Not even a pandemic can stop this week’s guest, US Internet CEO Travis Carter, from finding ways to bring better connectivity to his company’s subscribers and the community.
For the 400th episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast, Christopher interviewed Travis (from six feet away) at the US Internet office outside Minneapolis, Minnesota. The pair discuss how the ISP is responding to the crisis, including by limiting home installs and opening up access to its public Wi-Fi network. As people transition to remote work, online education, and digital entertainment, Travis explains how the network is experiencing increased interest from new customers and greater demand from current subscribers.
Christopher and Travis also talk about US Internet’s pilot project in low-income housing and how the ISP is trying to determine what barriers prevent households from signing up for the service. Travis describes some of the funding challenges he faces as he expands the network throughout the city and how US Internet differentiates itself in terms of reliability. Before closing the interview, he shares his disappointing experience with mobile connectivity during a big roadtrip he took last summer, arguing that wireless networks can never replace fiber.
Travis was previously a guest on Community Broadband Bits episdoes 359 – An Insider’s Perspective on Urban Fiber Deployment, 301 – Wireless and Wired; US Internet Knows Both, and 194 – ISP US Internet Gets More Respect Than Rodney Dangerfield.
This show is 34 minutes long and can be played on this page or via iTunes or the tool of your choice using this feed. You can listen to the interview on this page or visit the Community Broadband Bits page.
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Read the transcript for this episode.
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Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Image of Twin Cities via unsplash by Nicole Geri.
This article was originally published on ILSR’s MuniNetworks.org. Read the original here.
