This is Episode 18 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. Dewayne Hendricks, CEO of Tetherless Access, joins Chris on the show about the potential of wireless. Listen to this episode here.

Lisa: (music playing) Hello, and welcome to the Community Broadband Bits podcast, a production of the Institute for Local Self Reliance and muninetworks.org. This is Lisa Gonzalez.  In our 18th episode, Christopher Mitchell talks with Dewayne Hendricks, CEO of Tetherless Access. Dewayne has been actively involved in telecommunications for decades. Dewayne's work has contributed to the foundation of what we now consider wireless networks and he continues to push the envelope. Dewayne and Chris have an enlightening conversation about the potential of wireless. As part of their discussion, they touch on how so much potential has been lost, mostly because Washington D.C. is heavily influenced by powerful corporate broadcasters and huge telcos. This is an interesting discussion that you won't hear anywhere else. Let's listen. 

Chris: Dewayne Hendrix, thank you for coming on Community Broadband Bits. You're the CEO of Tetherless Access and broadband cowboy now for ten years. Why don't you tell us a little bit about your background?

Dewayne: I got my amateur radio license when I was 13. I don't know what people know about amateur radio, or also known as ham radio. It allowed me to really learn radio from people- My mentors were people that were in the Signal Corps in WWII, so they really knew how to do radio. I got used to being able to talk to anywhere in the planet that I wanted to. Under the amateur radio rules, you can basically build and deploy your own equipment. As long as you stay within amateur radio spectrum, then you can do anything, effectively. You don't have to ask the FCC for permission. For instance, with the class of amateur radio license I had, which was Amateur Extra, I can actually put a satellite up into orbit and operate it without asking the FCC for permission for the transmitters and stuff up in the satellite. And hams have done that. That gives you an example of - It's like I said, you can do anything. As a result, people like me have really a different view of wireless than people like you who use Wi-Fi. 

This is Episode 27 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. Lisa Gonzalez presents highlights from the first 25 episodes. Listen to this episode here.

Lisa: Hello, and welcome again to the Community Broadband Bits podcast presented to you by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. This is Lisa Gonzalez with a short holiday treat for you this week. We've produced over 25 episodes of the podcast, and every interview has been memorable. Our guests have talked about technology, economic development, digital inclusion, savings to the community, and many, many other topics. This time we want to share some of their voices and some of their thoughts. These voices describe the challenges faced by communities and individuals that don't have meaningful broadband access. We also hear from local leaders who describe how communities take connectivity into their own hands and use it to shape their futures. Enjoy.

Speaker 2:  This is critical infrastructure, and everybody deserves access to it. If we're going to do it, we need to do it in a way that creates a long-term asset that is a responsible use of municipal dollars. That last part may come from the fact that so many of us have been marginalized by the lack of service for so long that we really believe that having a community, an asset that operates in the best interest of the community while still being financially sustainable, is a really important value. 

This is Episode 130 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. Christopher Mitchell and Lisa Gonzalez perform a skit on customer service. Listen to this episode here.

Chris: Oh, we're recording, what do you know?

Lisa: Yes, we are recording. 

Chris: So, we have ...

Lisa: A special treat for everybody today. 

Chris: Right. We just wanted to introduce it quickly and awkwardly. Basically, today because it's one of those days when some people are working but a lot of people are already starting to think about the holidays and taking some time off, we wanted to just do something a little bit lighter and more fun.

Lisa: What we did is we created a couple of scenarios. One has a customer calling to ask about service to a cable company ...

Chris: Right, and that customer sounds a lot like you.

Lisa: Oh, I guess she does, doesn't she? Actually you'll notice this sound (honk) and every time you hear that sound there will be something said in the conversation that is from an actual conversation with a sales representative.

Chris: From one of the cable telephone companies.

Lisa: From one of the cable companies.

Chris: We've had a fair amount of these conversations and sometimes they're a little bit nuts. What we did was we decided that we'd have a short conversation and we scripted it based on real events and then a little bit of hyperbole. 

Lisa: Yeah, we went a little bit past that but we did use actual language.

Chris: We did, but I think you'll find that if you look at the range of calls, I mean if you just do a search for Comcast conversations that people have reported, the things that we exaggerated have gone far beyond by the cable companies and some of their poor support.

Lisa: I would also be willing to bet, Chris, that people listening to this podcast have had similar conversations. 

This is Episode 164 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. Dave Spencer, Chief Operating Officer of NoaNet, returns to discuss the details of the different services NoaNet offers in Washington. Listen to this episode here.

Dave Spencer: Netflix wants to promote as fast a connection as possible, and so they come to carriers like us and say "Hey, would you peer with us?" It cuts down on latency and jitter and all those bad things that nobody likes.

Lisa Gonzales: Hello and welcome to Episode 164 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast, brought to you by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. This is Lisa Gonzales.

In July we introduced you to Dave Spencer, Chief Operating Officer of NoaNet, the open access wholesale fiber network in the state of Washington. The network, owned by a coalition of municipalities, has operated since 2000 in both rural and metro areas. That interview sparked your interest and we asked Dave to come back to provide more details on the administrative side of NoaNet, who uses NoaNet, and what services NoaNet provides. Now, here are Chris and Dave Spencer talking about the network.

Chris Mitchell: Welcome to another edition of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. I'm Chris Mitchell, and today I'm talking again with Dave Spencer, the Chief Operating Officer of NoaNet in Washington state. Welcome to the show.

Dave Spencer: Thanks Chris, nice to be back.

Chris Mitchell: It's really great to have you back. We're having you back so quickly because there is a lot of interest in NoaNet, the Northwest Open Access Network, and people wanted to know a little bit more in detail, so we're going to be diving into that. Maybe we could just start, for those who haven't gotten around to our previous discussion, and you can give us a thumbnail sketch of what NoaNet is.

Dave Spencer: Sure. We're a municipal network in the state of Washington, we've got about 3000 miles of network all over the state. Predominantly we have access in every county, all the counties in the state have access to our network and as a regional network we sell to a lot of different types of customers and serve a lot of different areas.

This is Episode 165 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. Lisa Gonzalez interviews Deb Socia, Executive Director of Next Century Cities, and our own Chris Mitchell, Policy Director of Next Century Cities. Listen to this episode here. Check out the Next Century Cities' Policy Agenda here.

Deb: They don't have to reinvent everything. There are people out there that have already moved along that pathway, and what we try to do on a regular basis is connect people who are learning with people who are experienced.

Lisa: Hello, again. This is episode 165 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. This is Lisa Gonzalez. Next Century Cities, a coalition of over one hundred local governments across the US, seeks to share information and resources so they can improve connectivity within their communities. The organization, led by Deb Socia, as Executive Director, and our own Chris Mitchell, as Policy Director, recently released a policy agenda titled Connecting Twenty-first Century Communities: A Policy Agenda for Broadband Stakeholders. The document is filled with recommendations for local, state, and federal government, as well as philanthropic and community organizations. 

This week I interview Chris and Deb about the document, and why they chose to publish it, and we focus on some specific elements of policy agenda. You can download the document at Next Century Cities.org/resources. It's worth adding to your library. Check it out.

Now here are Deb, Chris, and I discussing Next Century Cities' new policy agenda.

Welcome, again, to the Community Broadband Bits podcast. This is Lisa. I've managed to wrangle the microphone away from Chris. Today, he's going to be one of the interviewees. We are going to be talking with Deb Socia, Executive Director of Next Century Cities, and since Chris is Policy Director of Next Century Cities, one of his many hats, he is, also, going to be answering some questions. We're going to be talking about their July publication, Connecting Twenty-First Century Communities: A Policy Agenda for Broadband Stakeholders. Welcome, Deb.

Deb: Thank you. Nice to be here.

This is Episode 166 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. Chris interviews Jason Grey, Interim Director of Utilities for Danville, Virginia, about the incremental build out of the nDanville open access network. Listen to this episode here.

Jason Grey: It's a great thing to have when trying to market a data center or IT company. It's a wonderful tool for them to come in and say, wow, you have fiber optics wired in this park or this business center.

Lisa Gonzales: Hello, and welcome to episode 166 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. This is Lisa Gonzales. This week Chris interviews Jason Grey, Interim Director of Utilities for the city of Danville, Virginia. This is a return visit for Jason, who last spoke with us in 2012. nDanville, the city's open access fiber network has been offering better connectivity to the community for years. We've documented a few of the many economic development wins attributed to their network, and in this interview Jason provides a few more examples. Jason and Chris also discuss the city's incremental approach, the residential expansion, and some of the challenges the city has faced as it sought to add service providers to the network. Jason offers some tips on dig once and marketing efforts based on lessons learned in Danville.

We bring you focused, specialized information on municipal networks with no annoying advertisements. There are very few places you can find the in-depth discussions we offer on the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. We go the extra mile to bring you important, engaging material that mainstream media typically ignores. Please take a moment to support our work at muninetworks.org or ilsr.org. Click "donate" and contribute any amount. Now here are Chris and Jason Grey from Danville, Virginia.

Chris Mitchell: Welcome to another edition of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. I'm Chris Mitchell, and today I'm speaking with Jason Grey once again. Jason Grey is the Interim Director of Utilities in Danville, Virginia. Welcome to the show.

Jason Grey: Thank you for having me.

This is Episode 167 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. Chris interviews Joe Knapp and Jeremy Pietzold of Sandy, Oregon on their $60 Gig. Listen to this episode here. Check out our video on SandyNet here.

Joe: That’s been really nice for me to know that we’re providing something to the community that’s allowing people to have more flexibility that improves their quality of life.

Lisa: Hello and welcome. You are listening to episode 167 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. This is Lisa Gonzalez. Sandy, Oregon in the shadow of Mount Hood and 30 miles from Portland is one of the stars of our new video about its fiber network SandyNet. Two other stars are Chris’ guests this week, city council president Jeremy Pietzold and IT director and SandyNet general director Joe Knapp. Sandy is offering gigabit connectivity to both the residents and businesses for an incredible $60, even beating out Google Fiber in Kansas City for affordability.

People in Sandy are taking advantage of this new publicly owned asset switching over at take rates much higher than anticipated. In this interview, we hear Jeremy and Joe describe how the network is improving life in Sandy and they elaborate on the strategy, the community to its fiber deployment. Sandy, with no electric utility took an incremental approach. Our guests offer advice for other communities who may find themselves considering a similar tactic. Be sure to check out our video, produced in cooperation with Next Century Cities at the Sandy Tag at muninetworks.org. Now, here is Chris talking with Jeremy Pietzold and Joe Knapp.

Chris: Welcome to another edition of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. I'm Chris Mitchell. Today, I'm talking with Jeremy Pietzold, the city council president of Sandy, Oregon. Welcome to the show.

Jeremy: Hey, thank you.

Chris: We also have Joe Knapp, the IT director and SandyNet general manager. Welcome to the show.

Joe: Thanks, Chris. It’s good to be here.

Chris: I'm glad to have you guys on the show. We’ve been talking for a lot of years and in fact, Joe, I know we’ve had you on in the past and Jeremy, I think we’ve … Did we have you on?

This is Episode 168 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. Chris interviews Kent Winrich, Director of Broadband and Infrastructure in Salisbury, North Carolina. Listen to this episode here.

Kent: We have been in conversation with a number of organizations that are very interested in our 10 Gig, and they've just kind of come out of the woodwork. That alone has been able to give us the attention to where economic development can really begin to happen.

Lisa: This is episode 168 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. I'm Lisa Gonzalez. Hello, and thank you for listening. If you're up on telecommunications news, you know that Salisbury, North Carolina, is now the first place in the nation offering 10 Gigabit service city-wide. Fibrant, a community's municipal network, began serving customers in 2010, and began offering Gigabit service about a year ago for around 100 dollars a month. Unlike many other communities with municipal fiber networks, Salisbury does not have an electric utility. Kent Winrich, director of Broadband and Infrastructure, visits with Chris this week to talk about the network, and how and why they chose to add a city-wide 10 Gig option. Even though the city just made the announcement, Kent describes how it's already string up interest in Salisbury. Now here are Kent and Chris.

Chris: Welcome to another edition of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. I'm Chris Mitchell and today I'm speaking with Kent Winrich, the director of Broadband and Infrastructure for the City of Salisbury, North Carolina. Welcome to the show.

Kent:  Thank you, Chris.

Chris: Salisbury built a fiber-to-the-home network right before the North Carolina legislature decided to make it almost impossible for anyone else to do it, and now you've become the first city in the nation to have city wide 10 Gigabit service available. We're going to get into the 10 Gigabit in a little bit, but I want to start by asking you to tell us a little bit about Salisbury, and where it is, and what we should know about it for those of us who have not been there.

This is Episode 170 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. Chris interviews John Bowcut, director of information systems and network director for the Spanish Fork Community Network on how the 14-year-old municipal coax cable network is upgrading to fiber. Listen to this episode here.

John:  Fiber is the future, and that technology is where you want to end up.

Lisa: You are listening to episode 170 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. This is Lisa Gonzalez.

Earlier this month, the community of Spanish Fork, Utah announced it would make fiber upgrades to its 14-year-old municipal coax cable network. We have followed Spanish Fork for years as it has successfully served approximately 80% of the households in the community.

This week, Chris interviews John Bowcut, director of information systems and network director for the Spanish Fork Community Network. John and Chris have spoken before, but this time the conversation focuses on the upgrade, why they're making a change now, how they're funding the upgrade to fiber, and what new services will be offered to subscribers.

Now, here's Chris speaking with John Bowcut from Spanish Fork, Utah.

Chris: Welcome to another edition of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. I'm Chris Mitchell, and today I'm speaking with John Bowcut, the director of information systems and the network director for the Spanish Fork Community Network. Welcome to the show.

John:  Thank you, Chris.

Chris: Well, I'm really excited to have you back on. It's been just a little bit over two years since you were last on in episode 60 and telling us about your excellent cable network there in Spanish Fork, but why don't you just give people a refresher? Where is Spanish Fork, and what have you been doing?

Sean Stokes of Baller Herbst Stokes & Lide explains the basics of right-of-way. Listen to this episode here.

Sean Stokes: It has to be balanced in terms of its needs and its uses, because obviously it ranges from everything from whether or not you have sidewalks to whether you have poles or ducts along it, whether you have roads and culverts, everything. It's really just that public way that's out there.

Lisa Gonzalez: You are listening to episode one hundred sixty-nine of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. I am Lisa Gonzalez. Today we hear from Sean Stokes from Baller Herbst Stokes & Lide, one of the country's leading law firms working on telecommunications law matters. Sean joins Chris this week to discuss right-of-way and pole attachment issues. In addition to a basic tutorial, Chris and Sean talk about the practicalities involved when multiple entities wish to access these public spaces and the poles that inhabit them. Sean and his colleagues have published a number of resources on pole attachment and right-of-way at baller.com. You can also learn more about how these issues have affected some of the communities we follow at muninetworks.org. Now here are Sean and Chris.

Chris Mitchell: Welcome to another edition of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. I am Chris Mitchell, and today I'm speaking with Sean Stokes, a Principal in the Baller Herbst Stokes & Lide law firm. Welcome to the show.

Sean Stokes: Thank you very much. Good to be here.

Chris: Sean, I've been aware of your work for a very long time. You work with Jim Baller, who I got to know, one of the first people I got to know when I was working in this industry. Maybe you can tell people who are not familiar with the law firm, what do you guys do?