Community Broadband Media Roundup - November 13

Colorado

Colorado Residents Vote Overwhelmingly In Favor Of Municipal Broadband by Karl Bode, TechDirt

Boulder, Colo., To Light Up Fiber Optic Network by Alex Burness, GovTech

Boulder, Colo., Explores Benefits of Municipal Broadband by Julian Kimble, State Tech Magazine

Maine

Portland to pursue building municipal high-speed broadband network by Whit Richardson, Portland Press Herald, Maine Public Radio & Washington Times

Washington

Seattle officials debate $5M proposal to test municipal broadband network by Jacob Demmitt, GeekWire

General

What Comcast Doesn't Want You to Know About Data Caps by Timothy Karr, The Huffington Post

In documents leaked onto reddit last week, Comcast instructs its customer service representatives how to spin the expansion of data caps. The reasons for the caps, the documents say, are "fairness and [the need to provide] a more flexible policy to our customers." But what could be more fair and flexible than giving customers the unlimited data plan that many originally paid for?

DOJ won’t help FCC fight state laws that harm municipal broadband by Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica

Four paths to abundant Internet bandwidth by Blair Levin, Brookings Blog

Silicon Valley Sides With FCC, Says Muni-Broadband Networks Can Close 'Digital Divide' by Wendy Davis, MediaPost

"The inadequate state of broadband competition has had a measurable impact on both an economic and societal level in the United States, and has created a gaping digital divide. Essentially, it has wrought a nation of two Internet access speeds: the fast lane -- where many Americans living in dense populations areas enjoy fast access to the Internet -- and the slow lane or even no lane -- where Americans lack similar abilities to access the undisputable benefits that broadband provides," the Internet Association says.

The group says the FCC's decision to lift restrictions on muni-broadband is "one component" of the effort to close that digital divide.

Markey Backs FCC Muni Broadband Preemption by John Eggerton