Okay. Good morning, everybody, glad to see you again. So let's just jump into it. First of all, I want to thank our excuse me, our sponsors, care first, Arizona health plan, Karen Ziegler, consulting services, Valley Telecom, Kajeet and triad wireless. So appreciate your you guys your support, and let's see who we got. Anybody new that we have this morning.
Anybody new this morning? I Jenny rickel, good to see you. We could probably get an update from you. It's been, been several years, I think,
okay, you you Alrighty. So want to welcome everybody. Have a great program this morning, and we just added something to the agenda. So I'm going to start with that first Excuse me. So Jim Bascom, you want to give us a quick update on what's happening with the sun quarter network?
Sure. Thanks. Appreciate it. Yeah. So, so Sun quarter is as hopefully you you all know and are getting to know more is the Research and Education Network for the university system, but we have been undergoing quite a extensive effort, mostly fueled by our Maricopa broadband ARPA grant money to extend ourselves to the unserved and underserved and non profit community, first in Maricopa County, but we're creating a model that hopefully will be a statewide model in short order. Our biggest effort has been a middle mile project in which we're taking a dark fiber run from downtown Phoenix, from 120 East Van Buren, where our core sits, and it extends out the highway 60 to The county line, and we're establishing on and off ramps between those two points, and that serves a huge part of the county where there's a large part under served, some unserved, and also a lot of unincorporated county areas. That's been quite a project, just getting it underway, getting it funded, getting it designed, and we're looking to have the service online by the year. The end of the year, we've received dates and handoff from Zao, who was the dark fiber provider, and our hardware providers who are shipping gear as we speak, and we'll have quite a extensive installation effort. But the idea is that we're going to provide access services to CAIS, to nonprofit entities, to schools. Oh, man, service providers out to 60. Excuse me, yeah.
No, sorry. Go ahead. Go ahead. Okay,
so you'll be hearing a lot. We have some some plans to get out into the community. Start putting some press out there. Start putting some social media blasts out there. Make sure everybody understands what we're doing and what we're undertaking. And again, they The idea is to is to establish that route 60 middle mile project and turn it into a model that's going to serve the whole state. We'll be working some in conjunction also with the a dot middle mile project along those lines. So we're pretty excited and just about ready, like I say, about the about the first of the year, we'll be, we'll be making a big splash.
You know, Jim, if it's okay with you, we don't see Derek much these days, because I know he's he's really busy. Maybe we can make you a regular provide a regular update on what's happening with sun quarter.
Sure be happy to Laura at her will probably poke in once in a while. She's working with all the government entities, and I'm kind of working more with the service providers, and I'm looking forward to seeing Jason today. Bye. They're, they're, they're someone we look to partner with quite a bit, so
I would love to sounds great. Thanks, Jim, thank you. Appreciate you stepping in last minute here.
Yeah, you bet.
So let's get back to our agenda now. Erin, I know you're here. I don't know if Kelly's here. Want to give us an update on what's happening with the broadband office. Please?
Yes, definitely, and no, Kelly was unable to join us. She's got another meeting right now, and sends her apologies, but you got me. My name is Paddington Bear, just kidding. I'm Erin Lorandos. I am the digital equity program manager with the Arizona commerce authority for folks who may be unaware. We are the entity in the state administering both the bead and digital equity funding. So updates from our office include, we have our market sounding period open for kind of an early view of what the proposed project areas will be for bead that information is available on our website, and I'm going to drop some links as soon as I'm done talking. There is actually going to be a webinar later today on how to use that the the market sounding resources. And I've also been told this is your your candy part of the trick or treat today, I guess, to keep an eye on your email if you're in our email lists, because there is a pretty major announcement coming, hopefully today, but definitely by the end of the week that I think this this group will be excited to see regarding maps being available. So that's your little teaser for your watching your email later on today, but our office is available for one on ones with ISPs who are interested or local governments, pardon me, who are interested in diving deeper into any concerns or comments around the project areas. You can reach out to our office via our general inbox, which is broadband at AZ commerce.com, and that goes to everybody on the team, so that's a great point of contact. Otherwise, you can reach out to me directly for digital equity pieces, and I'll give the emails here in a moment. There isn't a lot to update on that front right now, we're still working through our caring with NTIA. We believe our application is with NIST, so that's a good thing. That means we're getting close to getting our digital equity award announcement, but it's not quite here yet. For folks on this call who are kind of tracking that piece a little bit more closely, I do still anticipate that the sub grants will be will give at least a two month notice for when the sub grants open. So we've heard a lot of feedback that organizations will need a long runway to apply for funding, so we want to acknowledge that and make as much space as possible. So happy to answer any questions or pass them along to other members of the team if I'm not the right person, otherwise, thank you for the opportunity.
Okay, any questions for Erin? Thanks, Erin, and again, just a reminder that the webinar is at two o'clock today. I have the link on our page here and also in the newsletter that I sent out earlier in the week.
So and I did just drop a link to it in the chat as well, if you don't, if you are searching for it
good. And actually just a reminder as I try to that if you want to, I do send out the the chat after the meeting, but if you need it right away, that you can download it directly to your computer. If you go to chat at the very top right, there's three ellipses, and you can click on that and download the chat to your computer. It's hard when you hear people talking and put stuff in the chat, but you know, you try to catch it afterwards. So I just encourage you all if you want to pick up things like what Erin just mentioned, that it is easily available for you. So moving on. I don't think Nicole, are you here today? Nicole, going once, going twice. So Michelle, are you on mine yet? Michelle, are you here? Well, maybe she'll be here in just a little while. She wanted to talk about Pima County is having a virtual meeting to discuss the bead letter of request process down here in Pima County, and I have in a virtual meeting on November the eighth, again, that information I believe I put in my newsletter, and Michelle may still drop in this morning. Okay, so moving on. Are you still looking for a tribal liaison? Uh,
our team isn't hiring that position because it is for all of ACA, I believe that it is still open, though. I mean, it hasn't been filled. I'm not sure if they're still accepting applications, though. But are all available? Positions are always available, either through our website or on zip recruiter. Okay,
thanks. And again, that link should be in my newsletter. If you're anybody is interested, coming up quickly, workforce coming up some of the future presentations that you're going to be hearing. One is a panel on workforce development. We have a number of people who are involved with workforce development doing some really great work, and we've done some of this before, but we have a lot of new people now in the act. So we're going to do a panel on workforce development. The next thing is, most of you probably know that incarcerated people are one of the targeted populations for the did for digital equity. Am I correct about that? Erin,
I'm sorry say that one more time I missed
that incarcerated populations are part of the targeted populations. Oh, yeah. So we're going to hear from Carrie Rogers Whitehead. She couldn't be here today, but she's founder and CEO of an organization called Digital response ability, and she's going to she's been doing some research and wrote an article about the digital divide and the prison education system, and so she's an adjunct professor with the prison education program at Utah State Prison. And so she says there's no internet and very little tech, which takes some flexibility, and that's probably true in many of the prison systems. I'm not sure what the status is here in Arizona, but it'd be interesting to find that out. The next thing, and Mala, Are you online?
Yes, I am. Yeah, so Mala, I
have been in touch. I'm trying to connect with the Tucson Fire Department, as I reported last time that they are doing a really cool project, working with their public safety communications department and MD alley telehealth to implement a telehealth system within 911 if I understand correctly, if somebody calls 911 they'll do an assessment, and if it's not a an emergency, but somebody needs health care that they will transfer them directly to a telehealth doctor. It's a pretty cool project, and so I'm working on having them do a presentation and perhaps join this task force. So Mala, I know you wanted to connect with them,
yes, and that that would be lovely, and you know, all the more reason why I think we should have an updated list of all of those, not only libraries, but other organizations that offer help to the community using broadband or have they have a computer at their library, or they have a computer at their boys and girls club that they can connect in case there is no Wi Fi at home, yeah, for them to connect to the doctor. So these are called taps, the telehealth access points, and we are hoping to have an updated list of taps on our Arizona connect, connect Arizona map. So you know, those who are interested in participating and offering their services, do get in touch with Anthony or me, and we will, we will be really happy to put your organization on that map on Connect Arizona. And that is one more thing I want to share with 911. That that's the place where they we can offer navigational services to health resources, as well as places where they can connect to their doctor. So
Mala, that's going to be a good segue for you to kind of give us an update, but I just wanted to just mention one more thing about this Tucson Fire Department project. I did talk with one of the deputy chiefs the other day, and he was very excited to hear about what we're doing and how we might be able to participate. He was saying they would love to be able to spread the word and help other communities to perhaps implement something like this. But he did refer me to another deputy chief, and I left him a message, so I haven't talked with him yet, but like I said, I plan to have them hopefully next week, if I connect with them. So just wanted to mention. At and then, Mala, you're on. Why don't you give us kind of an update with the latest happening, particularly at the federal level and state E Rate and all that kind of good stuff.
Happy to do that. And I just wanted to continue the conversation where you was you were taking it FCC, in their last Open Meeting, adopted rules. One of them is the rule for requiring geo routing of all wireless scholars to 988, you know this is FCC. Is lifeline. In number. So the thing the advantage to doing this is, or making sure that this is implemented, is then they can actually route the local crisis local they can route it to the local crisis center based on the geo geographic area associated with the origin of that call. So rather than, you know, by the code of exchange, which is what they're doing right now, you know, because some of us, when we I mean, we have numbers, I may have a 502520, number, or a 623, number, which you know, doesn't, and I may not be in Tucson, and I still have a five to zero number, because the numbers no longer are associated with the area from which they originate, you know. So if they if the calls have a geo routing capability, then they can actually link them to their their local public health and safety resources, and to the to the community places that they can get help from. So that is one of the things that FCC discussed in their open meeting that was on october 17. They also the other requirement was that all mobile phones be hearing it compatible. Right now, not all of them are hearing it compatible, and I don't know what that means, because I don't know what the difference is between a mobile phone that has hearing compatibility, hearing aid compatibility, and one that doesn't I know it theoretically, but I haven't seen it, you know, implemented a practice. I need to figure it out with someone who has a hearing loss, has a hearing aid and how their cell phones work for them. But
if I can, if I can interrupt Gordon, you're online. Do you have any feedback about that?
Yeah, well, you know, hearing aids have been kind of on in a realm to themselves. They weren't designed to integrate and be used with modern smartphones, and so in recent years, there have been developments where the inductive hearing aid circuit could be with these older hearing aids engaged by a mobile phone. Usually it involves getting an external auxiliary device for your hearing aid, so now they're requiring that it be built into the devices, in addition to Bluetooth, which also can handle that of interest. And recent note, there are 47,000 ophthalmologists in the United States, and only 14,000 audiologists, so there's a huge underserved area. And Apple just announced there's a wonderful video on on LinkedIn with Hogan Germa, the first deaf, blind lawyer, woman to graduate from Harvard, and she is speaking with Apple, and Apple has now created a full on audiology, sensing and testing program into their new generation iOS, and it'll work with their ear pods, which are only $250 and it gives you the ability to certainly have an integrated cell phone with your hearing aid device. But also you can integrate further features that are built into these smartphones. So it's a dynamic world right now. Bose, for $500 sells hearing aids that can be adapted by you adjusting them, but the to get the auditory signature right for the testing is really quite a sensitive thing. Well, Apple just got it certified by the FDA, so insurance will probably cover it. Now and again. They're $250 versus hearing aids. They can be three, 4000 and and then again, not even. And integrate with your your your smartphone, which is why I haven't had any up until now.
Thank you, Gordon. I think that was helpful. So Mala I'm sorry to have interrupted
you. But no, no, no, actually, it was really helpful. And thank you Gordon, because you helped me understand what those rules really, you know, translated to for the common man and for our into the practical usage of it. And not, not just a rule on paper or somewhere, a file somewhere stashed in the computer. No,
it's good a lot of people, really, and and in particular, with some of the things we're talking about, telehealth and such, you know, wouldn't it be great if, if grandma didn't have to, you know, go hunting for the phone amplifiers and stuff like that. Correct, correct,
absolutely. And to have another additional device to learn and, you know, integrate into your life. So this, this is this is really good. Thank you. Thank you. Gordon, so the FTC also released the recent E Rate and the 2020, 5e Rate eligible services list. This list is revised every year somewhere around October, November, time frame so that it is in time for the 2025 applications that are due in March of 2025 so this outlines the categories of service, the eligible equipment under the different categories. And you know, it clarifies what goes into what category. It's a pain if you put the wrong thing in the wrong category, because that that means you're inviting attention of the reviewers on you, and it kind of it creates delays, if nothing else. So the key thing here is the continued emphasis on Wi Fi access equipment. It reaffirms the commitment to bridging that digital divide within educational spaces, knowing that some of some of our buildings are old and it's difficult to rewire them, so kind of, it's an historic too. I'm going through one, one of our Grand Canyon libraries that is in a historic building, and that, you know, putting Wi Fi equipment itself is a pain there, getting permissions, but if you had to, you know, rewire the place it's going to, you know, invite a lot of well for a lot of discussion on whether it can be done or not done, and those kind of things. So there was more clarity also on network security, which is bound to happen with the cyber security funding through the pilot initiatives, the $200 million initiative, by the way, that is due on November 1. This is the pre application. So those who are intending to apply have to do a pre application first, and then if you get shortlisted, they would have you do a full fledged application. I talked about this last last week, so if anyone wants clarification, either they can look at that or contact me directly, I'd be happy to help you. The FCC has also made adjustments to streamline the eligibility criteria for consortium applications serving the tribal communities. This is especially important because some of the tribes work independently and they have their own service providers, while others work with the school or the library in their neighborhood, and that means the, you know, the consortium rules and and regulations needed to be modified, and that's that's simplified in this this year's process. The other thing that I wanted to draw your attention to is, every year, funds for learning does a survey of all the E Rate applicants to see what their what they require, what they found useful, what they would like, more clarification on and The 2020, 4e Rate Trend Report is here. It's published. It's on funds for learning website, and I will put that link on in the chat as soon as I'm done. And it offers keys insights into how schools and libraries view E Rate funding. There were about 2300 participants. Who participated in the survey, and they would the the most important thing is that they said E Rate has Essential Impact, and they really don't want FCC to get rid of the program, or the government to get rid of the program. They wanted to continue whatever happens. And so that means we've got to go back and modify the USF funding. Do the funding reforms? That is the base funding from which E Rate gets its supply of funds. The cyber security is a top priority. We know that, and that's what the trend showed as well. It also shows that there are rising costs and expanding needs, which means that it's a common concern, especially with equipment, because a lot of the equipment comes from out of the country and has to be assembled here and just buy America rule when it kicks in, makes it more expensive, if not almost impossible to unless you have your assembly line in place already to to get it done. So there those needs are are a concern for the anchor institutions. Streamlining the E Rate process was another suggestion, and one of those also I spoke about, and I have been speaking about for a while, and that is the category two application deadlines. We are currently in Arizona alone. We have about 17 and 14,004 14 million. Sorry, 14 million. We're leaving on the table. As far as libraries are concerned, and libraries and schools put together, we are leaving about $74 million that of unused category two funding. And this means category two and funds are used for internal connections. Category One is used to get internet to the door. So that's the middle mile, your cables, your internet connection to the door. And the category two is your internal connections within the library or school. And we, as you know, even though we say that that is 74,070 4 million that's being left on the table, some of it may be because, you know, the schools have closed. Some areas libraries have shut off. Some of the libraries are closed. Some of the libraries, including ours, you know, we had, we had a larger space pre COVID compared to the space that we have currently that is eligible for E Rate funding. And most of us, like me, I work from home, so we don't, you know, I don't have any office space. And many of our staff, staff in the library, also don't have, you know, their own offices or space that would have become irate eligible if we were serving the public. So, you know, those modifications, even if we leave those apart, and if we think that, you know, some of the money probably will never be utilized, there is still, I would say, between 40 to $50 million that we will be leaving on the table if we don't apply for it in this last cycle of 2025, 26 so that's my report. And back to you, Steve, unless there are any questions for me,
questions from Mala, yeah,
can that money be used for wireless interconnections. And absolutely,
yes, I was can be and that is why I talked about the E Rate eligible services list for 2025 that was published. And I will put the link for that also in the chat as soon as I'm done. And then you can see what is eligible, and those are the things that we would like our libraries to and schools to work on for 2025 another reason why that is important is that if we are going to get the bead funding and get higher bandwidth to the Door of these anchor institutions, unless you have the capability of distributing this within the organization. You know, it's like getting the huge, big pipeline, a one inch pipeline, to the door, and you water pipeline, and then you have a one centimeter in within your organization. So it's going to be as slow or as fast as your internal connectivity, right? So the routers and hubs, even though they are currently adequate, they do need to be upgraded to handle the incoming higher bandwidth.
I. Was just thinking out loud that with wireless distributed network nodes, you can load the contents of the library on those things, and they they would then create that spatial computing environment, which, again, I think, is an area for workforce development, for the youth. This is where they can append to the physical spaces and objects of the built environment, the information links or connections directly to the information, and with that, we can make a much more interesting and engaged environment around around the centers where the data is available, yeah, like a school or a library, it's perfect,
right? And the only thing is, we need to again consult the eligible services list to see sometimes some parts of it are eligible and some are not. So we need to cost allocate out those that are ineligible. But it's still worth upgrading, because you can upgrade now and then. This, this five year block of funds gets, you know, it doesn't get carried over beyond the 2026 june 30 of 2026 Wow. So that is the last cycle. So the cycle, the application for that cycle begins in I mean, it, it's due in March 2025,
good. Could we work together on that? It's a little over my head from the technical side,
absolutely. Gordon. I'd be delighted to do that. Good, good. Okay,
okay, let's move on. Any other questions or comments from Mala before we move on. So I want to hit a couple of quick things before we get to our program today. First of all, Barney, do you have any interest in that grant and that cyber security grant?
Not me directly, but I will certainly pass that information on to Paul and others who, who will be presumably engaged on that.
Yeah, and Paul is aware of it. I've been in touch with him and sent him information. So yeah, so if they're planning to apply or not, yeah,
to the Okay, I'll check with him. But to the degree Paul's interested,
I'm interested, yeah, because you guys, if you did a consortium, you know, and as you can tell, Mala is our resident specialist on this. So I don't want to take more time today, but you know, if you have any questions, and I have, I don't know if Mala has talked with Paul or not, but you know, she is, of course, our resident expert on the Cyber Security Grant.
I'll check with Paul. Thanks. Okay,
and then Casey, Cassie, I know you're you've been here before, but you want to introduce yourself quickly.
Hi, good morning, everyone. I'm with Pima County community and Workforce Development Department. My particular role here is to engage with the public for Workforce Investment Board activities, which is our local board for workforce development here in Pima County.
Great. Thank you. Appreciate it. Glad to see that you're joining us, and I'll be in touch with you. As I said, I want to do a program on workforce development and what's happening here in Arizona. And then one other person, if he's still here, Jonathan, are you still online? Oh, I guess he's gone. Okay, and Rory just want to welcome you back. I know we talked the other day, but Rory is has been a sponsor of this organization and and a regular participant. Until recently, he's been a little busy. But anyway, Rory, you just want to say hi real quickly. Are you there? Okay, I guess he's hiding out. So okay, so moving on. Want to get to our presentation this morning, so I'm glad to have Jason tomorrow, who is director of market development and planning for Wired fiber, and he's going to give us an update on what wired fiber, where they are, what they're doing, and so forth. And so Jason, I'm going to stop sharing. I don't know if you need to share or not, but yeah,
I can share. I have a small deck here I'll put up here. You should see that request for sharing.
Good morning everyone. Thank you for allowing me to be here again. This over. Can everyone see that clearly?
Yes, yeah, we
have it alright. Thank you. So again, who we are we, we've actually been a local company. We were founded in 95 around the time the I like, or the all those likes were split apart, and a gentleman purchased this small I like territory up here, around Whitman. And so from that to today, we've grown into a little bit bigger company, with the focus on ensuring that the culture of our small company stays the same, and that's really being, you know, a part of the community. So we we've been heavy on innovation and growth and collaboration. We're doing this with all of our communities that we're in today. And as you can see here, we aspire to be the cornerstone partner for internet connectivity and Sustainable Community Development falls fostering growth one community at a time, and what that looks like today. I can share is, is we help the city of Surprise get a grant for an area that was that is underserved and also it's an area that you know that the income is lower income, area where they you know the the affordability of this type of product is, is usually costly, and because we're able to get the grant and work so well with with the city, to achieve this, we're providing full symmetrical services to everyone within this one square mile at a at a $35 rate. And that's a full 100 Meg symmetrical up and down service, no extra fees, nothing. They get that at a great, great rate, so that, and that's what we continue to look for, and our mission to provide residence, business, and not for profit agency, with affordable, high quality, continuous improving the Internet services out there today, and that's that's been a big thing for us. But here's four, four core or key, key things, local, transparent, integrity, trusted. What you'll hear from me, what you hear from our team, is that we want to be the best partners, and the only way we can be our best partners is by being transparent, committing to what we say we're going to commit to, and then also, at the same time saying what we can't we were unable to, I'm just not going to say can't what we're unable to do today, right? And by doing these things, we're hoping that that trust is established and that, you know, people will continue to share our good story with everyone else, and and you know, here on the transparent part our services, what you get is what you get. There's not nothing hidden, no surcharges, no hidden fees, nothing that is out of the norm. This is our executive team. Come from all different parts of the world and industry, great, great group of leaders who love the vision here. In fact, many of them, like myself, came from a large enterprise space hired of the you know Bucha that's involved in that space, and seeing how our communities weren't being served the way that we knew they could be. And so these are great people that we work with today, work for today that help us expand and go fast and really empower each and every one of us leaders to see how and where we can, you know, impact our communities where we are today. Partnership, Maricopa, yap Thai, county, surprise, Peoria, Bucha, Glendale, good years where we're building and where we're expanding to the communities we're expanding to as we're going forward, Litchfield Park, Tolleson, Avondale, young town. And I really should have some dot dot dots after that, because one of the reasons why I was down in Tucson here a couple weeks ago is to to see if there's an interest for us, a local company, to come down and do the same in Pima County and in Tucson, in the area down there. And then I'm also looking at another location, but I was asked to buy some team members to go, go talk to so exciting times right now. And our, our investment group. They. Of the third, third largest investment infrastructure company in the world, and they had their meeting last week. They really love how we're impacting the community and what we're doing. And they've actually asked us, How can you go faster, and how can you impact more? And that's why that I should have more of those dot dot dots, which was very great to have that added, you know, support from, from our investment company. So what we offer is simple. It's kind of like, it almost looks like Southwest Airlines. You know, this is what you get. This is what we have. And from a small, medium business, nonprofit, government, residential, that's what we offer on that side, 601 gig, two gig, five gig, and we'll offer more in the future, because our network is what is called an XGS pawn network, which means you can go 10 g plus in the future. So we are investing in a technology that we, we know is what would be commonly called 100 year proof, because it is all fiber optic. It is not copper, and we are not needing huge amount of power or data space, or, you know, cabinet space or data center space to operate this solution. And the upgrade, and the ability to upgrade to the home is simply a swap of a electronic gear on the end, not having to upgrade a whole infrastructure plan, as is the case on all copper infrastructure today,
think,
and I didn't have it on here, but we also, we also support large enterprise and everyone else that needs the bigger services, of course. I mean, you know, the backbone of our our network is built that way need to be, so that we can be future proof. But you know that that also allows us to support those, those people as well, so broad, broad space here of what we do, but any questions,
any questions. Apparently, not.
Okay. I'll add one more thing. We started doing micro we'll call micro technology in our network four years ago. So that's deploying micro conduit, micro fiber in Arizona or for full, full network. So even when we're building stuff along the side of the road or through people's neighborhoods or wherever you may, you think we are not consuming any more than a two inch space of conduit structure in the right of way. We're not placing huge micro duct bundles or tons of conduits in the easement. We're building it in a way that we are disturbing the least amount that we we need to be and that's the same thing with our our technology that we're using in our cabinets, we're using and consuming the least amount of power that we can and we use, all, you know, we really try to be focused and understanding of what we can use to keep the lowest impact, you know, in our environment overall. So
I have a question, if I may. Yeah, hi. This is Gordon from Tucson. I just wanted to ask about this is quite a remarkable and extraordinary, 100 year proof service. I'm loving it. I'm just kind of wondering, thinking of it from the receiving end. You know, how many of these underserved customers are aware that the transition because $35 that's a fairly decent chunk of monthly income when it's down in the SSI, you know, or state, kind of the program, you know, how many of them know how to use that, you know, to get what they've consumed up until Now, in the way of cable television, off air broadcasts, telephone service and the like. Because, of course, this can replace bloody everything else. But how do they make that transition? Because not everyone has digital flat screens that are capable and ways of intermediating it with a device. How's that going on that front how do people use it in their homes?
That's a great question. So we'd be surprised right there. While they may not have a smart screen TV or this, we may think they don't have many of those items, we find out that in some of these areas. Multi generational families are living right in these spaces. And so you have you know, young adults, teenagers, young kids that that touch this stuff all the time, right? And so being able to give them that that right in their home allows, you know those kids and those young adults to help those who are in that gap to understand how it works. In addition, I would say that we do an additional we do as much education up front and post in our own facility. Here, from the perspective of this, it's not just that demographic that's affected with this new change, right? This, this great amount of digital imma, call it digital wealth, that we're shoving out there. Yeah, the the you we have to realize too, that there's, you know, snow birds and people in the older demographic that are just, you know, trying to understand, how do I go from a desk? Well, not desktop, but a table top unit of, you know, the the cable provider, right click, I can just, you know, move my click up and down and get what I need to do to streaming, right? How do I stream? What like? How do I what our device like? What are you talking about? We have those classes here we and we don't do that for all our just our customers. We invite anyone to come in and learn how to stream. And we have every, I think we have every type of streaming product in this room. And so we invite anyone, if they have a question, we post it saying we have these, these classes. Come on in. We want to show you, and have you ask us a whole bunch of questions about what that is. And then our customer service team is local, so that that being said, they're they're taught and trained to help everyone from you know, the most tech savvy people, because that you know, sometimes even myself, I could get really tech savvy, but then miss a step, and they can help fill that gap and get me moving again, as well as those people who struggle To understand, you know what, you know, what my phone line connects into this router instead of the wall. Like, I mean, how does that happen? You know?
Well, you,
you guys, are super impressive, I guess I would ask, because you're, you're kind of on the bleeding leading edge on this stuff, you know, how is it the device? Gadgetronics on display and showcase transition for these folks? I mean, you know, what do you think from the side of the desk of if you were one of these families of multi generational homes, which could have 4k TV in every room pretty well with the kind of service you offer, you know? How do you find it from their side of the desk, looking at these technologies? Are they? Are they fumbly? Do they need evolution? Is there a way to integrate them all in some kind of clever way so that we can have telehealth and all that stuff? What are you seeing in the future on that stuff?
Oh, man, I see that that will be, that will be a consistent thing that needs to happen, right? I think that, you know, well, you know, I mean, we can just go back generationally, right? Just go back, you know, as far as you want to go to the homes that had the one TV right at the very beginning, we have a TV to to where we are today and streaming. And some people like to live in simplicity, where I don't need all this stuff, right? But then they get, they, they get caught up in the quandary of, well, now, you know, my doctors want to do telemedicine like I it's easier. I'm not as mobile, right? They're having it. They have to step into the digital age they're trying to stay out of because, you know, and they because we do, we get sometimes stuck, stuck in a place of, you know, not realizing that simplicity is also changing. And so, you know, helping them is going to be something we got to continue to be aware of. We have to continually be looking at and understanding it, just like we did here when we did the streaming class, we understood that as soon as someone asked that question, like, oh, you know what? We all stream. We don't think anything about it. You know, some of us are younger, more tech savvy, when that question comes in, we turn around and we actually huddle around, right? We share these kind of questions with everyone else, and so that's, I think, to continue to be on the bleeding edge of helping the community, you're going to have to be on the bleeding edge of listening to your community and hearing the echoes of you know, what are their pain points? Because it's going to change as rapidly as our our technology changes. Yeah, that's going to happen, right? So we have to help them, and maybe that's it. Maybe the key is helping them understand and get comfortable with this paradigm shift that's going to that's going to be the out of the rest of their lives, right? Yeah,
it's a good evolution, and with AI on on the horizon, we're about 10 minutes away from these devices helping reach out and guide people and and give them the knowledge they need when they need it in the form they need it in. Oh, that's what, that's what I called accessibility and inclusion.
Absolutely, Jane,
we need to move on. Any other questions for Jason, questions or comments? Okay,
I want I was wondering, Jason, in these homes that you install the fiber you have to, typically work with the customers to look at whether they're Wi Fi routers and their their computers are upgrade upgraded as well to take advantage of the speeds that are offered by the fiber. Just sort of a similar thing to what Mala is talking about with internal networks for compute community anchor institutions. So yes,
that's a great question we do, Henry. So what we do is our technicians will actually go through the home and make sure first thing that that Wi Fi covers is is good, right? We we want them to understand like we that what they're buying isn't just what it comes in through, into the wall, into the first part of the house, they're buying something that should cover their whole whole whole whole home. When we do that, then we start to look at how is everything connecting to their network? Because we're using a commercial grade router, we're able to split bands on that router, and so that allows us to take even the older, generational type of equipment. Share with them. Hey, you have something that's older. We have the ability to get it on the network, so let's be optimized. It's not going to suck down your your bandwidth, because we can, we can split bands and get you, you set up correctly. But we are also sharing with them that, hey, you're getting your equipment is getting to that age where, you know, we can, we know it's not no longer really supported from the manufacturer. And so there's gotta be, you know, you have to think about doing an upgrade. And we give them resources to go look at and go talk to people, and that we have that would help them with that additionally,
yeah, because I think that's a critical piece that often service providers and others don't talk about, is the fact that it's not just the internet connection, but you have to make sure that internally, the the Wi Fi routers and The computers are are compatible with serving, you know, being able to take advantage of those speeds, you're
absolutely correct. And that's, that's, it's, if we didn't, if we didn't think about every resident and every community as being part of us, you know, being local, then we would just do maybe, like some of the larger companies, where they just come in, put it in turn up and say, you're hot, you're ready. Go ahead. We can see on the network. We we really make sure then, and this is the full scope. When we set up the network at a customer's location, we actually have a pointed window. So if I say I'm going to have a technician at your house, you're going to have a window from eight to 10. It's not a hey, just expect someone from eight to five in the evening to be there. It's your your appointment. Window is from eight to 10. The technician will be there at eight, and that technician is going to help set up your your network, and then we'll help figure out which is the best place to put it, whether it's on that G or the 2.4 G. You know, however, we needed to have the network support their services that they have with their equipment that they have in their home. Yeah.
Okay,
so Jason, thank you for being here this morning. We'll certainly have Jason's contact information available. So a couple of quick things. As you all know, we have never endorsed any candidates, and we don't intend to do that. So all I'm going to do is to say, be sure and vote and broadband Breakfast has been doing some sessions on what to expect and what the positions are for the candidates regard to broadband. So you might want to check those out. Like I said, I'm not going to endorse any candidate one way or another or any party. I. That you might want to become informed about what what might happen after the election. So with that again, just be sure and vote. Next thing. Kelly Mukherjee, so we did a little promo for connect Arizona. You want to do a two minute promo about AZ. AZ us. I always forget easy one, easy one. I got it.
Hi everyone. Kelly muggerjee from Arizona State University enterprise technology. I represent a web portal called as one, because it's supposed to remind us to work together as one happy to share the link in the chat. For those of you who have never been there, but we've got an Arizona Broadband Map that helps to show the unserved underserved areas. Would love to reach out and work with Jason to see if maybe we can add wired, wired assets to our map so that more people understand, you know, wired plans and any other information that we can add to it as well. We are also looking for stories. So if anybody has any community impact stories that they want to tell, the more we understand what's happening in the community as a result of everyone's hard work. I mean, the more it inspires more people to do more work. So happy to connect with anyone. If you'd like to talk about broadband and digital inclusion, nice to meet you. Thank you. Steve, yeah,
thank you, Kelly. So one more thing that I did include in my newsletter, it just so happened that long time friend of mine who I haven't talked to, he moved out of Tucson, and haven't been in touch with him for probably a couple of years, and he accidentally but dialed me, and so we connected, and he has an IT company. He's now in Colorado, but he's has clients here in Arizona, and he is looking for a new ISP in the i 17 Indian school area. And so if any of you know somebody, or know somebody, or you're interested, please contact me, and I will pass your information on to him. With that. Do we have any other let me make sure I've got all my all the announcements that I need to make today. Just a reminder that T Mobile is offering free iPads, and again, that information is available, excuse me, is available. And Ilana, I know you're not feeling good, but do you want to say any you have anything you want to report? I
think she already dropped off. Steve, okay,
alrighty. And just a reminder that may 20 to 2220 25 that NTIA and that include Inclusion Conference will be here in Arizona. And if you haven't registered, please do so. I think it'll be a great activity, and great for Arizona. Next thing is just a reminder. On November 13, the Arizona Technology Council is having their 21st annual Governor celebration of innovation. And on the 20th the tech Council will be doing it, a tech inclusion forum on breaking barriers, disability inclusion and technology. However, it is not available online, so you will have to be there in person. And again, that information is in my newsletter. So any other announcements, anybody has that we have missed. Anybody going once, going twice? Okay, I'm going to stop recording.
