MobiLINK

Over the past decade, refugees from Myanmar, Somalia, & Guatemala have put down roots in Greater Minnesota & taken on assembly-line jobs at nearby meat-processing plants & manufacturing factories. With limited English proficiency & no prior work experience in the United States, these refugee families were forced out of the Twin Cities into southwest Minnesota. Here they settled into manufactured housing communities (MHCs), which offered them affordable pathways to homeownership albeit without basic amenities like functioning septic systems or internet connectivity. While local planning commissions & housing authorities have since financed some critical infrastructure improvements, access to the internet remains an urgent challenge. By leveraging CBRS & mesh networks in tandem with culturally relevant digital literacy training, MobiLINK will ensure that refugees living in MHCs can access the technology & training they need to fully participate in the digital economy & civil society.

MobiLINK will provide low-income refugee families living in MHCs in rural southwest Minnesota with the digital infrastructure needed to access safe & affordable internet, which is needed to participate in civil society & the digital economy. By leveraging CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service is a 150 MHz wide broadcast band of the 3.5 GHz band in the United States) & mesh Wi-Fi networks, MobiLINK will establish much-needed internet connectivity at MHCs that are home to refugees from Myanmar, Somalia, & Guatemala. Through existing partnerships with WISPs (Wireless Internet Service Providers), we will test the viability of CBRS as a novel solution for connecting families to broadband, which is a higher-quality and financially sustainable alternative to monthly mobile carrier subscriptions. This spectrum’s prime mid-band propagation has great promise for both mobile 5G services and for high-speed fixed wireless connections, which are vital to bridging the homework and citizenry gaps. At the same time, we will also assess the long-term cost-effectiveness of building a community mesh Wi-Fi network compared to buying monthly broadband subscriptions for low-income refugee families from mobile or cable ISPs.

MobiLINK will provide refugee families living in manufactured housing communities (MHCs) in rural southwest Minnesota with the digital infrastructure needed to access safe & affordable internet, enabling them to meaningfully participate in civil society & the digital economy. By leveraging CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service)—a mid-band frequency previously reserved for US Navy radar systems—& mesh Wi-Fi networks, MobiLINK will establish much-needed internet connectivity at MHCs home to refugees from Myanmar, Somalia, & Guatemala. Our solution is two-fold: first, we will build on existing partnerships with information technology volunteer professionals to install community mesh Wi-Fi networks in two MHCs, ensuring residents can quickly and reliably connect to the internet. Second, we will join forces with local WISPs (Wireless Internet Service Providers) to deploy a CBRS wireless broadband network in both mobile home communities. Tapping into CBRS spectrum will create a broad canopy of connectivity throughout MHCs, one that far surpasses the level of quality and security afforded by the initial installation of mesh Wi-Fi networks. This spectrum’s prime mid-band propagation (it’s a 150MHz-wide broadcast band) will support residents’ use of everything from mobile 5G services to high-speed fixed wireless connections, which are vital to bridging the homework and citizenry gaps.

Our solution will serve the residents of two manufactured housing communities (MHCs), the Sungold Heights Mobile Home Park and Hillcrest Community Cooperative, situated in southwest Minnesota. Both MHCs are home to large populations of refugees from Myanmar, Somalia, & Guatemala. Sungold Heights residents are 80% Latino (60% of which are Guatemalan) and 20% Asian (Karen, Lao, Burmese). There are 106 households in this community, with more than 100 children in Pre-K to College. The vast majority of Sungold Heights residents — 70% — are employed at the JBS USA, a nearby meat processing plant. Other residents work at the local hospital, Sanford Medical Group, and Walmart. The demographics of Hillcrest Cooperative Community residents are 60% Karen (Thai/Burmese), 10% Somali, and 30% White (20% of whom are retired). The community is comprised of 88 households with 100 children in total, ranging from Pre-Kindergarten to High School. Most Hillcrest residents work in nearby manufacturing companies, namely Select Foods, Hormel, Mrs. Gerry's Kitchen, and Minnesota Corrugated Boxes (MCB)

Our solution is focused on providing refugees living in manufactured housing communities in rural Minnesota with access to broadband internet in order for them to meaningfully participate in the digital economy. By setting up a reliable infrastructure that provides residents with affordable internet access, in tandem with offering culturally relevant digital literacy programming, our solution lays the foundation needed to integrate low-income, remote refugee communities into civic society and the digital economy, thereby affording them greater opportunities to lead a dignified and productive life.

We selected the 'Pilot' stage because LWB US has already tested the model for the solution we are proposing, albeit not in the context of a manufactured housing community. We've previously deployed this model in post-disaster recovery efforts in rural communities in Puerto Rico and in urban contexts, like Baltimore and San Antonio.

3 full-time staff, 2 part-time contractors