Disappointing news from the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals today as the Court chooses to reverse the FCC’s February 2015 preemption order that peeled back restrictive state laws in Tennessee and North Carolina. We have the opinion for you to download and review. We consider the Sixth Circuit’s decision disappointing, incorrect, and we hope the … Read More
Minnesota’s RS Fiber Cooperative is getting well-deserved attention from a variety of sources far beyond the Land of 10,000 Lakes. In addition to kudos from experts in the telecommunications industry, their story was recently shared in YES! Magazine.… Read More
New York Times tech reporter Cecilia Kang delved into the issue of rural connectivity to the Internet and reached out to our Community Broadband Networks initiative director, Christopher Mitchell, for his insight on the role electric cooperatives play in this connectivity.… Read More
A growing number of US cities have broken up monopoly control of the Internet marketplace locally. They’re promoting entrepreneurship, and giving residents and businesses real choice in how they connect and reach new audiences. They’ve brought a new wrinkle to an old model: the public-private partnership. “Communities desperately need better Internet access, but not all local governments … Read More
The 4th of July invites us to celebrate the accomplishments of our country. But, 23 million people in rural areas remain without high-speed Internet access. Rural areas cannot stay unconnected. Agriculture has become a high-tech endeavor, and high-speed Internet access is necessary. Cooperatives, those democratic institutions formed by rural farmers years ago, are becoming an answer. … Read More
The city of Ammon, Idaho, is building the Internet network of the future. Households and businesses can instantly change Internet service providers using a specially-designed innovative portal. This short 20 minute video highlights how the network is saving money, creating competition for broadband services, and creating powerful new public safety applications. We talk with Ammon’s … Read More
Like electricity in the last century, advanced communications services and capabilities can become the drivers and enablers of simultaneous progress in economic development, education, government services, digital equity, and just about everything else that matters most to our communities. This Blue Ribbon Panel explores the challenges of establishing effective partnerships to bring better connectivity to local … Read More
In June of 2016, The Nation noticed just how well Chattanooga’s municipal network was doing in the realms of cost, reliability, and accessibility for all of its citizens. In this research, The Nation’s reporters reached out to ILSR’s Christopher Mitchell to get perspective on municipal networks, generally.… Read More
The Minnesota Legislature has just approved $35 million for the Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant program for fiscal year 2017, the largest annual appropriation in the initiative’s two-year-old history. But the Legislature’s action still falls short of dramatically helping bring universal, high-speed Internet connectivity to all non-metro Minnesotans. Try to find a Representative or Senator that doesn’t … Read More
