Locating Fiber: Local Leaders Can Help State Decision Makers

Date: 12 Apr 2017 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Better conduit policy and One Touch Make Ready (OTMR) are two approaches seeing the state legislative limelight recently. With local examples to offer guidance, a few state lawmakers are attempting to implement similar rules. State Governments Follow Local Leads Local communities know their needs best and are best poised to make local decisions. Some have used new conduit policies like in Mount … Read More

Press Release: Tennessee Sends Broadband Accessibility Act of 2017 to Gov. Haslam’s Desk

Date: 12 Apr 2017 | posted in: MuniNetworks, Press Release | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

With this bill’s passage, the Tennessee General Assembly will likely not pass any other broadband legislation during this session. The Broadband Accessibility Act won’t improve Tennessee’s rating as 29th in Internet connectivity, but it will do a great job of lining AT&T’s pockets. As we’ve tracked throughout the session, there are a number of bills worth supporting that would actually increase connectivity and allow municipalities to take part in their own broadband future.… Read More

Pew Survey Reveals Overwhelming Support For Municipal Broadband Networks

Date: 12 Apr 2017 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

A new Pew Research Center survey reveals that 70 percent of adults, regardless of political leanings, believe local governments should be able to invest in municipal Internet networks. Local Authority Has No Party The survey, conducted March 13 – 27 supports the finding that local authority for telecommunications decisions is a bipartisan notion. On closer examination … Read More

Tennessee Could Give Taxpayers America’s Fastest Internet For Free, But It Will Give Comcast and AT&T $45 Million Instead

Date: 12 Apr 2017 | posted in: Media Coverage, MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Tennessee has long been a thorn in the side of our broadband policy research team, thanks in large part to a pair of realities. 1) Chattanooga, Tenn. has some of the best connectivity in the world thanks to its municipal broadband network and 2) there’s a restrictive state law that disables municipalities from investing in their connectivity. Motherboard Vice‘s Jason Koebler discussed this trend and recent legislative action with Christopher Mitchell.… Read More

Most Americans want to let cities build and sell homegrown Internet service

Date: 11 Apr 2017 | posted in: Media Coverage, MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Recently released research from Pew delves into a question of interest to those following our broadband research team, what do Americans think about municipally owned Internet access and investments in better Internet connectivity? In his story for the Washington Post, Brian Fung reached out to our broadband expert Christopher Mitchell for his expertise.… Read More

Alabama Committee Kills Bill For Better Connectivity

Date: 10 Apr 2017 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

When Alabama State Sen. Tom Whatley from Auburn spoke with OANow in late March, he described his bill, SB 228, as a “go-to-war bill.” The bill would have allowed Opelika Power Services (OPS) to expand its Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) services to his community. On Wednesday, April 5th, his colleagues in the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee decided … Read More

Clarksville, Arkansas Connectivity: It Started With SCADA

Date: 6 Apr 2017 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems allow utility systems to gather and analyze real time data. The computer system reduces outages, keeps the utilities running efficiently, and allows staff to know where problems arise. Municipal utilities that use SCADA systems are increasingly taking the next step – using the fiber-optic infrastructure that supports SCADA to … Read More

Infographic: The Market for Internet Access Is Broken

Date: 5 Apr 2017 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

“Monopoly” may be a fun family night activity, but if you live in a place where you have little or no choice for Internet access, it’s not fun and it’s not a game. According to FCC data, most families don’t have a choice in Internet access providers, especially providers they like. Nevertheless, the biggest companies keep … Read More

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