National Conference for Media Reform, April 6, 2013
Communities around the country are facing the same problem: The broadband service available to their residents is too slow and too expensive, and incumbent telecom companies have no incentive to improve speeds or reduce prices.
Some communities, like the Colorado city of Longmont, have taken matters into their own hands and built their own fiber-optic networks. Now their residents have access to more powerful broadband service, and the new networks have lowered the cost of a connection.
Meanwhile, corporate-driven laws in 19 states restrict the ability for communities to follow this path, leaving residents with fewer broadband choices, slower speeds and higher prices.
This panel will explore how communities in the U.S. and abroad have brought better broadband to their residents, what effects these improvement have had on local economies and how the lessons residents have learned can be applied elsewhere.
Presenters:
Mitsuko R. Herrera – Vince Jordan – Rick Karr – Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) – Ana M. Montes
Listen to the presentations here.
