[TAO] Broadband Healthcare Technology in Oregon; TAO Digest, Vol4, Issue 3 Response

[cctualatin at speakeasy.net]

Oregon is a unique, really great State, that shares some common 
characteristics with
other States that must deal with very dissimilar population densities, 
e.g., Metropolitan
and very Rural areas, e.g., Kansas and Idaho (refer to the 2000 US Census).

Population:

Oregon = 3,825,657
Kansas = 2,818,747
Idaho = 1,545,801

Not BIG!

Persons/Square Mile:

Oregon = 35.6
Kansas = 32.9
Idaho = 15.6

Not Many!

If one presumes that the method of delivering Broadband to a person or a 
homesite is
buried optical fibre, then a recommendation is to research the cost of 
doing precisely
that, i.e., total cost of deployment and ownership.

Since the above statistical figures mask the problems involved with 
supporting Broadband
in Metropolitan and Rural Communities, then a recommendation is to 
research the cost of
providing such services in both types of Communities.

It might be better to look at third world Countries and in particular 
Australia and Canada,
since both have large tracts of rural property.

Metropolitan deployments are definitely NOT INEXPENSIVE to install and 
maintain.
Again,Total-Cost-of-Ownership must be determined and resolved.

One needs to remember that running spools of Fibre Optic long distance 
to reach Farms in the
back-country  is easy compared with installing the same buried, but 
distributed, cable in a
Metropolitan area.

Questions:
Why is 4G Wireless so attractive?

  Why is wireless such a cheap alternative to buried cable?

Opinion:
Broadband access has little to do with Healthcare Quality. It does have 
direct impacts on
access and cost, with both inter-dependent.

Include within 'access' Patient access to Practitioners, especially 
Specialists, and Facilities.

I live in an Oregon Metro area and deal with a well-known Provider. A 
two-month delay in
access to a Specialist  was shortened to three weeks after a 
cancellation (Thanks!!) and I am
now trying to schedule a return visit.

BTW: I pay big-time monthly for reliable Broadband access.

Living in an Oregon Rural Area with Broadband access (and paying for it) 
is not likely to
shorten the queue.

3G wireless was tried but it failed when I went behind a hill.

Alternative Technologies exist that do not require total dependence upon 
optical cable, e.g.,
Satellite UP/DOWN feeds for local nets.

Problem:
I read the FCC Announcement. They should spend more time outside of 
Washington and
talk with more Healthcare, Engineering and Networking Professionals. 
They could come to
Portland!

Suggestion:
Look at what others have done. We did Test Fibre Networks in the Bay 
Area. Died because
the Telephone Company would not pick-up the Bill, i.e., no up-front 
money -> no deal.

It must be an electron year!

Regards!

-Thomas Clark