Thanks to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for Episode 25 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. Dewayne Hendricks returns to discuss the complementary nature of wired and wireless technologies. Listen to this episode here.

00:16:

Lisa Gonzalez:  Hello, and welcome to the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and muninetworks.org. I'm Lisa Gonzalez.

It's hard to believe it, but this is our 25th episode.  This week, we have a return visit from our guest, Dewayne Hendricks, entrepreneur and CEO of Tetherless Access.  Last time Dewayne visited with Christopher, the two discussed how the possibilities for wireless technologies have been stifled, due to DC lobbying.  This time, Chris and Dewayne discuss the interplay between fiber and wireless, and how both are essential in today's technology landscape.  Dewayne shares his needs as a businessman, and explains why today's approach holds back entrepreneurs like him.  Now to Chris and Dewayne.

00:57:

Christopher Mitchell:  Dewayne Hendricks, CEO of Tetherless Access, we're very excited to have you on for our first repeat guest performance.  You were on a few months ago.  And -- so thank you for coming back on the show.

01:09:

Dewayne Hendricks:  You're welcome, Chris.  I'm glad to be back, and I'm also glad to be honored to be the first repeat guest.

01:15:

Chris:  We have an opportunity here to continue our discussion.  And I do so a little bit better informed.  You'd recommended reading, "The Myth of Interference," by David Weinberger, which I hadn't read before,  and I comment our listeners to Google it and find it, because it is a very good paper.  But, in short, it fills in some gaps, and reinforces what we talked about last time, which is how we can better use spectrum.  And so I don't think we're going to revisit that today, but we will be talking more about how we can use wireless effectively, and where wired networks are perhaps better, and how they interrelate.

01:54:

Dewayne:  To me, I've always thought about the -- how to make the best use of both.  So I look at it basically, how you would use fiber and wireless together in sort of a hybrid fashion.

02:06:

Thanks to Jeff Hoel for the transcript of Episode 29 of Community Broadband Bits Podcast. Susan Crawford discusses her new book, Captive Audience, and the importance of telecommunication policy. Listen to this episode here.

00:15:

Lisa Gonzalez:  Hello, and welcome again to the Community Broadband Bits Podcast.  This is a production of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.  This is Lisa Gonzalez.

This is our 29th episode.  Christopher has a great talk with Susan Crawford.  Susan recently published the book, "Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age."  Many of y9ou know Susan.  She's a champion of the campaign to bring ubiquitous access to America.  She is a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.  She served as President Obama's Special Assistant for Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy, and she's also a columnist on the Bloomberg View.  Susan's published many articles in many different publications, and she's a Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute.  Susan's lectured all around the world, and her list of accomplishments is long and distinguished.  Christopher and Susan talk a little bit about the history of how a few large telecommunications companies have come to possess access for Americans.  They also discuss the future of telecommunications in our country, and what possible scenarios may arise.  Is our destiny to repeat past mistakes?  Susan and Christopher talk about how we can influence our own connectivity by starting locally.  Here are Susan and Christopher.

01:26:

Christopher Mitchell:  Susan Crawford, thank you so much for coming on Community Broadband Bits.  I'm excited to talk about your new book.

01:32:

Susan Crawford:  Hey, well, Christopher, it's awfully nice of you to have me on.  And I treasure your site, and all the hard work you do.  The new book is called, "Captive Audience."  And it just came out this week, on Tuesday.  And I am doing the best I can to keep it in the national eye.

01:50:

Thanks to Jeff Hoel for the transcript of Episode 30 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. Jason Bird, the Electrical Superintendent of the City of Princeton, Illinois, explains how the city saved jobs and created a unique network that provides broadband over powerlines. Listen to this episode here.

00:15:

Lisa Gonzalez:  Hello, and welcome again to the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, a production of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.  I'm Lisa Gonzalez.

This is our 30th episode.  This week, we meet Jason Bird, Electrical Superintendent of the City of Princeton, Illinois.  Princeton's municipal network serves local government, businesses, and residents.  Jason tells us how the city built the network, as a way to retain jobs when one of the town's biggest employers was poised to relocate.  Christopher and Jason also talk about Princeton's broadband-over-powerline network, which delivers basic, low-cost access to residents and small businesses.  Princeton's story gives us another example of how a community doesn't have to make a huge investment to reap the benefits of a municipal network.

01:00:

Christopher Mitchell:  Jason Bird, thank you so much for joining us for Community Broadband Bits.  We're excited to learn more about what you're doing in Princeton, Illinois.

01:08:

Jason Bird:  Well, thanks for having me.

01:09:

Chris:  Absolutely.  Can you tell us a little bit about Princeton, to get started?

01:12:

Jason:  Yeah.  Princeton is located in north-central Illinois.  We're a small, rural community.  Princeton is the county seat in Bureau County.  And we're the largest city in Bureau County -- of about 7,800 people.  So, we're fairly small.  We're -- the area is driven by agriculture.  But some light manufacturing in the area.  But Princeton is a pretty progressive community, for a small community.  We are located on Interstate 80, and we do have a Burlington Northern railroad tracks that goes through here, along with the Amtrak.

01:49:

Chris:  I see on the website that you're listed as an electrical superintendent, but I'm guessing that you do a lot more than just electricity.

01:59:

Thanks to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript of Community Broadband Bits Podcast Episode 31 with Scarlett McGrady about Virginia's Wired Road. Listen to this episode here.

Thanks to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript to Episode 160 of Community Broadband Bits Episode with Brandon Bowersox Johnson and Levi Dinkla on the Urbana-Champaign Big Broadband network, open access, and their partnership with iTV-3. Listen to this episode here.

00:06:

Brandon Bowersox Johnson:  It was just a natural fit.  And we've been thrilled to now have iTV-3 take over operations of the existing core network and backbone that we had built, and to be expanding it into more neighborhoods with this gigabit fiber-to-the-home service.

00:20:

Lisa Gonzalez:  Hello.  This is the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.  I'm Lisa Gonzalez.

In Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, the UC2B project received a federal stimulus award to build an urban fiber-to-the-home network.  When the deployment was finished, in 2013, the UC2B board began looking for a private partner to manage future operations.  They found iTV-3, a subsidiary of Illinois-based Family Video.  In this episode, Chris interviews Brandon Bowersox Johnson, Chair of the UC2B board, and Levi Dinkla, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of iTV-3.  They share more information about the partnership between UC2B and iTV-3, and describe how that partnership came about.  We apologize for the quality of the audio this week.  Chris had some difficulties during recording, and it's not up to our usual standards.  We'll be back up to par next week, we promise.  Now, here are Chris, Brandon, and Levi.

01:24:

Chris Mitchell:  Welcome to another edition of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast.  I'm Chris Mitchell.  Today, I'm speaking with Brandon Bowersox Johnson, the UC2B Board Chair.  Welcome to the show.

01:36:

Brandon Bowersox Johnson:  Good afternoon.  It's great to be here.

01:38:

Chris:  I'm also speaking with Levi Dinkla, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of iTV-3.  Welcome to the show.

01:45:

Levi Dinkla:  Thank you for having me.

01:47:

Thanks to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for Episode 32 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast with Harold Feld from Public Knowledge on the five fundamentals for telecommunication systems. Listen to this episode here.

Thanks to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for Episode 33 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast with Billy Ray, CEO of Glasgow Electric Power Board, on the fight with the incumbent provider. Listen to this episode here.

Thanks to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for Episode 159 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast with Dave Spencer from NoaNet, the Northwest Open Access Network. Listen to this episode here.

00:06:

Dave Spencer:  Trying to lead by finding ways to meet the need, in order to fulfill our mission, which is to bring broadband into these rural areas that, frankly, have been passed by.

00:19:

Lisa Gonzalez:  Hello.  This is the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.  I'm Lisa Gonzalez.

Since 2000, NoaNet has served Washington state with its open access wholesale fiber network.  To date, the network consists of almost 2,000 miles, in both metro and rural areas.  This week, Chris interviews Dave Spencer, Chief Operating Officer for NoaNet.  Among other topics, Dave gives us the history of NoaNet, discusses their business model, and describes the many ways the network has enhanced life in rural Washington.

We encourage you to support these commercial-free podcasts with a contribution in any amount, at ilsr.org ormuninetworks.org.  Thanks in advance for your donation.

Now, here are Chris and Dave Spencer.

01:07:

Chris Mitchell:  Welcome to another edition of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast.  I'm Chris Mitchell.  And today I'm interviewing Dave Spencer, the Chief Operating Officer of NoaNet.  Welcome to the show.

01:19:

Dave Spencer:  Thanks, Chris.  Pleasure to be here.

01:21:

Chris:  So, Dave, we're talking about NoaNet, which is located in Washington.  And it seems to be most of Washington state, in fact.  Why don't you tell us what "Noa" stands for, and what you do.

01:33:

Dave:  NoaNet stands for Northwest Open Access Network.  We were formed back in 2000, in response to the dot-com and telecom boom passing us by, in rural areas of Washington.  We're formed by the municipal corporations' public utility districts that were running utilities in rural towns in Washington state.  And we're eyewitnesses -- have ringside seats -- at getting passed by on the digital divide here.  And decided to do something about it.

Thanks to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for Episode 34 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast with Dewayne Hendricks reflecting on some history, the National Information Infrastructure. Listen to this episode here.

00:15:

Lisa Gonzalez:  Hello, and welcome to the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.  I'm Lisa Gonzalez.

In Episode 34, Christopher and Dewayne Hendricks travel back in time.  Dewayne has been involved in the telecommunications industry longer than most, and goes over some history for us.  Dwayne discusses a term many have never heard: the National Information Infrastructure.  Dewayne and Christopher compare today's fiber and wireless environment with past plans for community networks, and how those plans altered in just a few short years.  Here are Chris and Dewayne.

00:46:

Chris Mitchell:  Dewayne Hendricks is back with us on Community Broadband Bits, the CEO of Tetherless Access.  And the guest who was the first to make a repeat is not the first to make a three-peat.  So, welcome back, Dewayne.

00:58:

Dewayne Hendricks:  Thanks, Chris.  Thanks for having me back.

01:00:

Chris:  I want to make sure  people know that you can run into both Dewayne Hendricks and I at Freedom to Connect, in Washington, DC, coming up on March 4th and 5th.  It's a terrific event.  Dewayne always provides incredible wireless access.  So, if you want to get a sense of how good Wi-Fi should be, that's reason enough to come by.  Just Google "Freedom to Connect" and -- or F2C -- and you'll find the details.

Dewayne, you had reached out to me after listening to the Bruce Kushnick interview that we had done, talking a little bit about the history of some telecommunications efforts.  And noted that there were some really -- there's some really important other issues that we didn't have a chance to talk about that we should discuss.  So, tell me what those are.

01:49:

Thanks to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for Episode 35 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast with Jody Wigington on why Morristown, Tennesee built its own network. Listen to this episode here.

00:11:

Lisa Gonzalez:  Hi, there, and welcome to the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.  I'm Lisa Gonzalez.

In Episode 35, Christopher Mitchell interviews Jody Wigington, CEO and General Manager of the Morristown Utility System in Morristown, Tennessee.  MUS Fiber is one of the few networks that offer 1-gig service.  The network began serving customers in the spring of 2006.  Jody and Chris talk a little bit about how the community was inspired to go into telecommunications.  They were fed up with continual rate increases from the incumbent cable TV provider.  And community leaders also recognized the economic development potential with a fiber network.  Here are Jody Wigington and Christopher.

00:50:

Chris Mitchell:  Thank you for joining us for another episode of Community Broadband Bits.  Today we're talking with Jody Wigington, the CEO and General Manager of Morristown Utility Systems.  Thank you for joining us today.

01:01:

Jody Wigington:  Thank you.

01:02:

Chris:  So, one of the things that I was fascinated about with Morristown was that you were one of the sort of famous utilities coming out of Tennessee.  There's a lot of great fiber systems in Tennessee.  And you launched a gigabit.  You were one of the early ones -- I think third or fourth in the nation.  But when you agreed to talk with me, then I started digging a little bit more, I found a lot of really interesting things to learn about Morristown.  So, can you start by telling us a little bit about the community?

01:32: