12 Jun 2018

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

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

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
7 Jun 2018

Minnesota Regulators Schedule Hearings on Frontier Communications’ Anti-Competition Actions

by | Date: 7 Jun 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

National ISPs with millions of customers are some of the most hated companies in the U.S. Poor customer service, contract tricks, and a refusal to upgrade services are only a few of the common complaints from subscribers who are often trapped due to lack of competition. Frontier Communications is proudly carrying on that tradition of deficiency in Minnesota. In fact, the company’s excellence at skullduggery has drawn the attention of the state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which launched an investigation into the service quality of Frontier this spring.… Read More
24 Apr 2018

Community Broadband Bits Podcast: State Legislatures are Taking Action on Broadband

by | Date: 24 Apr 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks, Podcast | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

 This is episode 303(!) of our Community Broadband Bits podcast! Community Broadband Bits is a short weekly podcast featuring interviews with people building community networks or otherwise involved with Internet policy. We’re a little off kilter these days when it comes to state legislation. Typically, we spend our efforts helping local communities stave off bills to steal, … Read More
19 Apr 2018

Big Utilities See Pushback to Their Dominant Role in State Houses (Episode 44)

by | Date: 19 Apr 2018 | posted in: Building Local Power, Podcast | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Experts Stacy Mitchell, Christopher Mitchell, and John Farrell discuss the impact that concentrated economic power has in state legislatures in topics as wide-ranging as high-speed broadband access, electric utilities, and Facebook’s recent Congressional foibles.… Read More
13 Apr 2018

Ohio House Bill Would Address Rural Broadband Access, Encourage Local Investment

by | Date: 13 Apr 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Lawmakers in Ohio are slowly advancing a proposal to help fund rural broadband deployment. The House Bill has similarities to Minnesota’s Border-to-Border Broadband Program, and, as it is proposed, it will infuse $100 million in to broadband deployment ecosystem over the next two years. It’s a welcome lift for rural areas struggling to fend off economic dilemmas.… Read More
10 Apr 2018

More Colorado Communities Vote in Favor of Local Broadband Authority as Legislators Dedicate Rural Broadband Funding

by | Date: 10 Apr 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In Colorado last week, communities held spring elections if they needed to choose elected officials or ask voters to make decisions on local matters. In six rural communities, voters decided to join the almost 120 municipalities and counties around the state that have already voted to opt out of Colorado’s restrictive state law SB 152. Meanwhile, the General Assembly tried to help bring broadband to the state’s most rural areas.… Read More
5 Apr 2018

Washington State Legislation Paves Way for Fiber Network Deployment

by | Date: 5 Apr 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In March, Washington state legislators passed HB 2664 and sent it on to Governor Jay Inslee, who signed the bill on March 22nd. In the Port of Ridgefield, where the community has been developing plans for a dark fiber network, the community had advocated for the change. Now that the law will be changing for the better, they’re ready to pursue the partnerships they need to spur economic development and improve connectivity for residents and businesses.… Read More
3 Apr 2018

North Carolina Cities Group Releases Report Advocating for Community-Based Internet Access

by | Date: 3 Apr 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The North Carolina League of Municipalities (NCLM) released a report in March with several recommendations designed to help the state boost connectivity for residents, businesses, and organizations. The report dedicates time describing different public-private partnership models and the elements that make them distinct. In recent years, the term has been used to describe a broad spectrum of arrangements. We’ve highlighted partnerships in places like Westminster, Maryland, and Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, where both partners invest and share in risk and reward.… Read More
26 Mar 2018

Michigan Law Seeks to Bolster Recycling by Making the Landfill More Expensive

by | Date: 26 Mar 2018 | posted in: waste - recycling based economic development, Waste to Wealth | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The Mining Journal reports that Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has proposed an increase in landfill tipping fees as a way to spur more recycling in the state. Michigan has one of the lowest recycling rates in the US at 14%. The bill is now pending in the state legislature’s House Environmental Committee.… Read More

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