTTH technology
into it’s ILEC service territory.
• Today Shawnee’s service territory has expanded to
over 90 Southern Illinois Communities.
• Shawnee is reaching out to new strategic partners such
as, ConnectSI , Partnership for a Connected Illinois, the
Illinois State Board of Education, and the Governor’s
Broadband Deployment Council.
• We believe that by working together we can truly
revitalize these economically depressed areas into
highly productive communities in the future.
Shawnee’s Southern Illinois
Sustainable Broadband Transformation
ARRA USDA Broadband Infrastructure Program Application
• To provide an opportunity for transforming citizens in underserved
low-income areas into highly productive communities by first
empowering our communities with broadband technology.
• We believe our proposal to develop a broadband network will
create new jobs and economic growth, while stimulating
innovations and investments.
• Shawnee’s FTTH proposed network is capable of 100 Mbps
transmission speed and is designed to serve 1,209 households, 438
businesses, and 35 anchor institutions, public schools, libraries, law
enforcement, and medical care facilities.
• We estimate the cost of this revitalization to be almost $10.0
million, $8.0 million of Shawnee investment and $2.0 million of
grants, including $1 million of State of Illinois matching grant funds.
Shawnee’s Southern Illinois
Sustainable Broadband Transformation
ARRA USDA Broadband Infrastructure Program Application
• Shawnee requested a $8,352,929 Broadband
Initiatives Program (“BIP”) loan-grant [(consisting of
$1,000,000 State of Illinois matching Funds, a
$6,249,989 loan (85%) and $1,102,940 grant (15%)
• Our goal is to continue to deploy a Fiber-to-theHome (FTTH) broadband network capable of 100
Mbps transmission speed in our local exchange
service area in rural southeastern Illinois.
Shawnee’s Southern Illinois
Sustainable Broadband Transformation
ARRA USDA Broadband Infrastructure Program Application
•
The Challenges:
•
The lack of “broadband access” (100 Mbps); over 40% of the households
identified in the application have no access to broadband technology,
•
This region sadly places at the top of all Illinois Poverty Summit indicators
(poverty and community vulnerability). The “2007 Illinois Report on Poverty”
places this region’s counties on the “Poverty Warning List.”
•
Recent worker dislocation events have increased the number of dislocated
workers to over the last decade to over 4,000.
•
Finally, unemployment rates consistently exceed the federal rate and have
done so for many years.
Shawnee’s Southern Illinois
Sustainable Broadband Transformation
ARRA USDA Broadband Infrastructure Program Application
• Providing a unique solution: A Fresh Outlook – Solutions to the
Current Economic Crisis of the Local Community
•
Because of the topography of the land and dense forestation, fixed wireless does not
consistently meet the minimum broadband standards adopted by the Federal
Communications Commission. We have tried wireless and found it to be an ineffective solution;
therefore, we have concluded an optical fiber to the home network capable of delivering 100 Mbps
symmetrical broadband is the only sustainable long-term solution.
•
We believe in this initiative so strongly that beginning in 2005, prior to the ARRA funding
availability, we secured RUS loan financing to build FTTH in three (3) communities, servicing
1,500 household and businesses. This first phase undertaking has recently been completed, and
we are already seeing the benefit of the enhanced network. We know this is the correct long-term
solution.
Shawnee’s Southern Illinois
Sustainable Broadband Transformation
ARRA USDA Broadband Infrastructure Program Application
Providing a unique solution: A Fresh Outlook – Solutions to the
Current Economic Crisis of the Local Community
•
We will focus on the community anchors institutions of schools, health care, libraries, and
community centers to ensure access for all citizens, even those without access to personal
computer equipment. We will do this by working directly with the key institutions to identify their
unique situations and by providing economic incentives in the form of discounted service offers to
each of these community anchors
•
Based on market research, only 40% of the households have a home computer in this
economically depressed region of the county. This is most likely due to the fact that in many
cases over 20% of the population is living below the poverty level. Shawnee Telephone Company
plans to address this fact head on. We will be offering a free home computer and discounted
service plans to all qualifying low-income homes.
•
As a community leader in job creation and retention in this economical depressed area, we
believe we have a social responsibility to these communities that goes beyond profits and
job creation. We believe equal opportunity and access to broadband services will provide
the education and creativity necessary to revitalize southern Illinois.
Shawnee’s Southern Illinois
Sustainable Broadband Transformation
Shawnee’s Southern Illinois
Sustainable Broadband Transformation
Shawnee FTTH Objectives/Schedule
•
PHASE I : 2005 – 2010 initial FTTH Deployment in three
communities with an investment of nearly twelve (12) million
dollars.
•
PHASE II : 2011 ARRA Stimulus BIP Award Project FTTH buildout
of five additional communities an additional ten (10) million.
•
PHASE III : 2012 – 2015 completion of remaining nine communities
with estimated investment of thirty (30) million.
•
Total investment in Southern Illinois Broadband deployment over
fifty-five (55) million with only two (2) million coming from grant
sources!
Shawnee’s Southern Illinois
Sustainable Broadband Transformation
Boring Machine in action
Conduit Placement
Shawnee’s Southern Illinois
Sustainable Broadband Transformation
April Showers – 4/28/2011
Fiber Distribution Hut
May Flowers?? – 5/5/2011
Fiber Distribution Hut
Shawnee’s Southern Illinois
Sustainable Broadband Transformation
Not everyone believes the vision
• Regulators
• Investment & Capital Community
• Subscribers/Customers
Shawnee’s Southern Illinois
Sustainable Broadband Transformation
Executive Summary
• Shawnee is working towards comprehensive community
enhancement that includes households, businesses, and
community anchor institutions.
• The availability of high-speed broadband service to
households will give residents access to a plethora of new
information and resources regarding employment, job training,
education, and business opportunities, as well as additional
sources of news, entertainment, and activities.
• The availability of high-speed broadband service is an
essential prerequisite for attracting new businesses to the
area, as well as for permitting existing local businesses to
expand the markets in which they sell their goods and
services and in which they purchase necessary resources.
Shawnee’s Southern Illinois
Sustainable Broadband Transformation
Executive Summary
• Finally, the availability of high-speed broadband service is
necessary to permit community anchor institutions (such as
schools, libraries, medical facilities, and law enforcement
agencies) to function at desired quality levels. For example,
Shawnee plans to connect by fiber three local school systems
to a local community college so that the local schools can
cost-effectively expand their curricula to include college
preparatory classes. Given that less than ten percent of PFSA
residents presently have a college degree, Shawnee believes
a broadband-enabled partnership between the local
community college and high schools will encourage and
enable local students to pursue college degrees and other
further education, thereby increasing the education level and
job skills of local residents and stimulating future economic
growth.