Cities Take On AT&T, Time Warner and Verizon
We have a piece published on Alternet about the battle to maintain an open Internet and proper access to it.
Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
News
Understanding - and Rethinking - Broadband Regulation
Though we certainly support the FCC's reclassification of broadband to ensure companies like Comcast do not interfere with the open Internet, we focus on policy at the community level. We fully support the efforts of organizations and people in DC to work at the federal level.
Powell Buys FTTH Network From Itself, For Itself
Powell, a small community in Wyoming, has bought its own network from the investors who financed it [Powell Tribune], eighteen years ahead of schedule.
North East Los Angeles Internet Service Cooperative
While most of the information on this site is about broadband networks at a citywide level, there are a variety of groups that are working to supply broadband at the neighborhood level (often in large metro areas).
Minnesota County, Sibley, Considers FTTH Network
Sibley County plans to pay for half of a feasibility study (matching funds to be provided by Blandin Foundation) to examine FTTH possibility in this piece of rural Minnesota. It would connect cities, schools, and more, with services run by a cooperative.
Chattanooga Video Discusses Benefits of FTTH
A 2007 video from Chattanooga's Electric Power Board explaining the benefits of publicly owned fiber-optic infrastructure.
LaGrange Network in Georgia Serves Local Businesses
The city of LaGrange has long been offering top-notch telecom services to local businesses. I just stumbled across this video describing their new colocation facilities. They are approaching 400 business customers and serve the local cellular towers. They do not provide residential services.
This video is no longer available.Blitz the House: Don't Let North Carolina Ban Community Broadband
We continue to watch in slow motion horror as North Carolina's General Assembly considers turning its back on next-generation networks and compute like it's 1999.
LUS Files Complaint: Cox and NCTC Limit Competition
Lafayette Utilities System has filed a complaint with the FCC following what seems to be a rather arbitrary decision by the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) to deny Lafayette as a member. This is a crucial issue for communities that want to build fiber-optic networks, so we will dig in and offer an in-depth explanation.
It all starts with the business model.
Ontario County Open Access Middle Mile Network In the News
Stop the Cap! has the authored the most recent of several articles examining a unique middle mile broadband approach in the Finger Lakes region of New York.
Updated List of Cities with Wi-Fi Networks
MuniWireless.com has updated their list of cities that have large scale Wi-Fi networks.
Santa Monica Brings 10Gbps Connections to Local Businesses
Santa Monica has built an impressive fiber network to connect local government buildings, schools, parks, and local businesses. With local jobs dependent on massive media studios that require very robust connectivity, Santa Monica has responded by building an impress community broadband network.
In Virginia, nDanville Brings Home the Jobs
Danville's open services fiber-optic network has brought a new employer with some 160 jobs to town.
Wired West Plans Muni Open Access Fiber in Western Massachusetts
A grassroots effort in the broadband desert of Western Massachusetts has been organizing local communities to build a publicly owned, open access FTTH network to everyone in the partner towns (universal access).
Bill to Limit Competition in North Carolina Clears Senate, Headed to House
Once again, Senator Joe Sam Queen again led the effort to legislate on behalf of the people of North Carolina rather than a few companies headquartered out of state. On Monday night, the Senator offered an amendment to remove the temporary ban on community networks (currently set to be one year - though powerful lobbyists will undoubtedly push to extend it).
Baltimore Ponders Muni Fiber Network
Another community has announced that with or without Google, it is going to build a proper broadband network.
Do your Representatives Know Your Views on Broadband?
As I have considered writing yet another post about this debacle in North Carolina, I worried that readers outside of North Carolina might ignore it, thinking they cannot help and it doesn't impact them.
Chattanooga Launches Fastest Residential Broadband Tier: 150Mbps
It's fast and it's symmetrical. Chattanooga, the nation's largest muni FTTH network will be offering the fastest residential package in the country by the end of the month: 150 Mbps.
Chattanooga's Electric Power Board (EPB) is ahead of schedule in the fiber rollout, planning to offer triple-play services to all 145,000 residential customers in its electrical territory by the end of the year.
Christopher Mitchell Presentation at FiberFête in Lafayette
This is a presentation I gave at FiberFête on April 20 in Lafayette, Louisiana. Unfortunately, the slides are not available in the recording, but most of my comments do not rely upon them.