Opinion and editorial articles.
The Seattle Times has published an opinion piece I wrote about the need to move from Internet access business models based on scarcity to those based on abundance. Many of us have grown accustomed to the speeds offered by modern cable networks. They aren’t particularly speedy, but we are used to them. When we find ourselves … Read More
Common Cause’s Todd O’Boyle and myself have just published an opinion piece in the North Carolina News & Observer to highlight the foolishness of the General Assembly revoking local authority to build broadband networks. Todd and I teamed up for a case study of North Carolina’s most impressive fiber network, Greenlight, owned by the city of … Read More
In August, we reported on the results of a report on UTOPIA by the Office of the State Auditor General of Utah. As you will recall, the results were less than favorable and presented more fodder for those opposed to municipal telecommunications infrastructure investment. The same old arguments often rest on the financial investment in municipal … Read More
Today, Slate published an opinion piece by me and Sascha Meinrath from the Open Technology Institute at New America Foundation talking about the important role of community broadband in solving the nation’s broadband problem. A snippet: In the meantime, local communities are taking matters into their own hands and have created remarkable citywide fiber-to-the-home broadband networks. … Read More
Once again, we are reprinting an opinion piece by Wally Bowen, founder of the nonprofit Mountain Area Information Network based in Asheville, North Carolina. The op-ed was originally published in the Asheville Citizen-Times. Once upon a time, Internet enthusiasts made the following comparison: the Internet is to 21st-century economies what navigable waterways and roads were to … Read More
In a recent editorial (May 24 issue), The New Republic argued that the Obama Administration was doing a decent job on Internet policy and obliquely referenced an article discussing carrier opposition to community broadband. The op-ed begins, Politicians aren’t always especially thoughtful about, or even familiar with, information technology. George W. Bush used the term “Internets” … Read More
Susan Crawford’s op-ed in Bloomberg makes a tremendous case for publicly owned broadband networks.
She notes the importance of broadband and the failure of big cable and DSL companies to meet…… Read More
In an Op-Ed for Bloomberg, Susan Crawford highlights the advantages of publicly owned broadband. She notes that ILSR is tracking advances as more communities decide to build their own networks to ensure they are not lost in the race for advancement… Read More
Who should decide the future of broadband access in towns across North Carolina? Citizens and businesses in towns across the state, or a handful of large cable and phone companies? The new General Assembly will almost certainly be asked to address that question.
With the fastest and most affordable networks in North Carolina being owned by the public, the answer is obvious.
