Building a Superior Network Together - Episode 612 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast

Stephanie Becken (00:07):
So that's where it all kind of started with this thought of, can we have something better? Is there something better out there? And there was

Christopher Mitchell (00:14):
Welcome to another episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. I'm Christopher Mitchell at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in St. Paul, Minnesota, and today I'm speaking with Stephanie Becken, the Broadband Manager [00:00:30] at the City of Superior. Welcome to the show Stephanie.

Stephanie Becken (00:34):
Thank you for having me, Christopher. I'm very happy to be here.

Christopher Mitchell (00:37):
For people who aren't familiar and I'm hoping you're going to agree, we'd have to say that Superior is well named a beautiful part of the country right up there on Lake Superior. Why don't we start before you tell us a little bit about how you became involved with this project of Connect Superior. What is Superior like and then how did you get involved with them?

Stephanie Becken (00:56):
Oh gosh, I love Superior. I'm a transplant up here. I'm actually [00:01:00] from the Twin Cities area. Grew up further south in Lake City, Minnesota family and I moved up here about three years ago. Superior is a fantastic area. It's right across the bridge from Duluth, and Duluth is nice but superior. It's a pretty special place and one that I really, really adore. A population about 26,000 people.

Christopher Mitchell (01:21):
You said you're from Lake City, so did you go to the root beer lady growing up then?

Stephanie Becken (01:26):
The root beer stand? Of course I went to the root beer stand growing

Christopher Mitchell (01:29):
Up. Oh, legendary. Legendary. [00:01:30] Yeah.

Stephanie Becken (01:30):
Pizza burgers all day long. But yes sir, that's where we were.

Christopher Mitchell (01:35):
Minnesota has some wonderful attraction and Wisconsin has more than a few as well.

Stephanie Becken (01:39):
That's right. In Superior. We have Wisconsin Point, so we've got this awesome lighthouse. We've got beautiful outdoor spaces. It's this fantastic mix of industry, of outdoors, of individual grittiness of community. I really do really do love Superior and all the people that I've met up here so [00:02:00] far and I think that's what makes me even more proud to be leading the next steps to get everyone connected and get our community to a level where it should be when it comes to being able to connect with one another and the outside world.

Christopher Mitchell (02:12):
Excellent. And then I jumped in and cut you off. You were about to describe about the size of Superior too, just so people are familiar with it.

Stephanie Becken (02:18):
Yeah, population is about 26,000 at the last census, but big. So it's a large footprint. I'm blanking on how big it is, but it's a large footprint. So we've got a lot right on [00:02:30] the lake and the backwater area, but then it stretches inland quite a bit. And then Superior is, the city itself is great, but we're also a hub for our tire, Douglas County. So it's a very large county, very rural county. So Superior ends up being a lifeblood to the whole area, making sure that folks can get the things that they need and be able to connect with each other and be right on the

Christopher Mitchell (02:52):
Lake. And you actually have, I think perhaps pulling some people away until you have this project going. There's some wonderful [00:03:00] cooperatives that are providing high quality service in parts of that county. So I think you have a service that could be improved and that's what you're working on with Connect Superior, but you also have some great stuff in nearby and some of the tribes are building their own networks as well nearby I think.

Stephanie Becken (03:18):
Yeah, yeah. And I think there's a lot of opportunity to compliment one another with things like that. I think the more that there is opportunity to fill in the gaps of where the connections are, I think that is something that is extremely [00:03:30] intentional up here and a lot of places right now is acknowledging that there are just gaps in service. What can we do to close those gaps so that way all of it is working together and you hope that you're getting excellent providers, I won't say regardless of providers, but with excellent providers. So that's I think the goal of so many places in Douglas County. Okay.

Christopher Mitchell (03:51):
So how did you get involved in all this? So

Stephanie Becken (03:53):
My family and I moved to Superior about three years ago. We live right outside of town. I started working for the city first in the deputies [00:04:00] clerk's office. I moved into planning and zoning where I worked with economic development. Really, really loved that. Finished my master's degree program during all of that. And I'll just say I really like the City of Superior and I really liked working for the City of Superior and I just continued to follow projects that were interesting, that were exciting and I had a strong curiosity about the broadband one and when that job came up, I put my hat in for it because man, I am one that lets other [00:04:30] people tell me no. So I put my hat, I put in my application, I was thrilled to go through the application and interview process and when they hired me, it has just been a blast of learning, knowing, doing, making connections heavy on the project management side. Those are things I like. So I love being here, love doing this job.

Christopher Mitchell (04:54):
Alright, so now let's talk about the job you're doing. So Connect Superior. I feel like when I had last checked [00:05:00] in on it, it had not yet been formalized and in my experience the dreams as they get formalized may change a bit. So I'm not entirely sure what the steps are for the project. So the audience, you can enlighten me.

Stephanie Becken (05:15):
In 2021, our broadband master plan was developed. It was kind of a brainchild from one of our city counselors, Tyler Elm, he works in the tech industry. He has a business that is working with computers, helping business [00:05:30] out, helping individuals with their techniques and just recognized that there was a need within Superior that yes, there is some Internet provided and some of it doesn't do enough, especially when we have so many more better options out there. So that's where it all kind of started with this thought of, can we have something better? Is there something better out there? And there was, so from 2021 until even now, the goal has been to be figure out how superior have something better and not just better, [00:06:00] but something that actually suits our needs of our citizens, of our businesses to make sure they can be connected in all of the ways that matter when it comes to tech.

(06:08):
So that way we can get those health appointments that everyone tells us, oh, you can do that online. That is the goal that we'll always be able to do that. So masterplan was developed, so there was a lot of ideas on if it was going to be like active ethernet, if it'd be GI mean there's options right? When it comes to fiber. So early on, this idea of doing an open access [00:06:30] fiber network came up, which is a legal thing to do in the state of Wisconsin. No one's done it yet. Here we are doing it. So in the state of Wisconsin, we cannot be an Internet service provider. The city cannot be an Internet service provider. However, we can build the network and have it open to other ISPs to come in to provide the actual Internet connection. That's the model that we went with.

(06:54):
That's the model that we are continuing to walk with. So the city had to become utility. [00:07:00] We did that in October of last year. So that passed through ordinances. We had public hearings. It is codified now that the city of Superior has a fiber utility, has an Internet broadband utility and that in the form of Connect Superior. So that's where we are now. So we're illegal. We're doing all of the things and as of, gosh, it's been almost a month now, we're contracted to have our first phase of fiber heading into the ground. So we went through all of the different [00:07:30] design processes. We posted an RFP for a contractor to come in to do the work. We had eight bids that's kind of in public works right now. That's a big number. We had eight contractors interested in our phase one outside plant and that was huge. So we had these competitive exciting bids come in, had a local group that ended up having the low bid, which is so exciting. It's a local women owned union shop that's going to be putting in the fiber for [00:08:00] our first phase. And it's just very exciting.

Christopher Mitchell (08:04):
You're speaking to someone from the Institute for Local, so that local ownership is terrific and love to see them being able to put in the best bid.

Stephanie Becken (08:13):
It was very, very exciting. And I'll say we have lots of really good bids. I think it's a project that the fiber industry they're watching and excited to be part of. And I think anyone that would've come on low bid, I was going to be very excited to work with them because it's [00:08:30] a good day to have a good day with the Connect Superior up here.

Christopher Mitchell (08:34):
Now what we often would see in a city the size of Superior would be if you were looking at a retail model building as fast as possible, then it would probably be like an 18 month or two year build to get to everyone. But I think you are doing a more phased approach, which is what we've often recommended for especially cities that aren't already operating an electric system. Is that still the plan?

Stephanie Becken (08:59):
So [00:09:00] the plan is a phased approach. We have our phase one heading in this fall, so I think it's first week of September the boring starts, which is awesome, should be done by the end of November. That's the goal for all of that. And then taking a look at getting our next low level design planned as well. So we have an RFP coming together for that as well. So with that goal of just keeping it moving, so yes phased approach, but also a very intentional [00:09:30] eye to not lagging on that approach. I think there's risk in waiting too long and letting things get stale. So I would like to see it move relatively quickly. But yeah, it'll be in phases. There's more practical that way, but some phases hopefully will be bigger and faster than others to get the connectivity and the take rate to be what it needs to be.

Christopher Mitchell (09:54):
And so what are the rough costs if you're able to share them? For the first phase,

Stephanie Becken (09:59):
Phase [00:10:00] one, I believe we had something in the family of 6 million budgeted for it. So we have a performa, we've been working with a consultant. We have all of these things all together for the outside plant part. So that's your actual getting the fiber in the ground, that's your flower pods, that's all of the dirt work, all of that kind of stuff. I believe we had about 2.2 million planned for that and it came in under budget. Pipe significantly came in around 1.4, which is exciting. I mean any news like that is [00:10:30] pretty awesome. Yes. So we're kind of looking at our performa through the lens of and working with our consultant just talking about how was life different in 2021 when this was first put together? I mean we were looking at shortages, we were looking at a very worried market. So things have changed a little bit. So we're finding that our costs are a little bit better than anticipated, which is an excellent feeling, but also being extremely practical that just because one [00:11:00] thing came in under doesn't mean all things will come in under

Christopher Mitchell (11:02):
My fingers are crossed for you. I think you might've timed it really well in that your next phase may also come in under because of all of the vendors and everyone else having increased their production perhaps a little bit too early, thinking that the BEAD dollars would come out earlier than they will. So y'all might really benefit in the next phase too.

Stephanie Becken (11:23):
There is some eye on that as well to be, are there windows of time to try to make [00:11:30] strategic pushes on that, but with the end goal of getting the city all covered in a way that is sustainable, that is high quality, that is excellent. So there's always that eye of making sure that every step we take as much as we can and as much as we can plan for is intentional, it's on purpose is excellent. All of the things that when you're doing something, if you can stack the deck on it, we're doing our best to do that.

Christopher Mitchell (11:58):
Well I think speaking of that, in terms of the [00:12:00] entire city, I have to say that Mayor Payne was a real leader, and I think it was two years ago over the summer, but I could be wrong, and I've talked about this before as the SER funds, the state and local fiscal relief fund, the rules over how to use that for broadband were quite tight when they originally came out. And it wouldn't have resulted in if Superior chose to use them, you'd only be able to use them in a few areas of town, [00:12:30] whereas you wanted to use them At the time the plan called for potentially using them in areas of town where technically service was available, but a lot of people couldn't afford it or it didn't work for them. And so I got to be in a couple of meetings with Mayor Payne where he was speaking to people in the White House and explaining this from the local level. So I was always really interested in your project because of the way he stepped up and provided that and led to the White House changing the way those rules worked. And so I'm curious now, [00:13:00] are you able to use Rescue Plan dollars or did that not come into effect anyway?

Stephanie Becken (13:04):
Oh yeah, we're able to use them and we've been working hard on everything like that. Mepa has been a huge advocate for this project from he'll tell you maybe not from day one, but he was pretty stoked about it day two. So I like how he kind of puts that. It's like once there's the understanding of the struggle, once you look beyond the, well look, the map says you've got it [00:13:30] and you're actually clicking along with someone on their school tablet and watching the circle spin and the circle spin and the circle spin and the circle spin. He is been really good about that. So I think that first hit of, I always call it ARPA money, but I know that there's different levels of it. That investment that the city council made, it's huge. It's going to get fiber in the ground, it's going to get this started and then allow next steps to be taken.

Christopher Mitchell (13:58):
That's exciting. I mean I love hearing [00:14:00] that now. I was curious about the service providers because building an open access network is something that a lot of people would like to do, and then they find that unless they can find service providers that they trust, sort of an academic question. So do you have service providers and you can tell us a little bit about them and how you found them?

Stephanie Becken (14:22):
Yeah, we do. We have two right now that we have understandings with working on getting all of the full agreements in there. [00:14:30] The two that we have, we have one that's local, which is so exciting. They're called the Duluthian. I don't know if I can get them to change their name,

Christopher Mitchell (14:40):
Superior in,

Stephanie Becken (14:42):
I dunno, I dunno. But very, very exciting to have that local component. And then we also have Advanced Stream who were more based on the West coast, so you're going to find them more in Utah and Washington out there where there are more open access situations, [00:15:00] much more popular out west than you're going to find in Wisconsin right now. Both of those two are coming to the table. They're excited. We're excited. I think what I appreciate more about most about all three of us, all three at the table, we're looking at a table at an opportunity and also looking at all the opportunities to serve the community. And I like that community mindedness, big picture, never losing sight of the big picture of that this is meant to [00:15:30] serve. And within that there is room for commerce, there is room for business to do well because all of those things just combine to have a stronger community and that is what connects superiors about and that will always be the interest of the city to provide the best things that we can at good rates to encourage commerce, to encourage citizens, all of it live together, that sort of piece there.

(15:56):
So having those guys at the table has been really [00:16:00] exciting. I think they're some of the most knowledgeable people that I've worked with. They're smart, they're willing to share their perspective, their background, the things that they've learned over the years. I'm excited that we'll start with two. I don't think it'll be just two in the future. I've seen in other places where once you get rolling there's more opportunity, so a little bit more competition, but the intention will always be that whoever is using the Superior network, the Connect Superior network will be excellent. [00:16:30] We'll be serving our citizens. There's the checks and balances that commitment that will be there as well. So it's never the goal to just have it wide open. Our partners will be partners and they'll be excellent

Christopher Mitchell (16:43):
With Duluth there with the Duluthian network, I'm not even going to try to, there's no reason to go into Wisconsin versus Minnesota stuff here, so I'm going to hang that up. But I am curious about the response from the existing providers. [00:17:00] One of the things that we've seen, and I would assume that in Superior you have Charter is there, and so in those sorts of cities, cities of your size, often the cable company gets to most, but not all homes. The service is generally, I would say each community can vary and each neighborhood can vary from something that is pretty reasonable if I think perhaps expensive to something that doesn't work as well all the time. But I never [00:17:30] want to put you in the position of having to comment about your opponents or your rivals services. But you also have DSL available in a lot of the community and I'm always curious, have you seen any discounts coming in or new investment or anything as a result of what you're doing? I think

Stephanie Becken (17:47):
That's an interesting question. I think there's a few other variables that are kind of rocking right now up here as well. There's just been some different behaviors. So when BEAD money is coming through, all of those BEAD grant things, there's [00:18:00] been a different level of service being provided, a little bit of different what folks have on their websites, it, it's just different. So I don't know that I would feel comfortable saying it was a total correlation sort of situation, not when there's so many variables happening. But bright speeded, I believe has been bringing up more fiber. They've been working on their lines. I've heard that from citizens that have had issues with Comcast in the past or have had issues with any provider that maybe they've been a little bit more responsive, [00:18:30] they've maybe updated some wires in their neighborhood and I'm like, great. That is good news.

(18:36):
Anything in the meantime that gets you better service gets you connected. I am too. Thumbs up on that. This was always meant to inspire and encourage that competition and I think there's opportunity within that to have this excellent fiber network that I hope every citizen and every business wants to take advantage of, [00:19:00] but I can't get everywhere yet. So if in the meantime, all the other providers are stepping up their game to be able to provide the very best for their customers, great customer service, all of those things, great, great. Then we did it. If every person in Superior that wants awesome Internet has it at a rate that they can afford with the kind of service that they need, even if they're not on my network, great. We did it right. That is always the goal.

Christopher Mitchell (19:27):
Yeah, that's what I hear from towns of [00:19:30] this size where I feel like you're not in the place where there's people who are at least not a lot of people who are willing to say, oh, I hope that my neighbors suffer so that I can get ahead. No,

Stephanie Becken (19:42):
Yeah. That's just not the goal. The goal is always to have our citizens be well have what they need and just have that thing, that sort of edge that sharpens each other. Being that neighbor that sharpens each other and makes everyone a little bit better.

Christopher Mitchell (19:59):
And I shouldn't say [00:20:00] that in big cities as well, I see that people often look out for their neighbors and whatnot, but in big cities, there just comes to be some ugly politics that sometimes we see it at the more regional level or a smaller city level. But at any rate, it's wonderful to hear that because that's what we want to see. We want to see people well connected and being able to take full advantage of all this modern technology. Is there anything else that you want to share about the network or things that you're excited about?

Stephanie Becken (20:28):
There's lots that I'm excited about. I mean, that's just [00:20:30] real life. I walk around, I'm just excited all the time,

Christopher Mitchell (20:33):
Getting out on the Apostle Islands on a nice day,

Stephanie Becken (20:36):
Right? Oh, that would be nice. My kid does kayak. She kayak guides up in the Apostle Islands, which is just awesome. There's so many opportunities like that up here. When I think of Superior and the broadband, I think there's, I go to church on what's called East End, so my church is on East End, and I just think of the fight and the struggle. Our volunteers have all the time to get our [00:21:00] feeds to go through. Well, when we have an exceptionally windy day and something is not quite working and you just know that or there's a big event going on at the same weekend and that people are just sucking up the Wi-Fi. And I just think of how much of a change this can offer to places that are like my church that needs to be able to put their video up. I'm like, this is going to be a big game changer, Christopher, in a lot of ways [00:21:30] for a lot of systems that are relying on something, that's all right, but this is going to be so much better and I get so excited thinking about the very practical side of it, and I'm so excited for the day when this isn't exciting, when it's just expected.

(21:47):
When everybody in Superior expect to have really great Internet options, hopefully, that I'm the best one, that Connect Superior is the one that they want, the one that they have the best experience with, if they're a customer of ours or not. I just look [00:22:00] forward to the day when it's not a big deal. That Superior has epic Internet access across the board to everyone. I'm so excited for that boring day.

Christopher Mitchell (22:10):
That's a great way to put it, and that's a great way to close out the show. Stephanie Becken, thank you so much again for joining us to share this story. And I'll say that for people who aren't from this region, don't think that Superior is a great place except for the winner. The winner is part of the reason [00:22:30] that it's a great place.

Stephanie Becken (22:31):
Absolutely. Absolutely. It's just the dress and layers have the right shoes, have the right everything, and the right vehicle, and there's a reason that there's so many great places to eat and drink. What we go out and we enjoy life together even when it's cold, maybe especially when it's cold.

Christopher Mitchell (22:48):
Right. Well, I look forward to checking in with you on the project as it moves forward, but congratulations and I hope that you have a wonderful rest of the year working on it.

Stephanie Becken (22:58):
Awesome. Thank you so much.

Ry Marcattilio (22:59):
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