J.

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This summary review will cover the presentation talk that was given by the director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research, Dr. Heather E. Hudson of the University of Alaska, Anchorage in the Department of Public Administration. The presentation talk was conducted on Monday, February 07, 2011 as part of the University of North Dakota Department of Space Studies Spring 2011 colloquium series.1 The topic of the given presentation talk was The Role of Communication Satellites in Rural and Developing Regions, with the title being From Northern Village to Global Village: Satellites for Development in Alaska and the Arctic.2 Basically the presentation talk that Dr. Hudson gave was a quick overview of the needs, challenges and changing capabilities of people in remote regions of the North, most specifically those indigenous people of Alaska. Furthermore, she gives a quick summary of satellite and land-based technology that is allowing for more remote regions & isolated communities to be interconnected with other parts of the world. Another point that Dr. Hudson seemed to bring across throughout her presentation talk was that naturally, the improvement of technology further increases the potential for disadvantaged people in remote regions to obtain a greater body of knowledge & capabilities. Dr. Hudson is concerned and primarily interested in information and communication accessibility and capabilities for remote regions, especially isolated communities in rural areas of Alaska. In rural Alaska, in some villages, struggle of maintaining basic needs and services is an everyday occurrence. For some approximately thirty years, a sizable proportion of the people of Alaska has obtained information and communication reliably through space-based assets. Before such a time,
1

Hudson, Heather E. Guest Speaker. SpSt_590-Space_Studies_Colloquium. University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota. 07 Feb 2011. Hudson, Heather E. From Northern Village to Global Village: Satellites for Development in Alaska and the Arctic. Power point Talk 07 Feb 2011.

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communication to remote regions were achieved by extensive utilization of amateur High Frequency (HF) radio. This technology was fairly simple and inexpensive for operations, although, it was severely limited in capabilities due in part to that data & video transmissions were not possible. Presently, telephone accessibility are available in many homes, a great percentage, approximately 95% has them. With the onset of the digital information age, a large number of the Alaskan population use the Internet. Many villages and/or homes utilize computers and Internet technology to obtain government services such as distance learning education, health evaluations & telemedicine services, etc. One item to note, that is of particular high concern to individuals in densely populated areas of the rest the country is medical privacy & confidentiality. Apparently, the people in remote regions give little thought to this matter on the account that there is little room in the infrastructure for concern of privacy. Often individuals must travel to the nearest place to seek health and telemedicine services either via HF radio, telephone-conferencing, and video-conferencing. Not every location of people have the resources that allow them to have a local heath clinic and/ or setup a complex broadband network that utilizes space-based assets. But a growing number of them do. Community assess of HF radio and broadband Internet is at times usually achieved through the local post office, school, and/or the general store. Approximately 150 local villages have wireless Internet access. As such, data security is becoming more a matter of concern as usage and growth continues. One item of great concern by many interested, is the delivery of health care and educational services to rural areas in Alaska. We note that even though Alaska has a land area that is approximately more than 1.7 million sq. km., it has the lowest population density in the U.S. approximately at 680,000, where 16% is indigenous people. Alaska apparently has only 4 communities that have

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populations that are greater than 10,000.3 The interconnected road system in Alaska is very limited. Throughout the presentation talk, Dr. Hudson stressed that the digital divide is greater in areas where it is remote, low income may be correlated with ethnic backgrounds, this is due to that services that provide access to broadband is very expensive and/or not accessible. There are many areas where access is only achieved through all-terrain vehicles, snow mobiles, boats, bush planes and/ or helicopters. Problems that arise here, that can be easily managed elsewhere in the U.S., are easily exacerbated by poverty conditions and isolation. Obtaining access to professionals and specialists are very few and far between. On the account of that Native Americans are legally wards of the U.S. Public Health Service, so their health care is provided with federal funds. As a result, the health care model in Alaska is more similar to the Canadian model. Operations of these service are now usually transferred to native organizations who operate the local health care systems. At times it is expensive and resource costly for the government authorities to maintain and guarantee access to educational, health care and a varied of other governmental services to the local populace, especially the indigenous people in isolated communities. To achieve this, the Alaska Federal Health Care Access Network serves approximately 40% of the population of Alaska with telemedicine with 250 sites scattered throughout the state. The majority of those sites are located in native villages, but a number of them are found at military installations, regional hospitals, and public health clinics also. There are certain benefits that naturally arise from the utilization of advanced information and communication technology & applications, made possible through space-based assets , microwave wireless and land-based fiber optic technology. With the use of the above technology time may be more effectively managed, with helps puts a reduction in costs and resources. With the use of the above
3

2011_0207_Hudson_From_Northern_Village_to_Global_Village.mp4. 09 Feb 2011. online video. EZ LMS. http://learn.aero.und.edu (Accessed: 09 Feb 2011).

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technology, the quality of services are greatly improved and/or made more accessible such as health clinic visits, educational opportunities, other government services. This allows for a better quality of life to be maintained and for those in situations of high economic disparity, the ability to obtain a higher quality of life. This may be achieved by training and educating young indigenous individuals to work in high-tech careers and/or work locally as trained professionals. A number of business opportunities also arise to help alleviate and/or some economic conditions. Some of those opportunities has been the ability to obtain online banking, investing and simplistic fund transfer transactions. Others that has arisen, has been the ability to become competitive, reach new markets, businesses & entrepreneurs, and obtain new supply sources. As such, many in the current administration have begun to believe that there is a direct positive correlation between the availability of broadband and the growth of commerce & prosperity. Within a five year time-frame, the current Obama administration wants to provide stable high-speed wireless coverage to approximately 98% of all U.S residents.4 Recently the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is proposing ending, the Universal Service Fund (USF) , the $8 billion fund that subsidizes rural telephone service into one for helping pay to provide broadband Internet service to underserved areas which will be the Connect America Fund (CAF). 5 Alaska receives a significant amount of funding from the USF for communication support, with changes in the in the USF, it is highlighted by Dr. Hudson that public policy and initiatives must be provided to protect the interests of small providers and to keep sufficient funds flowing to rural areas. In general for the most part, the FCC's recent net neutrality approved rules will be very
4

Stolberg, Sheryl Gay, Obama Unveils Wireless Expansion Plan, The New York Times, 10 Feb 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/us/politics/11obama.html?ref=technology (Accessed: 10 Feb 2011). Wyatt, Edward F.C.C. To Propose Expanding Broadband Service to Underserved Areas, The New York Times, 06 Feb 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/07/business/07fcc.html (Accessed: 06 Feb 2011).

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problematic. One area that I myself noticed that may become of extreme concern in the near-term future is that information and communication is not only achieved through space-based assets but also in addition via wireless phone service providers and usb technology & applications. A significant portion has begun to utilize these services. Recently the FCC proposed and approved net neutrality rules that allow wireless phone service providers to use traffic management and/ or other means to discriminate software applications from using their network if it is not their promoted ones.6 As such, this may eventually put an undue hardship on the people in Alaska rural areas where it may be more of critical concern for people dependent on wireless broadband for information and communication. Furthermore, there are a number of other federal fund programs and grants that are helping to bring broadband and communication technology to rural & isolated communities in Alaska. One is the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), under the Department of Agriculture, which allocates funds for rural infrastructure projects. Another is the Broadband Telecom Opportunities Program (BTOP), from the Department of Commerce, which allocates funds for sustainable broadband adoption, public computer centers, etc. Dr. Hudson noted that with isolated small population densities situated in rugged terrain, there is likely to be no single solution for achieving broadband accessibility for all concerned. To accomplish the goal of sustainable broadband adoption and a broadband infrastructure, at the moment, both Canada and the U.S. have satellite coverage nation wide that provides two-way broadband. Intelsat G-18 provides a satellite footprint at 123 degrees West in the Ku-band upto 53.6 dBW and Cband up-to 46.7 dBW. Intelsat G-13 provides a satellite footprint at 123 degrees West in the C-band upto 45.0 dBW. The C-band is usually utilized for voice & television reception information &
6

Net Neutrality, The New York Times, Times Topics, 22 Dec 2010, http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/n/net_neutrality/index.html (Accessed: 09 Feb 2011).

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communications. The Ka-band is usually utilized for broadband information & communications. Some rely heavily on the Ku-band provided via satellites, for example the Starband- Open Skies Alaska program under Spacenet. It provides affordable broadband Internet to rural communities through the help of subsidies. While others rely heavily on land-based technology such as wireless microwave and fiber optics networks. Dr. Hudson stressed that as with much technology, there are advantages and disadvantages to their usage. Networks that run via space-based assets carry the disadvantages of latency for geosynchronous satellites and high costs, also in addition, bandwidth is not comparably the same as in urban areas in the rest of the country. But the technology is evolving into next generation usage, so bandwidth may increase in the near-term future at lower costs. Networks that run via wireless microwave has it fair share of disadvantages also. The technology have expensive installation and maintenance costs, due in large part that they often have to be flown in via helicopter. Remote repeaters must carry a direct line-of-sight and unfortunately they are powered through fossil fuel use, which means fuel must be flown in via helicopter so adding to the cost. Networks that utilizes fiber optics has their share also. For starters, they are very difficult to install in permafrost. Also the installation of fiber optics on poles over long distances carries a high price-tag as well. Frigid temperatures and snow/ice presents another area of concern in that it makes maintenance and repair of technology that much more difficult. Another area that Dr. Hudson pointed to was that in some areas where broadband Internet is accessible, adoption is not widespread. At the moment, this particular concern is not well understood. Some cite prices, relevance, and a varied of other socio-economic factors for the sporadic acceptance. To obtain a better grasp of the issue, apparently more data and research must be done in the area.