Community Broadband Bits Podcast

Community Broadband Bits is a weekly audio show hosted by Community Broadband Networks Initiative Director Christopher Mitchell featuring interviews with people building community networks or otherwise involved with Internet policy. You can listen to episodes below or download via Apple, Google, or Spotify. Alternatively if you know what to do with it, copy the feed here.

We also produce a semi-regular video show called Connect This! that has its own site. Find other podcasts from ILSR here.

We also have an index of all episodes and links to transcripts. Keep up with new developments by subscribing to our one-email-per-week list sharing new stories and resources. We’d love to hear your feedback! Email us.

Organizing for Better Broadband in the Portland, Oregon, Region - Community Broadband Bits Podcast 334

This week on the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, we hear from Russell Senior and Michael Hanna from Portland, Oregon. Russell is President of the Personal Telco Project and Michael is a Data Engineer for Multnomah County; both are on the Board of the Municipal Broadband Coalition of America.

Beyond Mapping With VETRO FiberMap - Community Broadband Bits Podcast 333

Whether it’s a local government or ISP that chooses to invest in fiber optic infrastructure accurate, dependable, mapping is critical before, during, and after initial deployment. This week’s guests deliver that service through VETRO FiberMap. CEO Will Mitchell and COO Sean Myers join Christopher to discuss their mapping platform, the creative ways they use it, and their expectations for the future of fiber networks.

After 15 Years, OptiLink Still Innovating in Dalton, Georgia - Community Broadband Bits Podcast 332

Dalton, Georgia’s OptiLink has served the community for around 15 years, making it one of the first citywide Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) municipal networks. In this interview, Chief Technical Services Officer of OptiLink and for Dalton Utilities Hank Blackwood talks with Christopher about the past, the present, and the immediate future of OptiLink.

UTOPIA Is Not An Unreachable Dream, It's A Network - Community Broadband Bits Podcast 331

When anti-muni groups have taken aim at publicly owned networks, they’ve often put UTOPIA in their crosshairs. The Utah Telecommunications Open Infrastructure Agency has had times of struggle, but those days seem to be over. The network is expanding, subscribers are touting the benefits that come with the choice of an open access network, and other communities are reaching out to UTOPIA for advice. Days in UTOPIA country are sunny.

Catching Up in Cali with Jory Wolf - Community Broadband Bits Podcast 330

This week, Christopher presents the last of the interviews he conducted while at the 2018 Broadband Communities Economic Development Conference in Ontario, California, in October. As long as he was in the Golden State, he decided to check in with Jory Wolf, Vice President of Digital Innovation at Magellan Advisors.

Political Will and Local Broadband Initiatives - Community Broadband Bits Podcast 329

While Christopher was in Ontario, California, at the 2018 Broadband Communities Economic Development Conference, he took advantage of the opportunity and recorded several discussions with experts to share with our Community Broadband Bits Podcast audience. This week, we’re presenting his conversation with Deb Socia, Executive Director of Next Century Cities, and Bob Knight, Executive Vice President and COO of Harrison Edwards. His Public Relations and Marketing Firm has some special insight into the broadband industry.

Getting Up to Speed With Sandy, Oregon - Community Broadband Bits Podcast 328

For the next few days, Christopher is at the 2018 Broadband Communities Economic Development Conference in Ontario, California. As he always does while he’s out of the office, rubbing elbows with folks from the field, he’s recording some interviews with people like this week’s guest, General Manager of SandyNet and IT Director for the City of Sandy, Oregon.

Revisiting Reedsburg: LightSpeed's All-Gig Telecommuter Paradise - Community Broadband Bits Podcast 327

It’s been a while since we last visited with Reedsburg Utilities Commission General Manager Brett Schuppner. He’s back on the show again to help us spread the word about this Wisconsin town’s decision to switch all their muni network subscribers to affordable gigabit connectivity and to eliminate all other tiers.

Small Town Does Fiber Bigger In Texas - Community Broadband Bits Podcast 326

We don’t often get the opportunity to interview people from Texas, so when we heard about Mont Belvieu’s gigabit fiber optic network we knew we had to have them on the show. When we learned that four officials from the east Texas town would join us we said, “Even better!” City Manager Nathan Watkins, Director of Broadband and IT Dwight Thomas, Assistant City Manager Scott Swigert, and Communications and Marketing Director Brian Ligon are on the show this week to talk about their publicly owned network, MB Link.

Colorado Community WISP Picks Up Slack When Incumbent Fails to Deliver - Community Broadband Bits Podcast 325

When Fairpoint wouldn’t give folks in Crestone, Colorado, what they needed after repeated requests, they decided to take care of it themselves. By 2012, Ralph Abrams and his band of Internet pioneers had created Colorado Central Telecom, providing affordable, dependable fixed wireless service to premises throughout the region at much faster speeds than Fairpoint could ever deliver. In this episode of the podcast, Maisie Ramsay, Marketing and Business Development from the company, tells us more about the company and their work.