Regressive, telco industry-influenced state legislators are at it again, trying to kill communities’ right to determine their own broadband futures. Anti-community broadband bills are rearing their ugly heads in several states. Can SOPA-style protests help? Read More »
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Craig Settles
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If Green Bay, Wis. with a population of 105,000 can raise $70 million to re-hab its football field by selling $250 stock shares, There must be a community in America that can raise up to $3 million for a broadband network. Here’s how it might … Read More »
After distributing much of the $500 million broadband stimulus program to narrow the digital divide in 2011, these investments should start bearing fruit. But the success faces two challenges: insufficient broadband infrastructure in some low-income areas and broadband adoption efforts that miss the mark. Read More »
One of the benefits of D.C.’s 100 gigabit network is that it should open eyes to the importance of middle mile infrastructure, but it’s not clear how many last mile projects will spring up to connect to it. How DC-CAN resolves this could influence federal policy. Read More »
Two news headlines of note this week highlight the challenges of getting what you wish for, especially if what you wished for is a gigabit network. One shows a community that’s reached a broadband objective, the latter reflects another’s uncertainty about what its objectives are. Read More »
Last week I visited two Kansas Cities – in Kansas and Missouri – on a broadband site visit. When I went to Chattanooga, Tenn., I got an “after” picture of what communities can do with a gigabit. The Kansas City trip was about figuring out the … Read More »
Two days in Chattanooga, Tenn. show how a municipal broadband network can pay dividends when community leaders focus on the applications a gigabit network can deliver and consider the long-term economic development potential. And yes, it can even generate enough revenue to become profitable. Read More »
More Must Reads
Last September Chattanooga, Tenn.’s public utility (EPB) announced the first gigabit broadband service in the U.S. To fully grasp the economic power of true broadband, community leaders and broadband champions need look under the hood to get the inside scoop.Here’s what gigabit networks can do. Read More »
Want to improve the economy? Then demand better broadband. Policymakers at all levels of government need to watch municipal efforts such as those in Kansas City, Kan. with Google’s fiber network. That gigabit network could prove the link between broadband and economic development. Read More »
A handful of telco and cable companies and their allies are advancing what some consider the sugarcoated destruction of free-market dynamics and the democratic process by attacking North Carolina’s community broadband networks. This runs counter to the National Broadband Plan and democracy. Read More »
Kansas City may not be alone in getting gigabit broadband. In Google’s blog today, it said: “We’ll also be looking closely at ways to bring ultra high-speed Internet to other cities across the country.” Sounds like Google isn’t finished yet. And that’s a good thing. Read More »
The FCC is set to reform the Universal Service Fund, which provides subsidized access to voice services to low-income people. As the FCC looks to reform USF to provide broadband as opposed to voice telephone service, it should modernize its Lifeline and Link-up programs. Read More »
President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech is tonight, where the commander-in-chief is expected to espouse jobs programs and improving the economy in America’s communities. But no rallying cry is complete without acknowledging the pivotal role broadband can play reaching these goals. Read More »
When it comes to broadband, it’s the applications, not speed that matters, but by default, then we need to admit our national goal of 4 Mbps broadband probably isn’t fast enough to deliver the up and coming apps, and may doom the U.S. to inadequacy. Read More »
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