Community Broadband Bits

When the cable and telephone companies refused to offer dial-up Internet service 20 years ago in Alexandria, Minnesota, the municipal utility stepped up and made it available. For years, most everyone in the region used it to get online. Now, the utility has focused its telecommunications attention on making fiber-optic telecommunications services available to local … Continue reading "In Minnesota, Alexandria Connects Businesses – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 210" ★ Support this podcast ★

In celebration of Independence Day, we are focused this week on consolidation and dependence. At the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, we are very focused on independence and believe that the consolidation in the telecommunications industry threatens the independence of communities. We doubt that Comcast or AT&T executives could locate most of the communities they serve … Continue reading "Discussing (Ranting) Consolidation – Community Broadband Bits Episode 209" ★ Support this podcast ★

A small telecommunications company in Albuquerque embodies much of the philosophy that has powered the Internet. And CityLink Telecommunications President John Brown credits Vint Cerf for some of that inspiration. John Brown joins us for episode 208 of the Community Broadband [no-glossary]Bits[/no-glossary] podcast, where we talk not just about how enthusiastic he is for open … Continue reading "CityLink Telecommunications in Albuquerque Prefers Open Access – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 208" ★ Support this podcast ★

On the heels of releasing our video on Ammon, Idaho, we wanted to go a little more in-depth with Bruce Patterson. Bruce is Ammon's Technology Director and has joined us on the show before (episodes 173 and 86). We recommend watching the video before listening to this show. We get an update from Bruce on … Continue reading "Ammon's Network of the Future – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 207" ★ Support this podcast ★

Last week, while at my favorite regional broadband conference – Mountain Connect, I was asked to moderate a panel on municipal fiber projects in Colorado. You can watch it via the periscope video stream that was recorded. It was an excellent panel and led to this week's podcast, a discussion with Glenwood Springs Information Systems … Continue reading "Glenwood Springs Shares Lessons Learned – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 206" ★ Support this podcast ★

Last month we wrote wrote about the Whip City Fiber Pilot project in Westfield, Massachusetts expanding and this week we interview two people from Westfield Gas & Electric about the effort. Aaron Bean is the Operations Manager and Sean Fitzgerald is the Key Accounts and Customer Service Manager. We discuss their pilot project, how they … Continue reading "Whip City Fiber Expanding – Community Broadband Bits Podcast Episode 205" ★ Support this podcast ★

For more than 100 years, Nevada's Churchill County has been operating its own telecommunications system, Churchill Communications. In recent years, they upgraded the vast majority of the county from copper to fiber offering a gigabit connection to the Internet. Churchill Communications General Manager Mark Feest joins us this week for Community Broadband [no-glossary]Bits[/no-glossary] Episode 204. … Continue reading "Over 100 Years of Muni Telecom in Churchill County – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 204" ★ Support this podcast ★

In Tennessee, this month marks 10 years of Morristown Utility Systems delivering fiber-optic triple-play service to the community, including great Internet access. But those living just outside the city and in nearby cities have poor access at best. MUS General Manager and CEO Jody Wigington returns to our show this week and we also welcome … Continue reading "Tennessee Potential Partnership Between Morristown Muni and AEC Co-op – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 203" ★ Support this podcast ★

The American Cable Association (ACA) represents over 800 small and medium-sized cable companies around the United States, including many municipal cable and fiber-optic networks. This week, we talk with ACA President and CEO Matt Polka about what they do and how small cable companies are vastly different from the big companies like Comcast and Charter. … Continue reading "Meeting the American Cable Association – Community Broadband Bits Podcast Episode 202" ★ Support this podcast ★

On the outskirts of Akron, just south of Cleveland, the community of Fairlawn is building a citywide wireless and fiber optic network using an interesting model. Most of the citywide municipal Internet networks in the U.S. have been built by communities with a municipal electric power company. Fairlawn has no such utility, not even a … Continue reading "Fairlawn Focuses on Citywide Gig Infrastructure – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 201" ★ Support this podcast ★

This week, we discuss a report with zero credibility from the State Government Leadership Foundation, which was written by a well-known telco economist from the Phoenix Center. Entitled, “The Impact of Government-Owned Broadband Networks on Private Investment and Consumer Welfare,” the report [pdf] makes so many factual errors that one wonders just how much these … Continue reading "Crazy Talk from Another Telco-Funded Think Tank – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 200" ★ Support this podcast ★

When Valparaiso, Indiana looked into solutions for a business that needed better Internet connectivity than incumbent providers were willing to reasonably provide, it quickly found that many businesses were lacking the access they needed. The market was broken; this wasn't an isolated incident. Correction: Lisa misspeaks in the intro, saying Valparaiso is northeast of Chicago. … Continue reading "Valparaiso Embraces Dark Fiber – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 199" ★ Support this podcast ★

When we launched this podcast in 2012, we kicked it off with an interview from Minnesota's farm country, Sibley County. We were excited at their passion for making sure every farm was connected with high quality Internet access. After the project took a turn and became a brand new cooperative, we interviewed them again in … Continue reading "A New Cooperative Model for Fiber to the Farm – Community Broadband Bits Podcast Episode 198" ★ Support this podcast ★

San Francisco is one of the rare cities that has multiple high quality ISPs competing for market share, though the vast majority of people still seem to be stuck choosing only between Comcast and AT&T. This week, we talk to a rising ISP, Webpass, about their success and challenges in expanding their model. Charles Barr … Continue reading "Webpass and Its Fixed Wireless Seek Fix for Landlord Abuses – Community Broadband Bits Episode 197" ★ Support this podcast ★

If you are paying close attention to discussions about broadband policy, you may have come across Fred Pilot's reminders that competition is not a cure-all for our Internet access woes across the United States. The blogger and author joins us for episode 196 of Community Broadband [no-glossary]Bits[/no-glossary]. Fred Pilot's new book, Service Unavailable: America's Telecommunications … Continue reading "Service Unavailable: The Failure of Competition – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 196" ★ Support this podcast ★

In a partnership with the Department of Defense, the city of Montgomery has created Alabama's first Internet Exchange. This week, project manager for Montgomery Cyber Connection, Ben Venable, joins us to discuss this project and the gains the community is already seeing from it. The effort is a true partnership between General Steven Kwast at … Continue reading "Montgomery Sees Job Gains in Alabama After Establishing Internet Exchange – Community Broadband Bits Episode 195" ★ Support this podcast ★

In Minneapolis, a small and privately owned ISP has been steadily building fiber across the city and developing a stunning reputation for great customer service, low and predictable pricing, and generally being a great company to do business with. Co-founder Travis Carter of US Internet joins us for episode 194 of the Community Broadband [no-glossary]Bits[/no-glossary] … Continue reading "ISP US Internet Gets More Respect Than Rodney Dangerfield – Community Broadband Bits 194" ★ Support this podcast ★

When we asked Ted Smith, Chief Innovation Officer of Louisville, Kentucky, to join us for episode 193 of the Community Broadband [no-glossary]Bits[/no-glossary] Bits podcast, we expected to talk about the one touch make ready policy they had enacted (and AT&T has since sued to stop). We did, but we ended with a focus on how … Continue reading "One Touch Make Ready and Wireless Innovation in Louisville – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 193" ★ Support this podcast ★

This week we welcome Gigi Sohn, Counselor to Chairman Wheeler of the Federal Communications Commission, to Community Broadband [no-glossary]Bits[/no-glossary] for episode 192. Before joining the FCC, Gigi was a founder of Public Knowledge. Gigi discusses the pro-competition agenda that Chairman Wheeler has advanced, including the efforts to ensure communities can decide locally whether to build … Continue reading "The FCC's Pro-Competition Agenda – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 192" ★ Support this podcast ★

Last week, we were excited at the announcement from Huntsville Utilities in Alabama. Huntsville is building a municipal dark fiber network to every premise in its territory that will be open to multiple service providers. Google has already committed to using it to bring real connectivity to the community. In this week's episode, 191, we … Continue reading "Exploring the Huntsville Fiber Model – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 191" ★ Support this podcast ★