Local Media Sees Need for Municipal Network in Olympia, Washington

Date: 28 May 2014 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Local news editors seem inspired by the current network neutrality debate at the FCC. Newsrooms considering the prospect of paid prioritization are reassessing the value of municipal networks. Not long ago, the Olympian ran an editorial offering the basics of municipal networks. Editors mentioned NoaNet, the statewide fiber project that brings access to a series of community … Read More

Lessons Learned from Seattle and Gigabit Squared; The Challenge of Open Access

Date: 24 Jan 2014 | posted in: information, MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

This article by Christopher Mitchell originally ran on MuniNetworks.org, our site dedicated to broadband and community networks.  To finalize our series on reflections from Seattle and Gigabit Squared, I discuss open access networks and how the requirement that a network directly pay all its costs effectively dooms it in the U.S. Read part one here and … Read More

Jim Baller on the History of Municipal Networks, Part II on Community Broadband Bits Podcast

Date: 10 Sep 2013 | posted in: MuniNetworks, Podcast | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Jim Baller is back again for the second show in our series on the history of municipal broadband networks. He is the President of the Baller Herbst Law Group in Washington, DC, and a long time advocate for both community owned networks specifically and better access to the Internet for all more generally. We kicked this … Read More

Chelan Public Utility District To Restore Fiber After Storm Damage

Date: 5 Feb 2013 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In the week before Christmas, Mother Nature sent a powerful winter storm to Chelan County in Washington. Hundreds of trees along the south shore of Lake Wenatchee came down, causing extensive electrical and fiber outages. According to the Chelan PUD, most electrical customers have had power restored, but Internet, phone, and TV services dependent on the … Read More

Chelan Will Keep Its Network As Is

Date: 30 Apr 2012 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

As we reported in March, the Chelan County, Washington PUD was seeking input from the customer-owners of their open access fiber optic network to decide what the future would hold. The PUD had considered three options and presented them to the public:     •    sell the network    •    maintain ownership of the network, but improve operations … Read More

Radio Interview about Rural Broadband in Washington

Date: 19 Apr 2012 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Christopher Mitchell spoke with Gavin Dahl about community broadband on KYRS, a community radio station in Spokane, Washington, on April 11. The discussion touched on legislation in Washington that could have encouraged rural broadband deployment by area public utility districts and why the private sector is not getting the job done. We also discussed the role … Read More