Community Broadband Media Roundup - December 19

California

Broadband choice for the Bay Area by Emma Peck, San Francisco Examiner

Sonoma County increases rural area Internet access by Sonoma County Gazette

Georgia

Atlanta wraps up RFIs for fiber, wireless by Mari Silbey, LightReading

Massachusetts

Three rural communities get $1.9 million in state broadband money by Mary Serreze, MassLive

Three rural western Massachusetts communities without high-speed Internet could be on their way to joining the 21st century. The Massachusetts Broadband Institute last week approved $1.9 million in grants to support rural broadband deployment in Warwick, Alford, and Otis.

Minnesota

Grant to allow Lake County students Internet access on buses by Jamey Malcomb, Duluth News Tribune

New York

Two New York cities explore joint initiative with broadband possibilities by Maury Thompson, GovTech

Ohio

The hold in the digital economy by David Talbot, MIT Technology Review

Cutting red tape to help install fiber and then adopting flexible service models to facilitate competition could “help get away from today’s rigid models of information services,” says Christopher Mitchell, director of the community broadband networks initiative at the Institute of Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit that, among other things, studies broadband. That might finally help end the digital divide across the United States.

Tennessee

Chattanooga's EPB rated best Internet provider in America by Dave Flessner, Chattanooga Times Free Press

PC Mag ranks EPB as best Internet service provider for gaming by Chloe Morrison, Nooga.com

Virginia

County broadband upgrade process progressing by Gabe Cavallaro, Augusta News Leader

Washington 

Brinnon Internet plan underway by Viviann Kuehl, Port Townsend Leader

West Virginia

Sen. Capito: Broadband shold be key Trump infrastructure priority by John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable

General

Free Press study asserts systemic racism at center of digital divide by John Eggerton, MultiChannel

AT&T criticized for opting out of government program to give Internet subsidies to the poor by Melissa Repko, Dallas Morning News

AT&T, Time Warner defend merger to lawmakers by David Jones, E-Commerce Times

There is nothing about the merger that is in the public interest, argued Christopher Mitchell, director of community broadband networks at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, although he noted that he hasn't studied the issue closely since Wednesday's hearing.

"When I speak to small cable companies and ISPs, they are deeply opposed to more consolidation," he told the E-Commerce Times. "They fear their ability to compete effectively in a world of such giants with so much market power."

Net neutrality debate takes center stage ahead of Trump presidency by Aric Suber-Jenkins, Mic

Wheeler exit reaction continues to flow in by John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable

Picture of the cows at sunset courtesy of sneeze via pxaby.