This fall, we’ve submitted multiple comments to the Federal Communications Commission supporting local Internet choice and remaining critical of concentrated power in the hands of large telecom companies.… Read More
From the rolling Appalachian Mountains to bustling city streets, Kentucky has it all, including gigabit (1,000 Mbps) service from Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) networks. That’s right, Kentucky – the state that is often used as shorthand in America politics to talk about coal country and poverty – actually has some of the fastest, most reliable Internet service in the entire country. We put together this map using the latest data sets available from the FCC to highlight how much of rural Kentucky has the gold standard in high-speed Internet service.… Read More
In the News: Christopher Mitchell October 26, 2017 Media Outlet: StateScoop In the run-up to Seattle’s mayoral election on November 7th, 2017 the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s Community Broadband Networks initiative team pointed to the commitment Comcast is pouring into the race to buy favorable decisions by the local government. The publication StateScoop noticed. Shortly after this story was … Read More
In the News: Christopher Mitchell October 25, 2017 Media Outlet: Motherboard Vice For years, indeed since Colorado enacted SB 152 as part of a Comcast-funded effort to limit municipal broadband investment, we’ve seen Big Telecom’s interest in local elections grow. This year’s Fort Collins ballot question has been subject to hundreds of thousands in spending from the … Read More
With their back against the wall, Comcast is pulling out it’s well manicured, sharp claws in Fort Collins, Colorado. Voters will be asked to approve measure 2B on November 7th, which would allow the city to take steps toward establishing their own municipal telecommunications utility. In order to preserve the lack of competition, incumbent Internet access … Read More
Comcast is spending big to oppose broadband competition in Fort Collins, Colorado. The Colorado Cable Telecommunications Association is spending hundreds of thousands to deny residents a real choice in broadband Internet access by moving against a local pro-municipal broadband referendum.… Read More
There is no one-size-fits-all method of deploying across a state filled with communities and landscapes as diverse as Kentucky. From the urban centers like Louisville and Lexington to the rocky, mountainous terrain in the southeastern Appalachian communities, demographics and geography vary widely. But most lack modern Internet access and local ISPs have found it hard to get affordable backhaul to connect to the rest of the Internet.
This is the story of the KentuckyWired middle-mille broadband project.… Read More
In the News: Christopher Mitchell October 23, 2017 Media Outlet: International Business Times Due to the anti-municipal broadband bill introduced by Michigan state representative Michele Hoitenga, the International Business Times investigated the top donors to Hoitenga’s election bid and found that Big Telecom affiliates, such as the companies themselves and associations that lobby for their interests, sat … Read More
This November, more Colorado towns and counties will be voting on whether to opt out of the 12-year-old SB 152, a state law that restricts broadband development. Senate Bill 152 has hindered communities’ ability to invest in Internet infrastructure and provide service themselves or with private sector partners. Many communities are realizing that national carriers can’t be relied on to provide high-quality Internet access. To date, at least 98 communities across the state of Colorado have voted to reclaim local telecommunications authority by opting out of SB 152; a handful are considering actually pursuing a publicly owned network.… Read More
