ftth Archives - Institute for Local Self-Reliance

28 Nov 2018

Georgia City Now Offers Even Faster Internet Access to Residents

by Lisa Gonzalez | Date: 28 Nov 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

In a recent episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast, host Christopher Mitchell spoke with Hank Blackwood from Dalton Utilities in Georgia about their publicly owned network, OptiLink. Hank described an upcoming milestone for the community of around 35,000 and a few surrounding rural areas with access to the network. Now it’s official — OptiLink is the first municipal network in the state that offers residential gigabit Internet access to subscribers.… Read More

21 Nov 2018

Massachusetts Town Moves Forward With Municipal Broadband Plans

by Katie Kienbaum | Date: 21 Nov 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

Ninety miles west of Boston, the small town of South Hadley, Massachusetts, will soon have a new, municipal option for Internet access. In October, the South Hadley Electric Light Department (SHELD) Board of Commissioners unanimously approved plans to build a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network throughout the town of 17,000.… Read More

14 Nov 2018

Colorado Town Leaders Decide to Move Forward on Publicly Owned Network Project

by Lisa Gonzalez | Date: 14 Nov 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

Until November 6th, community leaders in Loveland, Colorado, vacillated between whether or not to hold a referendum for final voter approval on a muni project. Asking voters to make the final call can remove political uncertainty, but there are times when elected officials have to make the call themselves. When the city opted out of Colorado’s restrictive SB 152 three years ago, 82 percent of voters supported the measure. On November 6th, Loveland City Council vacated a previous order to put the issue on the ballot and decided that it’s time to move ahead on establishing a broadband utility.… Read More

5 Nov 2018

Publicly Owned Network in Colorado Sees Major Success

by Lisa Gonzalez | Date: 5 Nov 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

We knew that Longmonters loved their publicly owned network, but recent numbers show how many of them have shunned incumbents to switch. More than half of the market in Longmont has now signed up with NextLight. While NextLight subscribers enjoy fast, affordable, reliable connectivity from their network, benefits from competition are also creating a better environment for Longmonters who have stayed with the incumbents.… Read More

26 Oct 2018

Chattanooga’s Broadband Network Surpasses 100,000 Subscribers

by Lisa Gonzalez | Date: 26 Oct 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

Earlier this month, Chattanooga’s celebrated as municipal network EPB Fiber Optics announced that they now have more than 100,000 subscribers. The high numbers indicate that the network is serving more than 60 percent of premises in the EPB service area. EPB’s success also attests to the popularity of publicly owned Internet infrastructure that is accountable and responsive to the community that both own and use the network.… Read More

17 Oct 2018

Court Confirms Texas City has Authority to Build, Finance Community-Owned Network

by Lisa Gonzalez | Date: 17 Oct 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

Located only 30 miles east of Houston, it’s hard to believe that Mont Belvieu, Texas, ever had poor Internet access. Faced with complaints from residents and businesses, city officials decided to deploy fiber and bring fast, affordable, reliable gigabit connectivity directly to the community via MB Link.… Read More

11 Oct 2018

Kansas Cooperative To Provide Internet Access to Rural Residents

by Lisa Gonzalez | Date: 11 Oct 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

City Officials in Fort Scott, Kansas, located about 95 miles south of Kansas City, say that they haven’t been able to entice national providers to bring high-quality Internet access to their town of about 8,000 people. That may be a good thing — Craw-Kan Telephone Cooperative is building out fiber in Fort Scott as early as 2019.… Read More

20 Sep 2018

Colorado City Celebrates Start of New High-Speed Internet Access

by Katie Kienbaum | Date: 20 Sep 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

The mayor doesn’t usually show up at your house when you switch to a new Internet service provider, but for Erin and Isaac Herman of Centennial, Colorado, that’s exactly what happened. In early September, they became the first official Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) subscribers in Centennial when Internet service provider (ISP) Tingconnected their home with fiber optic lines. An event held at their house brought together community members and local officials to celebrate the “lighting” of the fiber line, a culmination of years of hard work by the city to develop a publicly owned dark fiber network.… Read More

5 Sep 2018

Tennessee City Nearing Completion of Broadband Project

by Hannah Bonestroo | Date: 5 Sep 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

What started as a pilot project back in 2014 has consistently expanded to more addresses. Now the “Little Gig City” has put a date on when they expect to complete the final phase of their community-wide fiber network — early 2020. “Right now we feel like we’re kind of in the home stretch,” says Erwin Utilities fiber optic engineer John Williams.… Read More