Last summer, the city of Staunton, Virginia, sent out a press release about its new citywide free wi-fi service. Four hours later, a destructive storm ripped through Gypsy Hill Park knocking down trees and damaging buildings. Nevertheless, the equipment held on. Five days later, celebrants at the city’s July 4th party used the free service in … Read More
In December, 2012, a group of local residents decided to engage in an effort to turn beleaguered Burlington Telecom into a coop. The effort has advanced and the organization, Keep BT Local, continues to gain pledges. To date, the organization has collected pledges in the amount of $108,000 for equity and $156,000 in loan pledges. Keep … Read More
As we monitored Georgia’s HB 282, a bill to limit the capacity of local governments to invest in Internet networks that spur economic development, we learned of many existing networks that have helped communities to thrive. Brian Thompson, Director of Electric and Telecommunications in Monroe took some time to tell us a little about their city … Read More
Leverett, Massachusetts’ broadband initiative has moved to the next phase in bringing fiber to residents. The town selectboard recently decided on a bidder to build the community owned network. G4S designed the network and also works with the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) as it brings a middle mile fiber network to towns across the western half … Read More
The town of Erie, Colorado, is conducting a residential survey as it considers a community owned network. Erie has about 18,000 residents and straddles Boulder and Weld Counties. The concerns facing Erie’s community leaders were recently summed up in a John Aguilar article in the Boulder Daily Camera. According to the article, four companies were to … Read More
Welcome to our third episode of the Whatcha Workin’ On? podcast. Lisa Gonzalez interviews Neil Seldman, Ph.D., President of ILSR and the heart and soul of our Waste to Wealth Initiative. Neil tells us about the program and describes the many concurrent projects he is handling. Dr. Seldman also outlines some upcoming work for the Waste … Read More
Brendan Fischer of the Center for Media and Democracy’s PR Watch examines the ties between HB 282, the people behind it, and how it evolved into a threat to connectivity and local control. Brendan gave us permission to repost the story in full here. Since authoring this story, HB 282 was defeated in Georgia in a floor … Read More
Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA), recently recognized the city of Indianola on the US House Floor to recognize the community’s municipal network. On February 15th, he spoke to the body about Indianola’s recent certification as Connected by Connected Nation and Connected Iowa. From his recognition speech, as reported on CapitolWords from the Sunlight Foundation: Mr. Speaker, I … Read More
Carl Junction, Missouri, is moving ahead with plans to build a fiber network. Steve Lawver, City Administrator, tells us that funding for the $5.2 – $5.6 million project will most likely come through a lease program from the Missouri Public Utility Alliance (MPUA). Lawver tells us that funding will involve private placement non-taxable bonds, available to … Read More
