Municipalities are increasingly realizing they need to take steps to ensure fast, affordable, reliable Internet access for local citizens. Some are doing the work themselves with publicly owned projects while others seek public-private partnerships. In order to capitalize on collaboration, a group of city leaders are now forming Next Century Cities. On October 20, 2014, they … Read More
Of the more than 400 communities around the country that have built and benefitted from community networks, the town of The Dalles in Oregon may have a case for the title of “most bang for the buck.” Their commitment of $10,000 12 years ago to leverage a $1.8 million “QLife” fiber optic network has lead to … Read More
Thank to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for Episode 109 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast with Alyssa Clemsen-Roberts. Listen to this episode here. 00:16: [Teaser] Alyssa Clemsen-Roberts: They provide services that the market is not filling in their area, and they do it very well. 00:22: Lisa Gonzalez: Hey there. This is the Community … Read More
Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead is not doing any favors for Comcast as it pursues approval to acquire Time Warner Cable. In August, he came out and publicly stated that no, LTE is not equal to fiber. The Verge quoted Mead, who was refreshingly honest about technical limitations and Comcast’s motivations for making such outrageous claims: … Read More
Earlier, this year, the Minnesota Legislature established a “Border to Border” Broadband fund to expand Internet access to the least connected in the state. Senator Matt Schmit and Representative Erik Simonson led the effort to establish the fund that is now administered by Danna Mackenzie. All three of them join us this week to discuss the … Read More
The Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC) has announced that Christopher Libertelli of Netflix has joined the Board of Advisors. Libertelli joins a group of policy leaders, including ILSR’s Chris Mitchell, to advance the rights of local communities to have authority over their own broadband decisions. From the CLIC announcement: Mr. Libertelli has been Vice President … Read More
“The Times, they are a-changin” quoted Chairman Wheeler this week in St. Paul. And with it, must come faster Internet speeds if the United States is going to keep up in the competitive economy. Multichannel’s John Eggerton reported on Wheeler’s visit to the National Association of Telecommunications Officer and Advisors (NATOA) conference this week, where Wheeler … Read More
The Louisiana Municipal Association is the latest organization to officially support the FCC’s ability to restore local authority. The group represents 305 village, town, city, and parish members. Their Executive Board unanimously passed the resolution on July 30 and recently shared it with the FCC: WHEREAS, the universal availability of affordable high speed Internet access for … Read More
Two events in October will bring Chris and other telecommunications policy leaders to the State of Washington. On October 8th, the Seattle Citizens’ Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Board is hosting Lunch & Learn: Chris Mitchell on community-owned networks and municipal broadband in Seattle. The free event will be held in Seattle City Hall at noon; you … Read More
