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.

Community Broadband Bits 16 - JD Lester and Larry Gates - Chanute, Kansas

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Following the release of our case study on Chanute, Kansas, we have an interview with City Manager JD Lester and Director of Utilities Larry Gates for our 16th podcast -- Community Broadband Bits. JD Lester and Larry Gates discuss Chanute's network and its impact on their rural community. As detailed in the case study, Chanute built a fiber optic and wireless broadband network to connect schools, public safety, and local businesses.

Community Broadband Bits 15 - Geoff Daily - FiberCorps

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Geoff Daily is an old friend of ours at Community Broadband Networks and he joins us for our 15th installment of the Community Broadband Bits audio show. He created a nonprofit organization, FiberCorps in Lafayette, Louisiana, to maximize usage of the LUS Fiber network owned by the community. Geoff and I discuss the importance of early planning and building social relationships to help local businesses and community anchor institutions take full advantage of new community fiber networks.

Community Broadband Bits 13 - Curtis Dean of Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities

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Curtis Dean, the Telecommunications Services Coordinator for the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities, joins us for our 13th Community Broadband Bits podcast. Curtis explains why Iowa has so many municipal utilities and why 28 of them offer some form of telecommunications service. We talk about why making sure everyone in rural areas has access to affordable, reliable, and fast broadband is good for everyone in the entire country.

Community Broadband Bits 11 - Steve Reneker of Riverside California

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In our 11th episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast, we interview Steve Reneker -- the Chief Innovation Officer & Executive Director of SmartRiverside -- of Riverside, California. We discuss why Riverside built its own wired and wireless networks and how it is using them to improve the efficiency of local government operations and increase digital inclusion.

Community Broadband Bits 10 - Vince Jordan from Longmont, Colorado

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The tenth episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast features Vince Jordan, Telecom Manager for Longmont Power and Communication in Colorado. We have long followed the trials and tribulations of this community as they fought through two referenda against Comcast's deep pockets. Now they are expanding their network to connect businesses and residents. You can learn more about Longmont's approach on its website for the project.

Community Broadband Bits 9 - Leslie Nulty with ECFiber in Vermont

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The ninth episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast features Leslie Nulty, from the East Central Vermont Fiber Optic Network, commonly called ECFiber. ECFiber is using a unique financing arrangement, wherein debt is sold to those in the community as the network slowly expands. They have already raised over $1 million dollars and are providing services in three towns. The network is ultimately owned by the 23 towns that joined together to form the initiative.

Community Broadband Bits 7 - Mary Beth Henry of Portland, Oregon

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For the 7th Community Broadband Bits podcast, we talk with Mary Beth Henry from Portland, Oregon. Mary Beth is the Director of the Portland Office for Community Technology and Mt Hood Cable Regulatory Commission, as well as a past president of NATOA. Our discussion covers the long struggle to ensure local businesses and residents had a real choice in broadband providers in Portland. We start with how the famous "Brand X" Supreme Court decision came into being.