Approximately 60,000 people live on Aquidneck Island in the towns of Portsmouth, Newport, and Middletown. The Ocean State Higher Education Economic Development and Administrative Network (OSHEAN) travels to the island but community leaders want to find a way to provide services to more residents, businesses, and institutions. OSHEAN is an under utilized middle mile network and … Read More
Burlington has seen ups and downs over the past few years but a new chapter is about to begin. The non-profit U.S. Ignite and the City are partnering to create BTV Ignite. The initiative will develop a gigabit community infrastructure and the applications that use it. With help from U.S. Ignite, Burlington will join the growing … Read More
November 5th probably seems like deja vu for the people of Longmont, Colorado. For the third time, the voters will respond to a ballot question that will impact their community’s connectivity. Past referendums addressed whether or not the community could use its fiber ring for connecting businesses and residents. They now have that authority. This year … Read More
Greenlight, a muni FTTH network in eastern North Carolina’s city of Wilson, is proving to be a powerful tool in attracting new residents and businesses. We spoke with General Manager Will Aycock about the network and how it has benefited the community. Our interview covers a number of subjects, including how the network is attracting new … Read More
In September, I joined the keynote lunch panel at the annual NATOA Conference to discuss what local governments can do to improve Internet access. Joanne Hovis moderated a discussion between Rondella Hawkins of City of Austin, Milo Medin of Google, and myself. I have embedded the video below so it starts with the panel discussion. However, … Read More
BBC News Magazine, October 27, 2013 Home broadband in the US costs far more than elsewhere. At high speeds, it costs nearly three times as much as in the UK and France, and more than five times as much as in South Korea. Why? Men’s haircuts, loaves of bread… it is surprising how much more expensive … Read More
On November 5th, citizens of Longmont will vote on a referendum determining whether to expedite building a Fiber to the Home (FTTH) network by issuing revenue bonds, a process that would speed up the build by several decades. The network is being built by Longmont Power and Communications, a city-owned utility north of Denver, Colorado. The … Read More
WUNC, a public radio station out of Chapel Hill in North Carolina, covered community owned networks and broadband availability on its recent “State of Things” midday program. I was a guest along with a local resident and a public relations executive from Time Warner Cable to discuss North Carolina’s broadband compared to other states and its … Read More
Earlier this month we alerted you to Alex Marshall’s upcoming appearance at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. We want to remind all of you “policy wonks, economists and planners of all types” that the event is quickly approaching. If you haven’t already, you can register for the event scheduled for 11:30 a.m. – … Read More
