Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
Austin, Texas, with a little over 820,000 people, is home to several centers of higher ed, the Southwest Music Festival, and a next generation network known as the Greater Austin Area Telecommunications Network (GAATN).
Indiana's Metronet Zing winds its way through South Bend, Mishawaka and St. Joseph County providing dark fiber service to businesses, government and education.
California's Watsonville, population 51,200, joins the ranks of municipalities considering the benefits of a publicly owned fiber optic network to connect key facilities. At a September 10 the City Council passed a resolution approving plans and calling for an RFP for a next generation fiber network.
Okanogan County, located along the extreme north central border of Washington State, is expanding its wholesale fiber optic network to more small local communities.
Residents of Vernon, California, will soon have the option to connect to the City's fiber optic network. Vernon offers dark and lit fiber to local businesses via 35 miles of fiber but residents are stuck with slow DSL connections. An EGPNews.com article reports:
The Star reports that the Roanoke City Council unanimously voted to work with surrounding communities to form a broadband coalition.
The story has been updated to fix errors. The original story described the project as a partnership but we have since learned it is a project of the Kitsap Public Utility District that is encouraged by the City.
The sale of iProvo to Google Fiber means that Comcast now gets to compete against Google's gig - Time Warner Cable is the incumbent cable company in Kansas City and Austin. Comcast wasted little time and has improved its bundle in Provo long before any new customers are turned on.
Susan Crawford began rattling cages some time ago in telecom sects, but now big corporate providers are enlisting mercenaries in an online astroturf campaign. They are targeting her most recent book, Captive Audience, with fake Amazon reviews.
Located in the northeast corner of Tennessee, Morristown Utility Systems (MUS) offers gigabit broadband throughout a region that covers 30,000 residents and businesses.
The people of Centennial, Colorado, will have the opportunity to vote this fall on the option to allow their city to provide indirect telecommunications services. Located south of Denver in the metro area, Centennial has over 100,000 residents. Recently, the City Council unanimously approved the following ballot question for the upcoming elections.
It is no secret to our readers that communities throughout the country have transitioned from leasing services from big corporations to building their own fiber networks to save public dollars. Some create collaborations between various entities to reduce costs. Jacksonville is the latest to dabble in collaboration and has found a way to save $200,000 on connectivity costs each year.
In 2011, Comcast commenced its Internet Essentials program with great fanfare from then FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.
Longmont's City Council and municipal power and communications utility are getting serious about bringing fiber to the people. We reported earlier this month about the decision to allow voters to decide how fast they want that next generation network.
