Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
Earlier this summer, we talked with Jase Wilson and Lindsey Brannon from Neighborly, the investment firm that uses online investing to allow individuals to invest in publicly owned infrastructure projects, including broadband networks.
This past summer, a group of Portlanders with digital equity as a primary goal, launched Municipal Broadband PDX.
Until November 6th, community leaders in Loveland, Colorado, vacillated between whether or not to hold a referendum for final voter approval on a muni project. Asking voters to make the final call can remove political uncertainty, but there are times when elected officials have to make the call themselves.
California
Why San Jose kids do homework in parking lots by Sam Liccardo, New York Times
There’s more than skiing stirring up Breckenridge, Colorado, this winter. Recently, the city released their Request for Interest (RFI) as they search for ISPs interested in delivering services via their future publicly owned fiber network. Responses are due November 26th, 2018.
For many rural Americans, the local electric or telephone cooperative is their best hope for finally obtaining modern-day connectivity.
If you couldn’t make it to Hartford, Connecticut, don’t despair! The good people at Next Century Cities and the Office of Consumer Counsel have got you covered. They’ve set up a live link so you can watch all the great panel discussions and presentations from the Connected New England event.
The march toward reclaiming local telecommunications authority throughout Colorado continued yesterday as eighteen more communities opted out of restrictive SB 152. As in prior years, voters passed referendums with high majorities in every contest.
Halloween is less than a week away, but our horrifying tale of customer service terror is quickly turning into science fiction in which we are caught in an never-ending loop bending time and space. Time for a quick update.
California
In San Leandro, we are building on public broadband investment for a brighter future by Corina Lopez, National League of Cities
We knew that Longmonters loved their publicly owned network, but recent numbers show how many of them have shunned incumbents to switch. More than half of the market in Longmont has now signed up with NextLight.
For episode 329 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, our guests Deb Socia from Next Century Cities and Bob Knight of P.R. and Marketing firm Harrison Edwards discussed political will and its effect on community broadband network projects.
Idaho Innovation Awards recently recognized industry leader Ammon Fiber Optics as the state’s Consumer Product of the Year.
Ghastly ghouls, horrific monsters, and vile flesh-eating creatures roam the earth this night of Halloween, but none evince the evil that has of late entered the halls of ILSR. One of our own has faced the torture of an entity bent on pushing him over the precipice of human endurance, twisting his psyche with the torment of nonsense, and claiming his head for their own.
On October 24th, FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly spoke before the Media Institute at their “Free Speech America” Gala. In a speech for the telecom-backed group, O’Rielly delivered exactly what many of the big hitters in the audience would want to hear. He falsely accused, with nothing to back up his claims, municipal networks of posing an “ominous threat to the First Amendment.”
It’s not too late to make your plans to attend "Connected New England: A Regional Broadband Convening" in Hartford, Connecticut.
Colorado
Loveland council to vote on bond issue, business plan for municipal broadband by Julia Rentsch, Reporter-Herald
Indiana
We came across this cool video shared by Taunton Municipal Light Plant (TMLP) in Taunton, Massachusetts, and wanted to share it. This quick vid reminds us that, even though the Internet may seem like “magic” because it connects us with other continents, it’s actually science, work, and investment.
BTW, What's Up in Taunton?
Earlier this month, Chattanooga’s celebrated as municipal network EPB Fiber Optics announced that they now have more than 100,000 subscribers. The high numbers indicate that the network is serving more than 60 percent of premises in the EPB service area.
Chicopee, Massachusetts, is on its way to better connectivity through a publicly owned network after all. Chicopee Electric Light (CEL) has announced that the municipal utility plans to develop a pilot program yet this year to experiment with business connectivity. If all goes well, they have a long-term vision to also serve residents.
