Community Broadband Media Roundup - August 28

California

Don't leave rural California behind by Bob Williams, California Forward

Coop works to bring fiber optic Internet to Mountain Center, Garner Valley, and Pinyon by IdyllWild Town Crier

Colorado

With study, Erie approaches pursuit of cheaper, faster broadband by Anthony Hahn, Boulder Daily Camera

City Internet survey will tell much to policy-makers by Roger Ison, Loveland Reporter Herald

Georgia

Broadband in rural Georgia poised to become a 2018 election issue by Jim Galloway, Atlanta Journal Constitution

And the resentment is not unlike the kind stirred ‘way back when a Ma Bell monopoly said you could have any color telephone you wanted, as long as it was black.

Collins’ bill, one of several in Congress aimed at rural Americans, would defer capital gains taxes on Internet investments in state-designated “gigabyte opportunity zones,” to encourage more companies to crack the rural Internet nut.

But the Gainesville congressman would also like to see an end to the “monopoly” established by the Connect America Fund, a program operated under the auspices of the Federal Communications Commission.

Michigan

Holland going into the broadband business by Evan Carter, Michigan Capitol Confidential

Minnesota

Franken, open Internet advocates push back as FCC moves to dismantle 'net neutrality' by Maya Rao, Minneapolis Star Tribune

There’s a fear that large providers like Comcast will effectively “toll booth” certain content that they don’t support in order to steer customers to content providers with which Comcast has struck a deal, said Christopher Mitchell, the institute’s director of community broadband networks.

“I think it’s pretty important that these companies, which already have tremendous power, not have more power over our ability to access the content that we want,” said Mitchell. But he’s concerned that the FCC doesn’t care what the public thinks.

“I’m worried that whatever 20 million comments say, the head of the FCC hasn’t changed his talking points at all,” said Mitchell.

North Carolina

In many rural communities, Internet desert persists by Paul T. O'Connor, Durham Herald Sun

As many rural communities stagnate economically and many rural Americans say they don’t want to live where the jobs are, in urban areas, the Internet offers a solution. People can work remotely, either as employees or entrepreneurs.

But the hang-up in North Carolina’s rural areas and small towns is often the lack of first-rate, state-of-the-art Internet service.

Susan Crawford, a noted writer on connectivity issues, wrote of the promise that Google Fiber offered several years ago with its experiment in bringing ultra-high speed service to customers. On online site Backchannel, she wrote in March that Google Fiber not only promised to build a modern network, it also prompted other providers to improve.

Ohio

Broadband redlining complaint filed against AT&T at FCC by John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable

Virginia

Broadband plan has potential by GoDanRiver Editorial Board

West Virginia

Editorial: Lack of broadband remains barrier to economy by The Huntington Herald-Dispatch Editorial Board

West Virginia's broadband abyss spurs solutions across ideological divide by Mariam Baksh, Morning Consult

Christopher Mitchell, who directs the broadband program at the Institute for Local Self Reliance, disagrees. He pointed to what he says is a lack of interest on the part of for-profit companies in sparsely populated areas that don’t promise a return on their investment.

“Tax credits won’t make a dent in anything but state and federal budgets” he said in an email Wednesday. “Building infrastructure in rural areas usually requires a non-profit business plan. That is why government builds roads, co-ops offer electricity, etc. Tax credits don’t help the entities most likely to build good networks in rural areas.”

General

The dream divide: Fighting the classism of the digital age by Representative Doug Collins, Morning Consult

Trade group asks FCC to open up cable and Internet competition for apartment buildings by Harper Neidig, The Hill

Image of the cow in the pasture courtesy of DominikSchraudolf via pixaby.