In just the last year the Lafayette Utility System (LUS) gigabit network has attracted 1300 high-tech jobs. Chairman Wheeler praises the network for doing what many communities hope to do, but cannot because of state laws limiting municipal broadband networks. Critics are desperate to discredit the network, using false statements and misinformation. The Reason Foundation released a paper by Steven … Read More
Minneapolis, MN —In 2010 the Minnesota legislature set a goal: universal access to high speed broadband throughout the state by 2015. As 2015 approaches we know that large parts of Greater Minnesota will not achieve that goal, even as technological advances make the original benchmarks increasingly obsolete. But some Minnesota communities are significantly exceeding those goals. … Read More
Join Community Broadband Networks director Chris Mitchell for “Approaches for Local Governments to Expand Internet Access” on Thursday, June 12 from 3pm-4pm to learn from other communities about strategies to creating a successful community broadband network. Click to Register Christopher Mitchell is the Director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative with the Institute for Local … Read More
New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute will host “Localism Over Consolidation: An Exploration of Public Broadband Options” from 9:30-11:30 am on May 28th. Chris will be participating in the discussion; if you can’t make it to DC, the event will be live-streamed. The conversation will focus on different approaches to improve connectivity and community strategies to … Read More
On Monday, May 12, Westminster moved another step closer to deploying its open access citywide fiber network in Maryland. The Common Council approved a FY15 budget that includes $6.3 million for an FTTH network. The Carroll County Times reported that the $64.8 million budget was adopted 5-1. The opposing Council Member voted no on a different issue. Last summer, the community launched two … Read More
The FCC is hearing the massive public outcry over its plan that would allow the big cable and telephone companies to create fast and slow lanes on the wires most of us depend on to access the Internet. Chairman Wheeler has made some bold claims that he would not allow commercially unreasonable deals but many doubt … Read More
Recent reports out of the FCC say that it will allow ISPs to create and sell “fast lanes” of Internet access to the companies with sufficiently deep pockets to afford them. While some people argue over whether this violates network neutrality principles or not, the more important point is that most communities have no control over how the … Read More
“The vast majority of Europeans still only have DSL service available, which we in the United States consider really almost an obsolete technology now.” – Jeffrey Eisenbach, Director of the Center for Internet, Communications, and Technology Policy, American Enterprise Institute. For the second time this year, one of the major defenders of the cable and telephone … Read More
In a revealing video about the Internet access problem in rural Minnesota, Annandale City Administrator Kelly Hinnenkamp describes her town’s struggle with connectivity. The video is the latest in a series on the Minnesota Senate DFL YouTube page intended to shed light on the critical situation in the state. Hinnenkamp describes broadband in the areas outside … Read More
