Good news for folks in Jackson, Wilder, and Bingham Lake in Southwest Minnesota! Your local broadband options are about to get much better. Southwest Minnesota Broadband Services (SMBS) just announced that construction is advancing on the new network. The 125-mile fiber ring is expected to be completed by September, 2012. If you live in their service … Read More
For people in St Paul and the surrounding communities, I will be presenting at an event about the digital divide sponsored by the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability. The details are below, but the key detail is that you have to RSVP (no fee for admission). As the Internet and other information technologies have transformed our lives, … Read More
The fastest networks in the nation are built by local governments, a new report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Benton Foundation reveals Chattanooga, Tennessee, is well known for being the first community with citywide access to a “gig,” or the fastest residential connections to the Internet available nationally. Less known are Bristol, Virginia, and … Read More
LUS Fiber now offers its business subscribers the current ultimate in broadband speeds. An April 5th press release from LUS Fiber reports that business customers of the state’s only community-owned ftth network now have access to 1 gig symmetrical internet connections. The ability to offer such fast speeds in both directions is a big draw to … Read More
Siloam Springs, sporting 15,000 people in the northwestern corner of Arkansas, could be the next community to build its own community fiber network. But first they have to pass a referendum in May in the face of stiff opposition from Cox Cable, which would prefer not to face real competition. For over 100 years, the city … Read More
Here at MuniNetworks.org, we encourage the idea of local communication, via broadband or any other medium. Naturally, we are fans of low power radio, owned and operated by independent groups, rather than more stations owned by a few communications giants, seemingly located all over the radio dial. The Prometheus Radio Project has been working with communities … Read More
When a tornado rips your town apart and destroys your home, should you have to pay extra fees to your cable provider? Of course not. But we continue to see these news stories about massive cable companies ripping off people who are just trying to find the energy to get by day to day. Last year, … Read More
The Chattanooga Times Free Press, reports that the City’s last IntelliRuptor, or “smart switch,” will be installed on April 24th. No wonder EPB was named one of The Networked Grid – Top Ten Utility Smart Grid Deployments in North America by Greentech Media. EPB also received a special award for Best Distribution Automation, thanks to its … Read More
MPR News recently ran two stories on the trials and tribulations of new and prospective broadband networks. Conrad Wilson’s story about the continuing Monticello drama and Jennifer Vogel’s account of factors affecting the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) projects give us a good idea of the many hurdles in the way of building new fiber-optic … Read More
