A new report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance showcases the diverse range of approaches Minnesota communities and local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have taken to expand affordable, high-quality Internet access.… Read More
The connectivity crisis across the country, created by uncompetitive market conditions, is actually a three-fold challenge, all of which are interconnected: Access, Affordability and Adoption.… Read More
After three years in a row with similar results, PCMag’s “Fastest ISPs in America” for 2021 analysis shows a clear trend: community owned and/or operated broadband infrastructure supports networks which, today, handily beat the huge monopoly Internet Service Providers (ISPs) – cable and telephone alike – for sheer speed. The latest list proves it. Of the ten-fastest ISPs in the country, all of them feature operators that either are cities themselves or use city-owned fiber or conduit to deliver service across whole or parts of their footprint. … Read More
Municipal broadband advocates in Ohio realized a major victory today when a bipartisan House and Senate conference committee released the final version of their state budget plan that added $250 million to expand broadband access in the Buckeye State and removed the anonymous budget amendment that would have effectively banned municipal broadband networks if passed into law.… Read More
With the exception of a handful of homes in the more densely populated communities of St. Johnsbury and Newport, the only choice for most folks living in the rural environs of the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont is between DSL and satellite. That’s all changing now thanks to one of the state’s nascent Communication Union Districts (CUD), enabled by a 2015 Vermont law that allows two or more towns to join together as a municipal entity to build communication infrastructure.… Read More
The southwest corner of New Hampshire will be blanketed with Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) networks over the next two years, as over 20 communities are drawing up plans to enter into public-private partnerships to boost high-speed Internet access in the Granite State. … Read More
Residents of three coastal Maine communities – Camden, Rockport, and Thomaston – have voted to support an interlocal agreement establishing the MidCoast Internet Development Corporation (MIDC), a nonprofit regional broadband utility in the Penobscot Bay Region of MidCoast Maine. The ultimate goal of MIDC is to build an open-access, Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network to provide universal Internet access to improve connectivity and competition in the region.… Read More
When the Ohio Senate passed its two-year $75-billion budget bill yesterday, it included an amendment that effectively bans the creation and operation of municipal broadband networks and other community-owned projects without much in the way of public debate. The move is drawing a lot of blowback, from cities in the state to local and national advocacy organizations to the Lieutenant Governor.… Read More
This new fact sheet highlights municipal broadband success stories from across the country and some of the many benefits the networks have brought to the communities they serve. … Read More
