We have followed Seattle’s on-again, off-again consideration of a community broadband network for years and have occasionally noted the successful cable network in nearby Tacoma. Seattle Met’s Matthew Halverson has penned a short, impressive article explaining the trials and tribulations of Tacoma while also exploring why Seattle’s Mayor has abandoned his goal of a broadband public … Read More
Monticello faced a number of key decision moments throughout the history of its FiberNet. Given the recent changes in management and decision not to make up the different between debt service and revenues, some may be wondering if proceeding with FiberNet was the smart decision. It was 2008 and the economy hadn’t entered its death spiral. … Read More
Arlington County, Virginia is taking advantage of a series of planned projects to create their own fiber optic network, ConnectArlington. The County is moving into phase II of its three part plan to improve connectivity with a publicly owned fiber network. Some creative thinking and inter-agency collaboration seem to be the keys to success in Arlington. … Read More
Tahlequah, Oklahoma, far on the eastern side of the state, recently decided to investigate the possibility of building a new network. On June 15th, the Tahlequah Public Works Authority Board approved the financing of a feasibility study on the options. According to Rob W. Anderson’s Tahlequah Daily Press article: “We budgeted $40,000 for this, and I … Read More
In our second podcast, we have interviewed Monica Webb with the Wired West Initiative in rural western Massachusetts. Like our first podcast, this should be an excellent resource for those who are still in the early stages of community broadband and seeking ideas or inspiration. We continue to be interested in your feedback and suggestions for … Read More
Seattle Met Magazine, June 26, 2012 For years Seattle has welched on its promise to build a municipal broadband network. We may have Tacoma to blame—and thank—for that. For Seattleites desperately in need of a break on their Internet bill, it had to be a drag to discover in early May that their last best hope … Read More
Far too many people seem to think that when they go to Speedtest.net to test their connection, they get a number that has any bearing on reality. For most of us, it simply doesn’t. This is true of other large tools for measuring connections. And it has important policy implications because the FCC contracted with a … Read More
Michael Zwerling, of Santa Cruz’s KSCO 1080 AM, was looking for an expert on broadband so he contacted our own Christopher Mitchell. The June 2 conversation involved questions from Michael, his co-host, and listeners and covered municipal and community broadband, accessibility, WiFi networks, and more. The interview runs about 1 hour. Interview-KSCO.mp3
Sean McLaughlin from the New America Foundation and Access Humbolt alerted us to HB 1161, an AT&T and ALEC driven bill to scale back state regulation of Internet services. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-SD20, San Fernando Valley) is a co-author of the bill, introduced in February and moving steadily forward. Sean tells us: On Monday, the bill … Read More
