Community Broadband Media Roundup- December 11

On December 14th, The FCC will vote on whether or not to repeal Net Neutrality. In anticipation to the vote, we have included a roundup of the media coverage of the vote in our weekly Community Broadband Media Roundup:

Net Neutrality

Preparing for the End of Net Neutrality, City Tech Leaders Warn of Widening Digital Divide By Zack Quaintance, Government Technology News

City gov tech leaders said this week that a repeal is all but certain to make it more difficult for municipal governments to foster digital equity. As Internet access has become essential to modern life — for applying for jobs, helping kids with homework, finding health care, etc. — cities have increasingly dedicated resources toward ensuring that all residents have access to the Internet, as well as to the equipment they need to use it and the skills to efficiently navigate the space.

Comcast deleted net neutrality pledge the same day FCC announced repeal By Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica

Nationwide Protests on Net Neutrality Come to Arizona By Suzanne Potter, Public News Service - AZ

[Christopher] Mitchell notes that in many towns, big Internet service providers have a near monopoly.

"Most Americans only have one choice in high quality Internet access,” he points out. “Beyond that, they have to either take a lower quality service option or move."

In more than 30 states, local authorities have taken the matter into their own hands, organizing municipal telephone companies that compete with the big ISPs but are required to operate in the public interest and seek to offer reasonably priced high speed Internet.

Net Neutrality Battle Lines Drawn as FCC Vote Looms By David Jones, E-Commerce Times

FCC won’t delay vote, says net neutrality supporters are “desperate” By Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica

How The Fcc's Net Neutrality Plan Breaks With 50 Years Of History By Tim Wu, Wired

An About Face On Net Neutrality, Then, How President Trump Is Reshaping The Judiciary By Diane Rehm, The Diane Rehm Show

"The Net Neutrality rules were designed to ensure that the handful of giant [internet] carriers would be obligated to be fair... What is happening now is that the Trump Administration is lifting any obligation on those carries to be fair,” said Susan Crawford.

The F.C.C. Wants to Let Telecoms Cash In on the Internet By The Editorial Board, The New York Times

Net Neutrality Battle Lines Drawn as FCC Vote Looms By David Jones, Tech News World

For consumers and smaller competitors in rural America, the possible repeal of Net neutrality would create an even more complex set of issues, due to the high cost of investing in last mile infrastructure and therefore limited competition, noted Christopher Mitchell, director of community broadband networks at the Institute for Local Self Reliance.

"Repealing Net neutrality gives the biggest companies more incentive to create toll booths for Internet content and profit from that rather than building better networks in rural areas," he told the E-Commerce Times. "The change is a big deal, rewarding the biggest firms at the expense of smaller firms that have less market power."

Protests Across Ohio This Week for Net Neutrality by Suzanne Potter, WCSM Radio

Christopher Mitchell, director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, says providers might start partitioning off the Internet with packages that only give people access to specific sites.

"The fear is that without network neutrality, without that protection, the Internet service providers will have more power to charge you more to access certain sites or certain services," he points out. "Historically, the example is that you might get charged more to use Netflix. "

Ohio protests to support net neutrality By Chris Pugh, USA Today

Alaska

Let’s make broadband affordable in Fairbanks By David Guttenberg, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Whether solutions have come from electric co-ops, independent fiber cooperatives or by municipalities, communities across America finally are gaining access to high-speed internet. It is time to consider whether these solutions can be implemented in Alaska. It is time for Fairbanks to finally catch up and get the affordable, high-speed broadband it deserves.

Colorado

Colorado Localities Vote for Broadband, but Must Get Creative to Actually Deploy It By John Aguilar, The Denver Post, Re-published in Government Technology News

Colorado Municipal League deputy director Kevin Bommer said industry players haven’t been willing or able to extend their data pipes to all corners of the state, leaving many parts of Colorado — especially rural areas — with substandard connection speeds that make it hard to do business and enjoy high-bandwidth experiences such as Netflix viewing or online gaming.

“People, businesses, schools and rural hospitals are getting left behind,” he said. “When the private sector cannot or will not provide the service, the law allows for local governments to look to find a way to do it.”

With Voter Approval for Municipal Broadband, Colorado City Asks Citizens How to Proceed By Tyler Silvy, Greeley Tribune, Re-published in Government Technology News

Mississippi

Coalition seeks to improve ‘Broadband in Mississippi’ By Merle Flowers, Desoto Times - Tribune

Ohio

Ohio Legislators Propose $50M for Rural Entities to Build Out Broadband Internet By Jim Siegel, The Columbus Dispatch, Re-published in Government Technology News

West Virginia

27 WV counties involved in applications for broadband funding grants By Max Garland, Charleston Gazette- Mail

Nearly half of West Virginia counties seek broadband grants By The Associated Press, The Seattle Times

Half of West Virginia has Applied for Broadband Assistance by Kaleigh Rogers, Motherboard

General

Rural America Is Building High-Speed Internet the Same Way It Built Electricity in the 1930s By Kaleigh Rogers, Motherboard

Electric cooperatives were developed across the US in the 1930s as part of FDR’s New Deal. These not-for-profit organizations received federal subsidies to build out electricity infrastructure to power up rural America. Co-op members pay to join, and pay for their electric usage, but any extra money is reinvested into the co-op, or paid back to members.

Now, many of these co-ops are taking on the digital divide by offering high speed fiber optic internet to the home for their members. As of this year, 60 electric cooperative across the US have started broadband projects, according to a recent policy brief published by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit that advocates for local solutions for sustainable development.

A Case is Made: Leverage Electric Co-op Network to Expand Rural Broadband! By Steven Dubb, Nonprofit Quarterly

In a report released earlier this week by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Christopher Mitchell and Hannah Trostle suggest applying the same model to close the rural-urban broadband gap. One big advantage that we have over the 1930s is that no new organizations need be formed.

Telemedicine Could Trump Economic Development for Driving Community Broadband By Craig Settles, Government Technology News