Fixed Wireless Business

Hop Aboard the Broadband eBus

Where the telecom industry fails, philanthropy prevails—with a novel approach to bring broadband to rural and underserved communities throughout the U.S.

by Jim Wagner Managing Editor, ISP-Lists [May 23, 2002]

Thanks to the philanthropic efforts of several big corporations and a non-profit organization, low-income and rural communities are getting a taste of something the telecom industry has been unable (or unwilling) to provide: broadband Internet access.

eBus is a novel program that sends satellite-connected broadband coach buses to communities throughout California, providing civic and educational organizations with programs to bring high-tech awareness to the masses.

The buses have full-time staffers who teach senior citizens how to send e-mails and look up health services on the Internet, show low-income students how to file resumes and look for jobs online, and open a new world of educational possibilities for migrant workers.

The brainchild of David Springett, president of the Community College Foundation, four years ago, Community Connect has generated a busload of support and interest from big-name corporations in the meantime. Companies like Wells Fargo, Microsoft, Macromedia, and Tachyon are all, in one way or another, funding the venture.

Springett originally planned for eBus0 (eBus zero), which was actually a converted RV, to teach teachers at community colleges in California how to take advantage of the learning opportunities available on the Internet. His idea reached 35,000 teachers in the state, and this success made Springett more ambitious.

He's made an important connection, not only with colleges but also with organizations like the Boys & Girls Club, YMCA, and other neighborhood groups all clamoring for a bus stop in their neck of the woods.

The CCF just completed its eighth broadband-enabled coach recently—eBus7—a converted, 40-foot-long city transit bus equipped with 20 workstations, full-time staffers, drivers, and satellite broadband service from Tachyon.

Joyce Schreibman, CCF vice president of marketing, said the program has been a huge success, mostly due to the interest it sparks in communities for computers and the Internet.

"One of the exciting things these buses do is they act as a catalyst to the community to bring people together," she said. "People start coming out and say 'we need something like this in our community' and somebody else will say they have this computer learning center; resources start coming out of the woodwork. That's really fun to watch."

The cost of the eBus limits it strictly to corporate sponsorship—there's no profit opportunity here. The cost for a typical bus runs $250,000 a year and includes two full-time staffers, driver, maintenance, ISP service, and broadband connection via Tachyon.

Looking at it from a purely business point of view, Schreibman said, the return on investment is more than worth it, as the buses are festooned with the company logo.

Wells Fargo eBuses (Wells Fargo sponsors three of the eight buses), she said, are covered wheel-to-roof with the horse-and-carriage logo and that's better than any billboard advertisement—in this case, the billboard in question actually moves around and gets upfront with the public.

"If you want to look at it from a corporate point of view, we put huge signs on the buses, so it's an incredible marketing opportunity," she said. "And at the same time, we're serving the community the sponsors want to be serving."

David Urbiana, Wells Fargo manager of ethnic marketing in the Los Angeles market, said the project is just one part of the $10 million it spent last year to give back to the community.

"(Our executives) believe in the program and want to give back to the community," he said.

The CCF intends to take its eBus tour nationwide in the coming year, working with NBC in Chicago to deveop a directory of resources and talking with AOL Time Warner to sponsor an eBus in Washington, D.C.

Next stop, your neighborhood? Only time, and the continued philanthropy of businesses nationwide, will tell.

—End