News

Provo to Write off Some Debt of Struggling iProvo Network

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Jan 5, 2012

Provo built a city owned FTTH network after its public power utility started connecting its substations with fiber-optic cables in the early 2000's. iProvo ultimately developed along similar open access lines as UTOPIA, but unlike UTOPIA, Provo did not actually want to operate on a purely wholesale model.

Knoxville News Station Envious of Chattanooga Fiber Network

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Jan 4, 2012

The following news report suggests that some in Knoxville, Tennessee, are starting to get a little jealous of the incredible FTTH network built by Chattanooga's publicly owned electric company.

New Year, Same Lame Cable and DSL Monopolies

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Jan 3, 2012

It's a new year, but most of us are still stuck with the same old DSL and cable monopolies.

Samuel Morse, the Telegraph, and Government

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Jan 2, 2012

Smithsonian magazine provides some background on Samuel Morse, inventor of Morse Code and credited with inventing the telegraph.

Publicly Owned Network in Cortez Connects Business Corridor

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Dec 29, 2011

We have been trying to keep close track of the recent group of communities building incremental, publicly owned, open access fiber networks -- which often starting with connections to businesses.

Salisbury's Fibrant Hits 1600 Subscribers

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Dec 28, 2011

The muni FTTH network owned by the city of Salisbury, North Carolina, is finishing the calendar year with over 1600 subscribers. The network just began signing up customers 13 months ago.

Broadband Blindness Documentary

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Dec 27, 2011

A new documentary from California explores the failure of the private sector and competition more generally to sufficiently invest in fast, affordable, and reliable access to the Internet. It comes in three parts and runs about 25 minutes in total.

History of Monticello and TDS: Be Wary of Incumbent Providers

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Dec 26, 2011

I recently stumbled across some interesting pieces of information between Monticello and telephone-incumbent TDS when the Minnesota City decided to build a city-owned next-generation FTTH network after TDS refused to upgrade its services.

B4RN Expands Community Broadband in Rural England

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Dec 23, 2011

One of our kindred spirits across the pond reached out to me after I wrote about Vermont's self-funded community network.

Design Principles from Virginia's nDanville Open Access Network

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Dec 22, 2011

The nDanville network of rural southern Virginia has long been a favorite of ours (previous coverage is available here).

Vermont Network Takes Local Ownership to Next Level

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Dec 21, 2011

Vermont's East Central Fiber-Optic Network (ECFiber) has finished its second round of financing.

Community Broadband Policy Fellowship - Young Elected Officials Network

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Dec 20, 2011

The Young Elected Officials Network has announced a one year fellowship working on community broadband. Applications are due on January 4.

AT&T Abandons Wireless Consolidation Attempt

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Dec 20, 2011

It is hard to avoid becoming cynical when watching the federal government interact with big corporations like AT&T. So when AT&T announced it would merge with T-Mobile, giving AT&T and Verizon a combined 3 out of 4 cellular subscribers, I thought two things: 1) What a terrible idea.

Comedian Louis CK Takes Internet Seriously

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Dec 19, 2011

Louis CK, the comedian responsible for the FX show "Louie" and for making people laugh at his brutally candid assessment of how much his young daughter's opinion about anything matters, has bypassed the major studios, channels, and cable distribution systems to sell one of his concerts directly to his fans.

WindomNet Turns on Southwest Minnesota Broadband Services

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Dec 16, 2011

Exciting times in rural southwest Minnesota, as Southwest Minnesota Broadband Services has turned on its first customer. SMBS is a broadband stimulus-enabled partnership with eight rural communities and WindomNet, the muni FTTH network in Windom.

The Rev. Andrew Schensted and his wife, Lisa, were the first to be connected.

Tullahoma Utilities Start Smart Meter Meetings

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Dec 15, 2011

Tullahoma, home to the LightTUBe FTTH network of Tennessee, is starting to roll out smart meters for its electrical and water utilities (owned by the city). They have initiated a series of public meetings to discuss the AMI - Advanced Metering Infrastructure.

Stop the Real Government Takeover of the Internet

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Dec 14, 2011

I've censored the following, in protest of a bill that gives any corporation and the US government the power to censor the internet--a bill that could pass THIS WEEK. To see the uncensored text, and to stop internet censorship, visit: http://americancensorship.org/posts/15925/uncensor

Johnson City Seeks Partner to Offer Broadband Services

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Dec 14, 2011

One month after the Johnson City Power Board (Tennessee) approved a fiber-optic network, they have issued a request for qualifications to identify potential partners that would provide broadband servic

The Internet is More Important than Broadband

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Dec 13, 2011

I encourage readers to visit Doc Searls post "Broadband vs. Internet" for a discussion about things that matter regarding the future of Internet access for most Americans.

The Internet is no more capable than the infrastructures that carry it. Here in the U.S.

Community Broadband Fills Needed Gap in Wisconsin

By

Christopher Mitchell

on Dec 10, 2011

Another video from the University of Wisconsin Extension Service's broadband stimulus project, Building Community Capacity through Broadband, which we have been covering here.