Community Broadband Media Roundup - August 8

California

Cruzio to launch high-speed Internet pilot project by Jessica A. York, Santa Cruz Sentinel

The move is designed to create a demonstration area ahead of completed public-private negotiations with the city of Santa Cruz to co-develop a new $30-$40 million broadband utility citywide. Cruzio expects to display both the construction methods and business model needed to wire up each participating home and extend its underground fiber optic cable network “backbone” by self-funding the first step.

Colorado

Boulder County, Colo., considers putting municipal high-speed broadband on November ballot by John Fryar, GovTech

Florida

AT&T fined $106K for overcharging schools in Florida under E-rate program by Sean Buckley, FierceTelecom

Massachusetts

Colrain forming new broadband committee by Diane Broncaccio, The Recorder

Minnesota

Border-to-Border Broadband working for Southeast Minnesota by Mary Phipps, The Kenyon Leader

Tired of waiting for corporate high-speed Internet, Minnesota farm town builds their own by Ben DeJarnette, Yes! Magazine

Once complete, the RS Fiber network is expected to match the 1 gigabit top speeds of cities like Cedar Falls, a milestone that would make southern Minnesota the envy of rural America. According to recent data, only 55 percent of rural residents have access to broadband internet faster than even 25 Mbps (compared to 94 percent of urbanites). Moreover, the investment already holds promise for boosting the local economy. In May 2015, the Minnesota College of Osteopathic Medicine announced plans to set up services in an old school building in Gaylord—a decision officials said was because of RS Fiber’s infrastructure investment.

Tennessee

Google Fiber stalls in Nashville in fight over utility poles by Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica

Study: Rural areas lack broadband by Kelly Lapczynski, Tullahoma News

Vermont

Washington groups attacks Burlington Telecom by Cory Dawson, Burlington Free Press

Washington

Municipal broadband advocates say Comcast lawsuit proves need for public internet service by Taylor Soper, GeekWire

Devin Glaser, policy and political director of a grassroots group campaigning for a city-owned broadband network called Upgrade Seattle, told GeekWire that “Comcast’s Service Protection Plan was nothing more than $5 a month of 21st Century snake oil, and the Attorney General’s lawsuit is the kind of work we’d like to see from all of our elected officials.”

How Comcast convinced customers to buy 'near-worthless' service plans by Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica

General

Cities, state battle over municipal broadband by Ellie Smith, Bloomberg Bureau of National Affairs

Structuring successful broadband P3s by Shant Boyajian & Fred Kessler - Nossaman LLP, Lexology & JD Supra

The limits of net neutrality by Susan Crawford, BackChannel

Net neutrality is about attempting to limit the power of internet access network operators (like Charter or Comcast) to choose winners and losers among the services that have to use their wires — because, remember, competition is so limited — to reach consumers. It’s a kind of synthetic attempt to keep the operators from favoring their own commercial interests when sending Internet traffic from other people to you (or vice versa).

But the problem is that where network operators don’t have to compete, and use their digital pipes for multiple purposes (like providing their own TV services that feel just like over-the-top video services), it’s so easy for them to act like media distribution companies, slicing and dicing and packaging, rather than transport providers. And ultimately, that kind of behavior is designed to serve their commercial interests. It’s only rational. But it’s harmful to new competitors and ultimately to consumers.

Building a competitive broadband marketplace for rural America by Christopher Mitchell, The Hill

It does not matter if you live in rural Maine or metropolitan Minnesota, high-speed Internet access is an increasing necessity, essential to modernize communities and power businesses. But there remains a large gap between those living in urban and rural America.

Democrats, Republicans and the Internet by Timothy Karr, Bill Moyers.com

Public-private partnerships in municipal broadband Internet by Drew Clark & Peter Merewitz, JD Supra Business Advisor