News

Tribal governments face unique problems when connecting their communities, but the need is great. 

In our experience, just about every community considering building a community network considers open access. They want to enable new choices for services and often would prefer the local government avoid directly competing with existing service providers, for a variety of reasons.

In August 2013, we reported on Lakeland, Florida’s dark fiber network that serves local schools, government facilities, and local businesses. Over the past year or so, community leaders have discussed whether or not to expand the use of Lakeland’s fiber resources.

When communities decide to proceed with publicly owned infrastructure, they often aim for open access models. Open access allows more than one service provider to offer services via the same infrastructure. The desire is to increase competition, which will lower prices, improve services, and encourage innovation.

Cedar Falls may be the Iowa city famous for its Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network, but that won’t stop Muscatine. This small city of approximately 29,000 people is about to upgrade its aging network.

“Business in the 21st century is driven by broadband.”

Highlands is a small community of less than 1,000 residents located in the Nantahala National Forest in the Appalachian Mountains. Along the western tip of the state, Highlands faces the same problem as many other rural communities - poor connectivity.

Residents and businesses in the rural Massachusetts Town of Greenfield are in the process of gaining faster and more affordable Internet service thanks a new municipally-owned hybrid fiber-wireless network.

On Wednesday, November 18, 2015, Christopher Mitchell sat down with Danna MacKenzie, Executive Director of the Office of Broadband Development for the State of Minnesota to talk about the implementation of the Border-to-Border Grant program, and one project, RS Fiber.

Two new Requests for Information (RFI) were recently released in Palo Alto, California, and Pikeville, Kentucky. 

Pikeville, Kentucky

“There aren’t enough hours in the day,” is a statement that describes the increasing stress of people who feel over-scheduled, over-worked, and over-tired. With too much to do and too little time in which to do it, snatching back every wasted moment can keep an individual on track and pleasantly productive.

Added Benefits Of The Break

Alabama

Construction begins on plans to bring Google Fiber to Hunstville by Karl Bode, DSL Reports

Florida

Ozarks Electric Cooperative has a plan to bring fast, affordable, reliable connectivity to northwest Arkansas and northeast Oklahoma.

Fast, Affordable, Reliable Connectivity At Last

It's been well over a year since awards were announced in the FCC Rural Broadband Experiment program, but several projects have not started because funds have not been released. The recipients are ready to commence, but the FCC's own requirements have halted expansion of high-quality Internet access to areas that need it the most.

In April we wrote about the Mid-Atlantic Gigabit Innovation Collaboratory (MAGIC), an innovative new educational program in Westminster, Maryland, that gives local high school students opportunities to learn new technology skills through hands-on, real world projects.

In early 2016, the city of Montgomery and Montgomery County, announced that they were entering into a unique partnership with the State and the Air Force to create Alabama’s first Internet Exchange.

Rural electric cooperatives have decades of experience in providing essential services. Now several are looking to improve Internet access in unserved and underserved regions.

Minneapolis is proud of its parks and trails and the City of Lakes has nurtured its jewel by fiercely protecting city parklands. The policy is effective but causing a bit of a headache for local Internet Service Provider, US Internet as the company deploys a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network in Minneapolis.

California

California Department of Technology to extend fiber to City of Sacramento by News Staff, GovTech

Alabama Republican State Senator Tom Whatley tried again this session to convince his colleagues that municipal utilities need the ability to expand beyond current coverage areas. Once again, his appeal to common sense for better connectivity fell on deaf ears.

Deja Vu