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May 21, 2012 By Kristin Noble 2 Comments

More Internet Service Coverage: MVTV Wireless Continues Growing

Federal stimulus project delivers internet service to un-served and underserved communities in southwest Minnesota

In March 2010, MVTV Wireless of Granite Falls, MN was awarded federal stimulus funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  Since then MVTV has been hard at work upgrading and expanding their system in accordance with the stimulus project.

According to MVTV Wireless President, Dan Richter, “Only about 8% of the population of the United States does not have high-speed Internet, but it’s almost all in rural areas. We were awarded this funding through ARRA because rural areas in southwest Minnesota were deemed un-served or underserved.”

“Now, the terms un-served or underserved does not mean there aren’t Internet service providers out there, what’s happening is people need higher speeds.” Richter said. “Our goal is to give customers more choices by providing better service. We’re excited to help make high-speed Internet more accessible for people in southwest Minnesota.”

There are 3 main sections to the MVTV ARRA stimulus project.

  • Upgrade the current system: MVTV Wireless has completed all 11 upgrades to areas within their existing system. The upgrades have quadrupled backhaul capacity.
  • Expand service coverage: The plan calls for 34 new sites to be built in communities that were previously un-served or under-served. As of today MVTV Wireless has completed the required expansion and continues growing with a current total of 39 new access locations added.
  • Service new customers: Lastly the ARRA project calls on MVTV to add an additional minimum 1500 new subscribers within the expansion area. So far MVTV Wireless has completed 500 qualified installations and continues to grow rapidly, completing 100+ new installs per month.

One of ARRA’s main objectives is to stimulate economic growth through job creation. Due to the expansion, through the ARRA project, MVTV has grown to employ 16 full-time positions. To meet the needs of a growing customer base MVTV has added 5 new service technicians, 2 new customer service members and an operations manager in the last 12 months.

While so many funded projects have yet to get off the ground, MVTV Wireless is excited to say they have fulfilled almost all of the ARRA expectations and hope to finish by the end of 2012, well ahead of its original end date of May 31, 2013. Most of all, MVTV Wireless is proud to have the opportunity to expand broadband Internet coverage to help serve more of rural Southern and Southwestern Minnesota.

More information about MVTV Wireless can be found on their website, www.mvtvwireless.com or by calling 320-564-4807.

 

 

Filed Under: Blog, Internet Service - Access Points Tagged With: ARRA, internet service, mvtv wireless, New Broadband Wireless, New London MN, southwest MN

May 18, 2012 By Kristin Noble Leave a Comment

There’s an app for that!

mobile phone appsI gotta say I was reluctant to get a smart phone at first. Then again I was once reluctant to text someone until I got a phone with a keyboard. When I did finally make the jump, I chose the iPhone. It was definitely cool to have my phone and iPod music merged into one. It was also pretty neat to get my emails on the go as well. What I didn’t know was how many handy apps there were as well!

There really is an app for everything!

I now keep my grocery list (and any other list) on my phone thanks to Grocery IQ, I have turn by turn instructions from MapQuest, the latest weather from The Weather Channel and of course I can keep up with everyone through the Facebook app. There are apps for fitness and weight loss as well as recipe apps like Big Oven, for new ideas. I found educational apps that our 6 year old grandson loves and believe it or not there are apps for my cat to play with!

Now when my husband and I have a question about something we usually end up saying “I bet there’s an app for that”, and sure enough there usually is an app for this or that. It makes me laugh, but then again, I can’t believe I ever lived without my smart phone.

Tell us what your favorite apps are…

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: iphone apps, mvtv wireless, sw mn, wireless internet

April 12, 2012 By Kristin Noble Leave a Comment

The Next Broadband Task Force Minnesota Meeting

This month’s Broadband Task Force Minnesota meeting is set for Tuesday, April 17th, in Eagan, MN.

Governor’s Task Force on Broadband
Unisys, 3199 Pilot Knob Road, Eagan, MN 55121
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

10:00-10:15 Greetings and introductions, approve meeting minutes
10:15-10:30 Welcome/explanation by host site/description of broadband happenings in area 
Welcome by Dan Browning, Unisys
10:30-11:15 Public comments/description of broadband happenings in area
1. Dakota Future Intelligent Community Initiative – Bill Coleman
2. Dakota County C-Net – Anita Scott, Dakota County Director of IT
3. Eagan Data Center: The Connexion – Tom Garrison 
11:15-12:00 Subgroup reports to full task force and feedback
Coordination Across Government Levels (Leader: Danna MacKenzie)
Best Practices/Incentives (Leader: Dick Sjoberg)
State of Broadband (Leader: Matt Grose)
12:00-12:30 Lunch
12:30-1:00 Presentations
ROW Management, Dig Once
Butch McConnell, Dakota County
Russ Matthys, City Engineer, City of Eagan
Paul Zyla, Agstar
1:00-1:45 Subgroup reports to full task force and feedback
Broadband Adoption (Leader: Shirley Walz)
Monitor/Understand Impact of FCC & PUC Decisions; Cost of Broadband (Leader: Gary Evans)
Locations (Leader: Bernadine Joselyn)
1:45-2:15 Public comments
2:15-2:25 Other business/Upcoming meetings
2:25-2:30 Closing comments/Adjourn meeting
Optional Tour: Following the Task Force meeting, there will be an optional 30 minute tour of the Unisys Data Center.  If you are interested in attending, there will be a sign-up during the lunch break.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: broadband task force meeting, mn broadband task force, mvtv wireless, sw mn

March 28, 2012 By Kristin Noble Leave a Comment

Blandin Foundation – Where does wireless fit into the rural tapestry?

broadband internet rural mnMVTV Wireless would like to share a recent post by the Blandin Foundation whose goal is to share information that supports and promotes broadband access and use – especially in rural Minnesota.

Today Dave Peters at MPR’s Ground Level looks at wireless in rural areas. He asked folks on different sides of the issues about the role that wireless does and potential could play in rural areas. Here’s a Readers Digest version…

Verizon – plans to provide service…

Verizon earlier this month announced its HomeFusion product, offering rural wireless Internet access faster than many urban residents have today and riding on the company’s expanding 4G network. You stick a bucket-sized antenna on the side of your house and pay $60 a month and, presto, you allegedly get downloads speeds of up to 12 megabits per second and upload speeds up to five megabits per second. That’s faster than a lot of people get in the Twin Cities.

I just heard someone talk about using Verizon’s MiFi as an alternative to her not-so-great broadband in a suburb of the Twin Cities. I’m a fan of MiFi – but as I learned on a recent road trip, you can hit the data caps pretty quickly. I wouldn’t want to worry about that each month. And as MVTV Wireless points out in the story, Verizon may not be serving the smaller towns (or space between towns) any time soon.

MVTV Wireless (a local wireless provider) is providing wireless service to rural homes now…

MVTV is upgrading its service steadily, now covering almost 20,000 square miles. It’s residential service offers speeds of 2.5 megabits but the non-profit company is preparing for 4G and faster service. He says he’s adding about 100 customers a month.

But he’s not really trying to compete with wired services. “We want to go where people aren’t,” he said. Most of his customers are rural and are switching from satellite service or dial-up service or getting Internet access for the first time. “Wireless is just one piece of the whole puzzle,” he said, but he cautioned people not to rule out the long-term potential of wireless speeds.

Some folks feel that wireless is a Band-Aid that sort of distracts consumers and prohibits providers from investing in fiber…

“Most Americans don’t know what they’re missing” with slower speeds and data caps, said Christopher Mitchell, who follows telecommunications issues for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and who is a big proponent of community-built fiber projects. …

Still, Mitchell notes how wireless service can make the economics more difficult for those pushing for high-speed fiber networks.

And yet others feel there is room for both…

“Most tech futurists would say we need them both” said Bill Coleman, who runs the broadband and economic development consulting firm Community Technology Advisors. Simply put, for some people at least, wireless works, he said.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: blandin foundation, broadband access, economic development, rural minnesota, rural wireless Internet access, wireless service to rural homes

March 20, 2012 By Kristin Noble 2 Comments

MN Broadband Task Force updates

MVTV Wireless would like to keep you informed of information stemming from the MN Broadband Task Force.

– The recent February 14th meeting minutes have been posted for review.

– The next meeting is scheduled for 10:00 am, Tuesday March 27th, 2012 at Independent Lifestyle in Sauk Rapids.  Proposed meeting agenda.

 We invite the general public to join in the task force discussions. If you cannot attend a meeting and would like to comment, please feel free to drop us an email at mvtvpostmaster@mvtvwireless.com. Dan Richter, MVTV Wireless President, will be happy to review you comments and share them with the task force at the next meeting.

Filed Under: MN Broadband Task Force Tagged With: broadband task force meeting, mn broadband task force, mvtv wireless, sw mn

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Welcome to MVTV Wireless

(320) 564-4807

1790 Hwy 212 W
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Granite Falls, MN 56241

MVTV Wireless would like to welcome all prospective and current members. It is MVTV's goal to provide our customers with supreme Fixed Wireless Broadband Internet and TV Service. We will continue to provide the best possible signals and services at the lowest possible costs to you.

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MVTV Wireless is a non-profit, member-owned corporation. We were founded in 1960 in order to bring television to the Granite Falls, MN area. In April of 1999 MVTV began providing wireless internet service.

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