Community Broadband Media Roundup - January 23

California

SF's model for citywide gigabit-speed Internet service could come by June by Joshua Sabatini, San Francisco Examiner

Colorado

Colorado Governor joins the battle to bring better broadband to rural America by Laura Hamilton, CED Magazine

Illinois

Shelby County, Ill., looks to boost broadband speeds by Stan Polanski, Government Technology

Massachusetts

Who is killing the towns of Western Massachusetts? by Susan Crawford, BackChannel

Michigan

Rural Internet expansion group rallying support by Jennifer Eberbach, Livingston Daily

Montcalm County adopts plan for broadband Internet growth by Amy Biolchini, MLive

New York

"Dig Once" policy is common sense legislation by WNYMedia Network

Oregon

City seeks input on developing a publicly owned fiber optics network by Karrie Frillman, Wilsonville Patch

Virginia

Virginia "Broadband Deployment Act" would kill municipal broadband deployment by Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica

Roanoke, Virginia group fears lawmaker's proposal could hinder muni broadband by Sean Buckley, FierceTelecom

Municipal broadband band shows up in Virginia by Baily McCann, CivSource Online

Municipal networks, however, often crop up as an alternative to private service in towns where companies have no plans to build networks because they are too small or too rural to be profitable. As CivSource has previously reported, ban bills tend to come up in states with significant rural and small town populations like Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and now Missouri. 

Virginia bill would effectively ban city-run broadband by Jon Fingas, Engadget

Muni broadband bill introduced in Virginia by John Eggerton, MultiChannel News

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance says that, while the bill allows for buildouts, it is instead a way for "big cable companies to limit broadband competition in Virginia.

"These communities are already disadvantaged because they lack access to high-quality, affordable Internet service. This legislation is designed to further burden them," said Christopher Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in a statement. "This bills seeks to further solidify the monopoly Virginia's ISPs enjoy at the expense of Virginians."

Broadband legislation stirs opposition in Richmond by Joe Dashiell, WDBJ-7

Proposed legislation could halt local broadband efforts by Angela Hatcher, WSLS-10

Franklin County supervisors oppose Byron broadband bill by Casey Fabris, Roanoke Times

Byron broadband bill broadly criticized in Richmond by Carmen Forman, Roanoke Times

Virginia looks to block user access to better broadband by Karl Bode, DSL Reports

Del. Kathy Byron's broadband bill 'too restrictive,' state official says by Carmen Forman and Jacob Demmitt, The Roanoke Times

Byron appeared at a news conference for her bill Thursday flanked by representatives from Cox Communications, the Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association and the Virginia and Northern Virginia chambers of commerce.

Virginia being scammed with industry-ghostwritten broadband ban bill by Phillip Dampier, Stop the Cap

Virginia Beach, Norfolk concerned about broadband Internet bill in the General Assembly by Jordan Pascale and Stacy Parker, The Virginian-Pilot

General

Local activism is the best way to preserve net neutrality by Jason Koebler, Motherboard Vice

“Because we have net neutrality now, those seeds are out there,” Christopher Mitchell, director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative, told me. “Our biggest enemy is ignorance, so when things go badly and cable bills go up under Trump, and we have to pay more to access certain sites, people will say ‘Wait a minute, this is a violation of net neutrality.’ We’re in such a better position to fight now.”

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