In parts of Northern Michigan, few options exist for traveling the "Information Superhighway" at more than a relative crawl.

And as some see it, the limited availability of high-speed Internet access in the region's more rural areas can cramp the quality of life and hinder economic development.

"Today, the Internet touches all aspects of our lives," said Andy Hayes, president of the Boyne City-based Northern Lakes Economic Alliance. "We communicate with people, we get news and information, we use it for training, recreation, business, personal, all aspects of our lives. By having high-speed Internet, it will enhance all aspects of our lives.

"From an ... economic development standpoint, we are absolutely in a global economy. The Internet is the one tool that will allow our businesses to compete in and take advantage of this."

Northern Michigan's landscape can get in the way of some broadband delivery methods. And with limited numbers of customers to serve, for-profit Internet providers may find that extending their reach into rural territories may not justify the investment in high-speed equipment.

While the fiber wiring that supports broadband connections extends to many parts of the region, moderately-priced broadband delivery methods such as cable and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) aren't yet available at many outlying addresses.

But Hayes' organization and others see a potential strategy — reminiscent of one that wired far-flung areas with electricity in the 20th century — that could be used to make broadband a more attainable option throughout the region.

Falling behind

Chuck Scott, the owner of Gaslight Media in Petoskey, is an advocate for wider high-speed Internet availability. A member of the Northern Lakes Economic Alliance's broadband council, he recently wrote a "white paper" analyzing the region's broadband issues and ways to address them.

As Internet use proliferated in the mid-1990s, Scott wrote that dialup access quickly became available in Northern Michigan. It provided an adequate link to the mostly text-based Internet content of the time, and equipment upgrades allowed dialup connections to handle the increasingly image-based content on the World Wide Web over the next few years.

But once the 21st century arrived, Scott noted that demand for Internet bandwidth grew much larger, with many users sharing digital photos, transmitting large amounts of data via e-mail attachments and checking out online video offerings.

Scott noted that a good-quality dialup Internet connection — offering a connection speed of 47 kilobits per second — would require a user to wait two minutes for a typical Web page to load, with online video resolution being somewhat unclear. With a typical cable or DSL broadband connection or a commercial T-1 hookup, the typical Web page would load within 5 seconds, with good-quality, full-motion video resolution available.

Obstacles to overcome

At his Classic Instruments business on the outskirts of Boyne City, John McLeod has looked to the company Web site as a way to better reach out to an international customer base.

But until a few months ago, Classic Instruments had difficulty establishing the high-speed Internet connection it needed to offer online ordering options.

The company, which builds dash instruments for use in custom and vintage vehicles, had weighed several options for a broadband connection.

DSL service didn't extend to the company's premises. The company explored a wireless connection by way of a neighboring business, but McLeod noted that the cost was prohibitive and the proposed setup would make each business vulnerable to system glitches at the other. McLeod said he sought a more reliable connection than could be attained with satellite Internet service.

Classic Instruments sought help from local government to get a connection in place. Following some advocacy by Boyne City officials, telecommunications carrier AT&T performed some system upgrades that made DSL available at Classic's site off M-75 and allowed the company to expand its Web offerings.

The online ordering system enables McLeod's company to better serve customers in distant time zones.

"We're open 24-7," he said. "It's like having a whole new salesperson on board."

The company has seen sales increase by a couple of percent since the recent Web site upgrade, McLeod said, with many other customers checking out Classic's product online before placing phone orders.

"It's growing constantly," he said. "We're excited about that."

Classic Instruments isn't the only Internet user in Northern Michigan that's faced challenges establishing a high-speed connection.

RACC Enterprises offers DSL and wireless Internet access in the Emmet County area. But Andrew Hull, assistant systems administrator for the Alanson company, said obstacles stand in the way of delivering services to some rural residents.

"We've had tremendous interest from folks north of Harbor Springs (in places) like Cross Village, Good Hart and Larks Lake," he said. "We have to turn them all away."

DSL relies on equipment installed at key telephone switching points, and Hull noted that the service is typically limited to a radius of three miles or so around these.

"The biggest difficulty faced is population density," he said. "It costs thousands and thousands of dollars to bring a new spot online. If our new location is only going to serve a dozen homes, even if it serves 100 percent of those, it's not going to turn a profit."

In addition, Hull said the decades-old telephone wires serving some of the region's customers aren't capable of supporting DSL — and limit the connection speed for more readily available dialup service.

Wireless technology can provide high-speed Internet connections in some parts of the area, Hull said, but natural obstructions such as trees and hills can impede the signal. He said RACC must spot check each potential customer's location to see if the service would work there.

But looking ahead, Hull sees newer technologies offering promise for rural service. WiMAX, a high-power wireless delivery method that would require Federal Communications Commission licensing, is one possibility.

"That would allow us to have larger power output which would allow us to penetrate solid objects in a better manner," he said. We've kind of built our business on going into areas where people have been without any form of option. It's something that we hope to be able to continue to do."

Charter Communications, a major cable television provider in Northern Michigan, has introduced cable-based high-speed Internet access around many of the region's population centers in the past decade. Two more communities, Cheboygan and Indian River, are expected to have cable broadband service available in the near future.

Generally, "if you can get cable in an area, you can get high speed Internet," Charter vice president for government relations Tim Ransberger said.

But when Charter extends its services into an area, Ransberger noted that the company needs to have a base of potential subscribers that's large enough to justify the business investment.

"The availability of cable is driven by the density of population," he said.

Cooperating on a solution

This week, many potential stakeholders met in Gaylord to consider a new regional approach to broadband expansion.

Internet providers, public officials and economic development and information technology professionals were among the 100 or so people gathering at the University Center Wednesday.

Three dozen or so volunteered to be part of an exploratory committee, which will consider possibilities for forming a regional broadband cooperative.

Counties tentatively proposed for the cooperative's service area include Emmet, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Otsego, Antrim, Kalkaska, Crawford, Oscoda, Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency and Presque Isle.

"A cooperative is a business that's owned and controlled by the people who use its services," U.S. Department of Agriculture representative Traci Smith said. "This cooperative allows them to purchase their supplies at a lower rate than they would otherwise."

Gaslight Media's Scott outlined a possible vision for such a cooperative, noting that aggregation of demand could make broadband solutions more attainable.

Scott said it potentially could make use of multiple Internet backbones around the region — providing for redundant, more reliable connections — and allow for collaborative development of new broadband infrastructure.

"It would include the unserved as well as reduce costs and improve service in served areas," he added.

The cooperative could take steps to provide high-speed connectivity for health care providers, schools, emergency services and other organizations needing to link multiple facilities via the Internet. In turn, service could be extended to surrounding Internet users.

Scott said the cooperative potentially could put several broadband delivery technologies to use, such as fiber connections, wireless networking and broadband over powerline.

Forming the cooperative would require steps like incorporation under state law and establishment of a board of directors.

Northern Lakes Economic Alliance and the Northeast Michigan Council of Governments would help guide the formation of a cooperative if the committee decides to move forward. Michigan State University and ConnecTech, a networking group for information technology professionals, are other potential sources of assistance.

"We're talking about letting everyone here in our region be on an even plane with the rest of the world," NEMCOG director Diane Rekowski said. "We have to have high-speed Internet throughout the region, available and affordable."

To establish itself and develop infrastructure, Scott noted that the cooperative could seek loans and grant funding from a variety of sources, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture's rural development program. If government agencies and health care organizations become part of the cooperative, some Homeland Security funding assistance might be available.

"Our agency stands ready to try to assist with financing," USDA telecommunications group representative Ron Mellon said.

Roger Srigley, a Petoskey-based aide to U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, attended Wednesday's meeting.

"We can't promise you federal money right now, but we certainly want to be involved and believe strongly in the concept," he told participants.

Harold Chase, a regional representative for U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said the senator's office also is taking note of the cooperative proposal and perhaps can help in organizers' search for federal funding.

During Wednesday's meeting, some questioned how existing Internet providers around the region might respond to the formation of a co-op.

"I'm one of those providers," Scott said. "Am I cutting my knees out from under me? It may happen."

At the same time, Scott said the co-op potentially could offer appealing opportunities for these businesses. He noted, for example, that the providers potentially could reduce the costs for their Internet connections by cooperating.

Mark Snyder is president of one of the region's high-speed wireless Internet providers, Charlevoix Wireless. From a conceptual standpoint, he said the cooperative seems like a good idea. But to make it work, he said public- and private-sector stakeholders will need to have trust and a collaborative mindset in place.

"With the current service providers out there, there needs to be an understanding of friendly competition," he said.

What's next

A committee considering the formation of the Northern Michigan Broadband Cooperative will next meet at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23, via remote conferencing sites at North Central Michigan College, Alpena Community College and the University Center in Gaylord.

At that time, organizational requirements for the cooperative will be discussed.

To learn more about the proposal for the cooperative, go to www.northernmichiganbroadband.org [1].