Fort Scott group expresses concern for slow progress towards improved Internet service

Members of a committee working with a state pilot program to bring faster Internet service to Fort Scott voiced their concerns that, perhaps like the Internet service, the process is moving slowly.

The committee has been formed to work under a pilot program funded through federal grant money to the Kansas Department of Commerce. The goal is to develop a plan to bring faster Internet service to Fort Scott, with the end result being more economic development. The program pays for consultants to work with city officials and business leaders.

On Tuesday, members of the committee met with Stanley Adams, program director of broadband for the Kansas Department of Commerce.

"Where are we at compared to the other communities, as far as the plan, implementation, buy in by the providers, buy-in from the community?" asked committee member Micheal Bryant, vice president of Cobalt Medplans. "How do we stack up compared to the others?"

"I don't know how you're feeling that you stack up, but you stack up really well," Adams said. "All the other communities are going to be a little bit different."

He said the important things are to focus on putting priorities into a list, documenting and beginning the next step.

"You've got a solid group of folks that have stepped into the mix," Adams said. "Now you've got to expand the buy-in. Or that's where we'll be at shortly. Or, you tell me where you are."

"Well...." Heather Griffith, City of Fort Scott economic development director said without finishing.

"I disagree," Bryant said. "To me we have not made any progress ... This is the fourth meeting I've attended, with providers in the last meeting. Same meeting. It's the same meeting over and over. We've got to have something to get us off of that continuous (response from providers) coming up with demand, it costs too much to invest. How do we get off that sticking point? How do we better sell Fort Scott, the demand Fort Scott has, to get those service providers interested in making those investments?"

Members of the group met with Internet service providers the previous week.

"The direct answer to that is, how much money have you got?" Bryant said.

Griffith and Bryant said the committee doesn't have any costs estimates, as had been promised in the timeline they were given.

Mark Shead, Xeric Corporation president, said providers have not said how much it would cost to bring faster service to the city.

Adams said he thought the meeting with service providers went better than the committee members were expressing to him Tuesday.

"What was good about the meeting was service providers showed up, number one, and the process -- and it does build up to how we move off from here -- if you're going to be collaborative with service providers, you've got to tell them what you want," Adams said. "What I'm hearing is you've done that already a few times and you've not gotten what you want."

Slayden Davis, City of Fort Scott information technology director, said he learned from talking to one provider representative that none of the providers will discuss those issues in an open forum.

"We need them to tell us what data they need so we can go out and collect that," Griffith said.

She said there are people in the community who would obtain that information for the providers in order to determine the cost of service.

"Basically you've got a network of volunteers ready to go get the information free for you, you've just got to tell them what you want. Did anybody hear that? I did."

Curtis Shankel said what he heard was that the demands from each entity and business needs to be determined.

Technology plan

The committee has received a rough draft of a technology plan, which when finalized, will be presented to the community. Griffith said it documents the city's challenges, provides some "action items" and identifies the plans for the major stakeholders, such as the schools, hospital and large businesses.

Charles McKowan, Fort Scott Community College dean of research and technology, asked if the plan is to target government entities and large businesses, or individuals in the community.

Griffith said the first priority is with businesses and government entities, which would be the higher paying customers using larger bandwidth.

"The problem is we already have bandwidth," McKowan said.

Griffith said the only way telecommunicators who work from their homes will get larger bandwidth is if the city as a whole has the "buy-in" with the service providers.

Bryant said what currently takes place is each business or entity is buying bandwidth in "small chunks," but what needs to happen is for everyone to buy as one large group to provide some "leverage" against the providers.

"I just think if we tell one of them off, they're going to tell the whole town off," Shane Walker, Bourbon County IT/GIS director, said.

Griffith said what needs to be determined is not how much bandwidth is currently being used, but how much would be used if it were available.

"I know it's hard for them to say, 'Let's go spend 2 or 3 million dollars in Fort Scott,' but that's what we need, is somebody that would spend 2 or 3 million dollars," Walker said. "Even if you got a majority of the town, it's going to make the people in town happy."

He said he knows the companies can provide better service to businesses, but he doesn't understand why they have to charge "a ridiculous amount of money."

The question that remains to be answered is whether the service providers will be affordable, or whether the city -- at some point in the future -- will need to create a separate utility for Internet service, as some communities have already done, Griffith said after the meeting.

Kan. Senator Caryn Tyson, who joined the meeting via teleconference, said other entities across the state are also working on the same issue. She said rather than spend a lot more money on additional studies, the group needs to get pro-active.

"I understand the community's frustration," Tyson said.

"I feel the frustration, too," Adams said. "The reality that I can come up with here is, you can't make a service provider do anything."

He said part of what the group is looking for is included in the plan.

"This wasn't a feasibility study, but it was intended to create a much more engaged community that makes it easier for you all to get buy-in support, whether it's service providers or elsewhere, to come up with a plan," Adams said. "I think there is a frustration that the service providers is where you were really looking for them to step up to the plate and come up with a solution. I don't think they're going to do that in a single meeting, so I think there was unreasonable expectation if you were thinking that.

And I think, how would another provider approach the city and say, 'We think we can do it?' So that is a meaningful outcome if that comes about."

Adams said that would be a positive outcome, especially as the plan tries to document what the county is trying to accomplish.

Griffith said the city has met with private providers who don't have enough investment "to make it happen." She said the city's attorney is researching how the city could partner with a private provider.

Adams suggested there could be a franchise agreement.

Shead said he doesn't know of any company that is specifically in the business of connected rural communities. He said Suddenlink is in the area because it bought another company.

Survey

The state hired Cost Quest to conduct a survey of Fort Scott's needs and the results were provided to Griffith. She said a survey could have been created on Survey Monkey, an online survey service, and provided better information.

"For one, it is not user friendly and, two, it did not ask questions that we should have been asking, and for three, I can't tell that they're going to give us much reporting that's of much value to us," Griffith said.

She said she spent about 10 hours with the survey firm, "and I still don't have anything."

"The way they explained it, the way it sounded, their point was our expectations were not reasonable for what we thought we should be able to get from the survey," Adams said.

Walker suggested a call be made to surrounding communities to learn what they are paying for service.

"What I would like to see, is by survey group, some charts and graphs that shows who has needs that are greater than what is currently offered there," Griffith said.

Griffith said she doesn't have time to glean that information from the survey results she received.

The cost of the survey is being paid for under through the program grant. The cost was not noted during the meeting.

Cost/impact study

The committee also has been promised cost model. Cost Quest has nearly finished the study, but has not presented the cost model to the Department of Commerce.

While the survey should not have been complicated, Adams said the cost model will be complicated. He suggested a handful of the committee members meet with him on July 30 in Topeka to review that information.