Springfield, Missouri recently announced that they are expanding the community’s fiber optic network. CenturyLink will lease dark fiber on the Springfield infrastructure in order to offer services to residents and businesses. … Read More
It took an extra year for a community in Minnesota to finally see high-quality Internet service. Balaton spent an extra year in connectivity purgatory while Frontier delayed a much-needed project. To learn more, we connected with the Balaton and Marshall Economic Development Director Tara Onken and Woodstock Communications Vice President and General Manager Terry Nelson.… Read More
A bill making its way through the Colorado General Assembly is tackling one of the most effective tools that big incumbent ISPs use to secure their positions as monopoly Internet access providers – the right of first refusal. If HB 1099 passes, community leaders and advocates for a competitive broadband market will be able to put a chink in the monopoly armor. Other states may follow their lead.… Read More
Directly north of Springfield, Missouri, sits Hermitage, a rural community of less than 500 residents. With only a few more than 200 households in Hermitage, it isn’t surprising that none of the big incumbent providers want to install the infrastructure to offer businesses or residents high-quality connectivity. A recent Missourian article described what it’s like for businesses in a … Read More
Voters in 18 19 Colorado communities chose local telecommunications authority with an average rate of 83 percent. In Fort Collins, voters weren’t swayed by rivers of cash Comcast threw at them in the final month leading up to a ballot issue to pave the way for local fiber optic Internet infrastructure. By a comfortable margin, ballot measure 2B passed, allowing the city … Read More
Comcast is doing its best to buy elections in Seattle and Fort Collins and this new report from the Community Broadband Networks team found out why: the telecom giant stands to lose millions in customer’s service if their preferred option loses at the ballot.… Read More
Much like the the bone-chilling flicks celebrating eerie entertainment that dwells in the depths of our dark imaginations, monster cable and DSL Internet service providers strike terror in the hearts of subscribers…if they survive. Mesmerizing fees, hair-raising customer service, and shockingly slow connections can drive one to the brink of madness. In celebration of Halloween 2016, … Read More
After several years of considering options for a municipal network, the community of Grover Beach, California, is improving local connectivity options through a collaboration with private partner Digital West. According to the San Luis Obispo Tribune, the City struck a deal last fall with the local firm that will provide gigabit connectivity to local business customers. … Read More
Republican State Representative Rocky Miller began the new legislative session with a bill designed to yank authority from local communities that need better connectivity. Even though the state already preempts local authority to sell telecommunications services and requires a referendum for cable, there is a current exemption for “Internet-type services.” HB 437 [PDF] removes that exemption and would make it … Read More
