When Westminster, a community of 18,000 in rural Maryland, found itself with poor Internet access that incumbents refused to improve, it decided to join the ranks of a growing trend: public-private-partnerships between local governments and private companies to invest in next-generation Internet access. They are now working with Ting – one of a growing number of private sector … Read More
It took a while, but the State of North Carolina finally decided to take its turn at the throat of the FCC. Attorneys filed a Petition for Review in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals similar to the one filed by the State of Tennessee in March. The Petition is available for download below. Our official … Read More
On May 5th, Christopher participated in a panel conversation presented by the City of New Haven and the Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel. Video of the event,Moving Towards A Gigabit State: Planning & Financing Municipal Ultra-High-Speed Internet Fiber Networks Through Public-Private Partnerships, is now available. You can watch it from the Connecticut Network website. The final … Read More
The world of media education, communication policy, and philanthropy is mourning the loss of Charles Benton who passed away on April 29. He lived a long life encouraging and empowering individuals and communities to use technology to improve their quality of life. But beyond that, specifically working to remove barriers that discourage historically marginalized communities from … Read More
The celebrated municipal network in Leverett, Massachusetts, is starting to serve select areas of the community. Customers’ properties on the north side of town are now receiving 1 gigabit Internet service from the town’s partner Crocker Communications. These early subscribers are considered “beta sites.” Telephone service will become available when the network has been fully tested. … Read More
Ideally, working from home allows one to choose the environment where he or she can be most productive. In the case of Seth that was Kitsap County in Washington State. Unfortunately, incompetence on the part of Comcast, CenturyLink, and official broadband maps led Seth down a road of frustration that will ultimately require him to sell … Read More
Carl Junction has been looking for a way to improve connectivity in its southwest corner of the state for several years. Plans for a fiber network did not come to pass, but the community has found a private partner to bring ubiquitous high-speed Wi-Fi to town. The City Council voted unanimously to approve a deal with … Read More
For the past several months, Maine communities have been a hotbed of broadband activity. Bar Harbor, located midway along the state’s Atlantic coast, is another community looking at fiber as a necessary investment. According to a February article in the Mount Desert Islander, the town of 5,200 has decided to move forward with a feasibility study. … Read More
If you were not able to attend Freedom to Connect in New York on March 2 – 3, you can now view archived video of presentations from Chris and others. Now that the FCC has made a determination that may change the landscape of Internet access, it is time to consider the future of municipal networks. … Read More
