Good news for Vermonters who want connectivity from the East Central Vermont Fiber Optic Network (ECFiber). The community owned network recently raised another $430,000 from local investors who purchased tax-exempt promissory notes. As a result, the nonprofit can now expand another 20 miles. Approximately 100 more households and businesses will soon have access. Twenty-three towns belong to … Read More
The community of Sebewaing, located in the “thumb” of Michigan is moving closer to its own FTTH network, which will be the first new municipal FTTH project in the state. Because of a state law impinging on local authority in Michigan, local governments must first issue an RFP and can build a telecommunications network themselves if they … Read More
The National League of Cities will be presenting a free webinar on June 13 on local broadband solutions. The event, titled Local Broadband Initiatives: Finding a Model That Works for You, is scheduled at 2 p.m. EDT. The speaker line up includes three leaders in policy, law, and implementation: Jim Baller, President, Baller Herbst Law Group, … Read More
Veteran North Carolina legislator Rober Brawley resigned as Chairman of the state Finance Committee, reports local WRAL. According to WRAL’s @NCCapitol blog, the Republican from Iredall read his resignation letter during a recent floor debate. He criticized Speaker of the House Thom Tillis, questioning Tillis’ ethics and accusing him of special legislative favors specifically for Time … Read More
The Missoula City Council recently approved a measure to finance a feasibility study on improving local Internet options. Keila Szpaller of the Missoulian reports the council voted 9-1 to spend $13,125 as a first step in improving business connections to boost economic development. Szpaller writes: “We did a survey around that and identified that one of … Read More
Cedar Falls Utilities (CFU) just announced that it is ready to serve customers with 1 gig service. Earlier this year, CFU increased speeds for existing customers at no expense and we watched their expansion and upgrade from cable to FTTH. Jon Ericson reported in the Courier that the city hopes to boost economic development in Cedar … Read More
Another story of frustration as cable companies try to discourage Internet use on their last generation networks. An article earlier this month in StopTheCap! tells the story of the John Heeley family, long time Cox customers and avid Netflix fans. The Heeley’s received a letter from Cox warning them about their “excessive Internet usage.” They were … Read More
Community members in Princeton, Massachusetts, voted on May 14th to proceed with planning for a next-generation fiber network. The picturesque New England community voted to spend $10,000 on a system design and to establish an entity to operate the network in the future, if the community decides to proceed with the investment. According to News Telegram … Read More
CapeCodToday, recently ran two interviews relating to OpenCape, the publicly owned network nearing completion in Massachusetts. The interviews follow a belated March press release from Comcast, announcing its new service contract with Cape Cod Community College (CCCC). Like some others familiar with the project, we were surprised to see the college choosing Comcast for connectivity instead … Read More
