GCN Applies For Broadband Grant

The City of Gustavus, doing business as the Gustavus Community Network (GCN) submitted an application on August 19, 2009 for federal funds to build a community-wide broadband network. The $145,909 wireless project would deliver the first true broadband Internet service to all homes and businesses in Gustavus, including Rink Creek but not Bartlett Cove. The granting agencies plan to announce their awards on September 14.

The grant application required detailed plans, subscriber estimates, and financial forecasts. GCN's submission specifies a hybrid wireless network composed of

• A 900 MHz backbone fed from a new communications tower at the 600-foot elevation in the Falls Creek hydroelectric project area;
• "Relay" clients attached to the backbone and in turn feeding 2.4 GHz neighborhood Wi-Fi mesh networks
• Upstream low-latency, high-seed Internet service from AT&T Alascom will replace the satellite dish at the library
  
• Existing bandwidth management, hotspot, accounting, billing, and payment processing systems

If the grant is awarded it will pay for all equipment and installation including at client premises, so there will be no purchase or setup fees for any customer to get connected. The application also details new pricing plans, both usage-based and flat-rate, ranging from $25/month for low-speed "lifeline" service to $699/month for T1 speeds with truly unlimited use. Basic Broadband service will cost $44/month including 1 GB traffic. Extra traffic will be $0.01 per MB.

The application will be considered first for USDA's Broadband Initiatives Program. If not funded there it will automatically be considered for NTIA's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. The process is highly competitive and the scoring favors larger projects, but GCN has made a strong case demonstrating its preparedness, its track record of sustaining a community network for 13 years with no outside funding, and the financial viability of the project.

The application was prepared by volunteers from the GCN advisory committee, Corvid Computing, and several other supportive community members, who collectively contributed at least 80 hours to draft the 103-page application (not including the Borealis Broadband proposal nor about 10 pages of signatures). Grant funds will be matched by in-kind materials and labor, by GCN reserves, and (if we are awarded a BTOP grant) $20,000 from city reserves to be paid back from GCN operations.