Austin, Texas, with a little over 820,000 people, is home to several centers of higher ed, the Southwest Music Festival, and a next generation network known as the Greater Austin Area Telecommunications Network (GAATN). It was also the second metro area selected by Google for the Google Fiber deployment. But before they got Google Fiber, a … Read More
Indiana’s Metronet Zing winds its way through South Bend, Mishawaka and St. Joseph County providing dark fiber service to businesses, government and education. The project started as an economic development initiative when community leaders in the area realized that the high cost and lack of high-speed connectivity in the area kept businesses away. Project Future, the economic development … Read More
California’s Watsonville, population 51,200, joins the ranks of municipalities considering the benefits of a publicly owned fiber optic network to connect key facilities. At a September 10 the City Council passed a resolution approving plans and calling for an RFP for a next generation fiber network. Bids will be accepted until October 8, 2013. According to a … Read More
Okanogan County, located along the extreme north central border of Washington State, is expanding its wholesale fiber optic network to more small local communities. The Okanogan Public Utility District (PUD) received a $5.5 million grant and a $3.7 million loan through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and will extend service to about 80% of … Read More
Residents of Vernon, California, will soon have the option to connect to the City’s fiber optic network. Vernon offers dark and lit fiber to local businesses via 35 miles of fiber but residents are stuck with slow DSL connections. An EGPNews.com article reports: City officials say they hope to bridge the digital gap for its residents … Read More
The Star reports that the Roanoke City Council unanimously voted to work with surrounding communities to form a broadband coalition. We reported Roanoke County, Botetourt County, Salem and the town of Roanoke were in the process forming the Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority. Local community leaders took the first step in Roanoke, where the community has already … Read More
The story has been updated to fix errors. The original story described the project as a partnership but we have since learned it is a project of the Kitsap Public Utility District that is encouraged by the City. We reported on Poulsbo, Washington, last fall after the community began a wireless pilot project providing a free … Read More
The sale of iProvo to Google Fiber means that Comcast now gets to compete against Google’s gig – Time Warner Cable is the incumbent cable company in Kansas City and Austin. Comcast wasted little time and has improved its bundle in Provo long before any new customers are turned on. The Free UTOPIA blog recently reported that Comcast, … Read More
Susan Crawford began rattling cages some time ago in telecom sects, but now big corporate providers are enlisting mercenaries in an online astroturf campaign. They are targeting her most recent book, Captive Audience, with fake Amazon reviews. Mike Masnick, who describes himself as “the curious sort,” wrote an article for Tech Dirt describing the results when he … Read More
