Wadsworth, Ohio officials say they’re making steady progress on the expansion of a city-owned broadband network that’s extending affordable fiber connectivity to the city’s nearly 25,000 residents.

Originally a coaxial-based network, the city now says it’s in the process of delivering Wi-Fi to many city residents while they go block-by-block removing older coaxial cable and upgrading residents to more future-proof fiber optic connectivity.

All told, city officials say they currently have around 5,800 existing subscribers that will ultimately be upgraded to fiber.

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Wadsworth, Ohio first launched its hybrid fiber-coaxial CityLink network back in 1997, and has been offering broadband, television, and phone access to the community ever since.

In 2020 ILSR spoke with Wadsworth IT Manager Steve Lange in Episode 438 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast.

Affordable, Popular Alternatives To Monopoly Power

The network, unlike many similar deployments, is separate from the city’s municipal electric department. Wadsworth Assistant Service Director Mike Testa recently told the Medina County Gazette that the city has completed around 400 fiber installations so far, including a recently updated area along Weatherstone Drive where 120 homes were connected.

Wadsworth, Ohio officials say they’re making steady progress on the expansion of a city-owned broadband network that’s extending affordable fiber connectivity to the city’s nearly 25,000 residents.

Originally a coaxial-based network, the city now says it’s in the process of delivering Wi-Fi to many city residents while they go block-by-block removing older coaxial cable and upgrading residents to more future-proof fiber optic connectivity.

All told, city officials say they currently have around 5,800 existing subscribers that will ultimately be upgraded to fiber.

Image

Wadsworth, Ohio first launched its hybrid fiber-coaxial CityLink network back in 1997, and has been offering broadband, television, and phone access to the community ever since.

In 2020 ILSR spoke with Wadsworth IT Manager Steve Lange in Episode 438 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast.

Affordable, Popular Alternatives To Monopoly Power

The network, unlike many similar deployments, is separate from the city’s municipal electric department. Wadsworth Assistant Service Director Mike Testa recently told the Medina County Gazette that the city has completed around 400 fiber installations so far, including a recently updated area along Weatherstone Drive where 120 homes were connected.

Wadsworth, Ohio officials say they’re making steady progress on the expansion of a city-owned broadband network that’s extending affordable fiber connectivity to the city’s nearly 25,000 residents.

Originally a coaxial-based network, the city now says it’s in the process of delivering Wi-Fi to many city residents while they go block-by-block removing older coaxial cable and upgrading residents to more future-proof fiber optic connectivity.

All told, city officials say they currently have around 5,800 existing subscribers that will ultimately be upgraded to fiber.

Image

Wadsworth, Ohio first launched its hybrid fiber-coaxial CityLink network back in 1997, and has been offering broadband, television, and phone access to the community ever since.

In 2020 ILSR spoke with Wadsworth IT Manager Steve Lange in Episode 438 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast.

Affordable, Popular Alternatives To Monopoly Power

The network, unlike many similar deployments, is separate from the city’s municipal electric department. Wadsworth Assistant Service Director Mike Testa recently told the Medina County Gazette that the city has completed around 400 fiber installations so far, including a recently updated area along Weatherstone Drive where 120 homes were connected.

Wadsworth, Ohio officials say they’re making steady progress on the expansion of a city-owned broadband network that’s extending affordable fiber connectivity to the city’s nearly 25,000 residents.

Originally a coaxial-based network, the city now says it’s in the process of delivering Wi-Fi to many city residents while they go block-by-block removing older coaxial cable and upgrading residents to more future-proof fiber optic connectivity.

All told, city officials say they currently have around 5,800 existing subscribers that will ultimately be upgraded to fiber.

Image

Wadsworth, Ohio first launched its hybrid fiber-coaxial CityLink network back in 1997, and has been offering broadband, television, and phone access to the community ever since.

In 2020 ILSR spoke with Wadsworth IT Manager Steve Lange in Episode 438 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast.

Affordable, Popular Alternatives To Monopoly Power

The network, unlike many similar deployments, is separate from the city’s municipal electric department. Wadsworth Assistant Service Director Mike Testa recently told the Medina County Gazette that the city has completed around 400 fiber installations so far, including a recently updated area along Weatherstone Drive where 120 homes were connected.

Wadsworth, Ohio officials say they’re making steady progress on the expansion of a city-owned broadband network that’s extending affordable fiber connectivity to the city’s nearly 25,000 residents.

Originally a coaxial-based network, the city now says it’s in the process of delivering Wi-Fi to many city residents while they go block-by-block removing older coaxial cable and upgrading residents to more future-proof fiber optic connectivity.

All told, city officials say they currently have around 5,800 existing subscribers that will ultimately be upgraded to fiber.

Image

Wadsworth, Ohio first launched its hybrid fiber-coaxial CityLink network back in 1997, and has been offering broadband, television, and phone access to the community ever since.

In 2020 ILSR spoke with Wadsworth IT Manager Steve Lange in Episode 438 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast.

Affordable, Popular Alternatives To Monopoly Power

The network, unlike many similar deployments, is separate from the city’s municipal electric department. Wadsworth Assistant Service Director Mike Testa recently told the Medina County Gazette that the city has completed around 400 fiber installations so far, including a recently updated area along Weatherstone Drive where 120 homes were connected.

Wadsworth, Ohio officials say they’re making steady progress on the expansion of a city-owned broadband network that’s extending affordable fiber connectivity to the city’s nearly 25,000 residents.

Originally a coaxial-based network, the city now says it’s in the process of delivering Wi-Fi to many city residents while they go block-by-block removing older coaxial cable and upgrading residents to more future-proof fiber optic connectivity.

All told, city officials say they currently have around 5,800 existing subscribers that will ultimately be upgraded to fiber.

Image

Wadsworth, Ohio first launched its hybrid fiber-coaxial CityLink network back in 1997, and has been offering broadband, television, and phone access to the community ever since.

In 2020 ILSR spoke with Wadsworth IT Manager Steve Lange in Episode 438 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast.

Affordable, Popular Alternatives To Monopoly Power

The network, unlike many similar deployments, is separate from the city’s municipal electric department. Wadsworth Assistant Service Director Mike Testa recently told the Medina County Gazette that the city has completed around 400 fiber installations so far, including a recently updated area along Weatherstone Drive where 120 homes were connected.

Here at ILSR we’re no stranger to telecom monopoly-backed efforts to mislead the public about the significant benefits of community owned broadband access.

That’s why a new “study” by the industry-backed Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) maligning municipal broadband doesn’t come as much of a surprise.

The study professes to take a look at a very small number of municipal broadband networks, then makes sweeping and patently false claims about the entire sector.

“In most cases, local governments have neither the competence nor the economies of scale to deliver broadband as well as private ISPs,” the study concludes. “So, favoring government-owned networks wastes societal resources, creates unfair competition, and is frequently unsustainable in the long run.”

Image

There’s numerous problems here. One being that the survey only looked at 20 municipal broadband networks in a country where more than 450 community broadband networks – serving close to 800 different communities – now pepper the American landscape.

The study author acknowledges the study’s sample size was “too small for the data to represent all U.S. [government-owned broadband networks] reliably,” then proceeds to make broad sweeping assumptions unsupported by any actual evidence.

Here at ILSR we’re no stranger to telecom monopoly-backed efforts to mislead the public about the significant benefits of community owned broadband access.

That’s why a new “study” by the industry-backed Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) maligning municipal broadband doesn’t come as much of a surprise.

The study professes to take a look at a very small number of municipal broadband networks, then makes sweeping and patently false claims about the entire sector.

“In most cases, local governments have neither the competence nor the economies of scale to deliver broadband as well as private ISPs,” the study concludes. “So, favoring government-owned networks wastes societal resources, creates unfair competition, and is frequently unsustainable in the long run.”

Image

There’s numerous problems here. One being that the survey only looked at 20 municipal broadband networks in a country where more than 450 community broadband networks – serving close to 800 different communities – now pepper the American landscape.

The study author acknowledges the study’s sample size was “too small for the data to represent all U.S. [government-owned broadband networks] reliably,” then proceeds to make broad sweeping assumptions unsupported by any actual evidence.

Here at ILSR we’re no stranger to telecom monopoly-backed efforts to mislead the public about the significant benefits of community owned broadband access.

That’s why a new “study” by the industry-backed Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) maligning municipal broadband doesn’t come as much of a surprise.

The study professes to take a look at a very small number of municipal broadband networks, then makes sweeping and patently false claims about the entire sector.

“In most cases, local governments have neither the competence nor the economies of scale to deliver broadband as well as private ISPs,” the study concludes. “So, favoring government-owned networks wastes societal resources, creates unfair competition, and is frequently unsustainable in the long run.”

Image

There’s numerous problems here. One being that the survey only looked at 20 municipal broadband networks in a country where more than 450 community broadband networks – serving close to 800 different communities – now pepper the American landscape.

The study author acknowledges the study’s sample size was “too small for the data to represent all U.S. [government-owned broadband networks] reliably,” then proceeds to make broad sweeping assumptions unsupported by any actual evidence.

Here at ILSR we’re no stranger to telecom monopoly-backed efforts to mislead the public about the significant benefits of community owned broadband access.

That’s why a new “study” by the industry-backed Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) maligning municipal broadband doesn’t come as much of a surprise.

The study professes to take a look at a very small number of municipal broadband networks, then makes sweeping and patently false claims about the entire sector.

“In most cases, local governments have neither the competence nor the economies of scale to deliver broadband as well as private ISPs,” the study concludes. “So, favoring government-owned networks wastes societal resources, creates unfair competition, and is frequently unsustainable in the long run.”

Image

There’s numerous problems here. One being that the survey only looked at 20 municipal broadband networks in a country where more than 450 community broadband networks – serving close to 800 different communities – now pepper the American landscape.

The study author acknowledges the study’s sample size was “too small for the data to represent all U.S. [government-owned broadband networks] reliably,” then proceeds to make broad sweeping assumptions unsupported by any actual evidence.