Boulder’s City Council is considering November ballot question to restore local authority for municipal telecommunications services. The measure, if passed, will create an exemption to the 2005 Colorado law allowing Boulder to better use its existing fiber optic infrastructure. Apparently, the Boulder community has a self-reliant streak. This is not the first time the Institute for … Read More
If you can make it to Vail in early June, you can enjoy more than the summer mountains. The Mountain Connect Rural Broadband Conference is scheduled for June 8, 9, and 10 at the Vail Cascade Resort and Spa. From the conference website: This year our conference theme is “Progress through Education” and it’s our hope … Read More
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
This article originally ran on MuniNetworks.org, our site dedicated to broadband and community networks. This the second in a series of posts exploring lessons learned from the Seattle Gigabit Squared project, which now appears unlikely to be built. The first post is available here and focuses on the benefits massive cable companies already have as well as … Read More
ILSR, the Consumer’s Union, and Common Cause recently filed comments with the FCC as it examines E-rate. The agency’s Wireline Competition Bureau is currently reviewing the E-rate program for Schools and Libraries. The program provides funding from the Universal Services Fund to help schools and libraries pay for Internet access and other telecommunications services. The proceeding to … Read More
Last week, we were excited by the results of Longmont’s referendum, but we sure weren’t alone. The Washington Post’s Brian Fung wrote, “Big Cable may have felled Seattle’s mayor, but it couldn’t stop this Colo. project.” Our regular readers know that Comcast succeeded in defeating the Longmont measure in 2009 but the electoral would not be swayed … Read More
Starting with the good news, voters in Colorado overwhelmingly supported municipal network intiatives. Longmont voted 2:1 in favor of bonding to fast track network expansion. We have covered this issue in great depth recently. Read all of our coverage of Longmont here. The local paper covered the referendum results in this story: 2B’s passage means approval … Read More
November 5th probably seems like deja vu for the people of Longmont, Colorado. For the third time, the voters will respond to a ballot question that will impact their community’s connectivity. Past referendums addressed whether or not the community could use its fiber ring for connecting businesses and residents. They now have that authority. This year … Read More
On November 5th, citizens of Longmont will vote on a referendum determining whether to expedite building a Fiber to the Home (FTTH) network by issuing revenue bonds, a process that would speed up the build by several decades. The network is being built by Longmont Power and Communications, a city-owned utility north of Denver, Colorado. The … Read More
