ftth Archives - Institute for Local Self-Reliance

12 Jun 2018

North Carolina Legislature Sides with Big Cable Providers, Foreshadowing Future Fights

by ILSR | Date: 12 Jun 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

Rural Pinetop residents are getting a glimpse of the treatment they are going to receive from Suddenlink, even before the ISP has started offering service in the small North Carolina community. According to locals, Suddenlink subcontractors are busting water mains, connecting fiber without homeowner permission, and spreading lies about the Town’s favored community-broadband provider, Wilson’s municipal network, Greenlight Community Broadband.… Read More

8 May 2018

In North-Central Ohio, Community Leaders Ask Voters to Approve Expansion of Municipal Fiber Network

by Lisa Gonzalez | Date: 8 May 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

Hudson is like many other small cities, in that large national providers don’t see a justification for investing in fiber in non-urban residential areas. With a population of around 24,000, the community needs to remain competitive. Hudson began with fiber optic infrastructure to municipal facilities, which they built out incrementally over a period of about ten years. By 2015, they had started offering gigabit service to businesses, which have embraced the faster, more reliable service. By the fall of 2016, they were ready to issue an RFP for a feasibility study to examine a citywide Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network.… Read More

27 Apr 2018

Rural Maine Towns Join Forces to Build Their Own Broadband Utility

by Lisa Gonzalez | Date: 27 Apr 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

There are about 3,000 residents in Calais (pronounced “Kal-iss”) and 1,500 in Baileyville, but according to Julie Jordan, Director of Downeast Economic Development Corporation (DEDC), many of those residents are aging and younger people find little reason to stay or relocate in Washington County. The community recognizes that they need to draw in new industries and jobs that will attract young families to keep the towns from fading off the map.… Read More

24 Apr 2018

Detailing the Urban-Rural Digital Divide in Georgia

by Hannah Trostle | Date: 24 Apr 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

At the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, we create maps analyzing publicly available data to show disparities in access and highlight possible solutions. We’ve recently taken an in-depth look at Georgia and want to share our findings with two revealing maps. According to the FCC’s 2018 Broadband Deployment Report, 29.1 percent of the state’s rural population lacks broadband access, but only 3 percent of the urban population shares the same problem. Cooperatives and small municipal networks are making a difference in several of these rural communities.… Read More

19 Apr 2018

Tiny Massachusetts Town Takes a Stand for Local Internet Access

by Lisa Gonzalez | Date: 19 Apr 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

With only around 500 residents in Alford, it’s no surprise that big incumbents decided the lack of population density didn’t justify investment in 21st century connectivity. By 2012 and 2013, the community had had enough; they decided to pursue their own solution with a municipal network. Alford voted to form a Municipal Light Plant (MLP), the entity that that manages publicly owned networks in Massachusetts.… Read More

17 Apr 2018

Colorado Community Moves Toward Fiber for its Future Despite Monopoly Interference

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

In the wake of an enormous and well-funded disinformation campaign by Comcast, Fort Collins’ grassroots broadband growth is taking steps to improve connectivity for its residents. The city is openly asking for input from its residents because they know that local authority is better than distant companies controlling their future.… Read More

29 Mar 2018

A Rural Colorado Community is Enacting a Pilot Program to Connect Residents

by Lisa Gonzalez | Date: 29 Mar 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

The city’s network has provided open access fiber connectivity to municipal and county facilities, schools, community anchor institutions (CAIs), and downtown businesses for years. They officially launched the network in 2011 after serving public facilities and a few businesses on an as-needed basis. A 2015 expansion brought the network allowed Cortez to offer fiber connectivity to more premises. There are at least seven private sector ISPs using the infrastructure to offer services to local businesses.… Read More

27 Mar 2018

Rural Virginians Find Internet Connectivity Thanks to Cooperatives

by Lisa Gonzalez | Date: 27 Mar 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

The state of Virginia has many rural pockets on both the Atlantic coast and the interior valley areas. These geographic challenges offer a roadblock to connectivity from incumbent Internet Service Providers, that’s why cooperatives are stepping up to offer connectivity to their member-owners.… Read More

22 Mar 2018

This Southern California Cooperative Builds Grassroots Power for Internet Access

by Hannah Trostle | Date: 22 Mar 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0

Rural Californians have similar problems as many in rural America, a lack of high-quality, affordable Internet access. The story of the Anza Electric Cooperative in rural southern California details how they are expanding and meeting the needs of its 4,000 rural members.… Read More