Community Broadband Media Roundup - June 11

Arkansas

Digital divide about more than minimal connections by Michael Lazzara, Fayetteville Observer

 

Colorado

Loveland council to vote on awarding contract for municipal broadband network design to Nokia by Julia Rentsch, Loveland Reporter Herald

 

Georgia

Lawmakers look to ‘small cell’ tech for rural high-speed internet answers by Diane Wagner, Northwest Georgia News

 

Kentucky

Louisville's digital divide is about more than internet access — here's why by Bridgett Weaver, Louisville Business Journal [Subscription Required]

 

Minnesota

Measuring Broadband's (Public) Return on Investment by Tim Marema, The Daily Yonder

A new study commissioned by the Blandin Foundation may help small communities put some hard numbers behind broadband’s public benefit. 

“Return on Investment: Measuring Impact of Broadband in Five Rural Minnesota Communities” looks at communities that have spent public funds on building out networks. The words “high speed” are critical. These communities have run fiber to homes and businesses or have plans to do so in the near future.  

 

Missouri

Council to hear report recommending it form group to study broadband by Columbia Daily Tribune

City staff are recommending the Columbia City Council form a group to study broadband as a follow-up to an updated study of municipal and private broadband networks completed last summer.

The council will hear a report on the recommendations when it meets Monday. Magellan Advisors issued its first report on the subject in 2014 and the city asked for an updated version in late 2015. The revised report was presented to the council last July and detailed an expansion of private broadband services in the city, including ultra-fast gigabit networks.

Rural Missourians Say Government Needs Better Data to Assess Where Broadband is Most Needed by Eric Dundon, Hannibal Courier-Post [Government Technology]

 

 

North Carolina

Rural Broadband Highlighted in the State Budget by Taylor Knopf, North Carolina Health News

There’s bipartisan agreement that broadband is essential to boosting the rural economy which has taken a hit as younger people have moved away and the population has aged. It’s also seen as a way to close the “homework gap” for the kids who remain. Every school in North Carolina has broadband, but students don’t always have the connectivity at home to complete school assignments.

Conference highlights rural development’s ups and downs by Brie Handgraaf, Wilson Times

 

Oregon

Eugene’s ‘open-access’ fiber optic network proving its worth by Matt Sayre, Apalachicola & Carrabelle Times

 

Texas

City to move forward with innovation zones by Josh Baugh, San Antonio Express-News

Smart-city initiatives can focus on bridging the digital divide by ensuring all corners of the community have access to high-speed internet — a near-necessity for everything from applying for college scholarship and jobs to paying bills. They can focus on incorporating energy-efficient “smart” lighting, or flood detection, or pedestrian safety, among other things.

As the innovation zones ramp up, the city will hold a vendor summit where officials will lay out local challenges and invite companies to propose smart solutions. Eventually, the city will seek sealed proposals and then best-and-final offers from shortlisted groups over the course of the next several months.

 

General

The FCC's Broadband Availability Maps Are a Joke by Karl Bode, DSL Reports

ISPs Have Asked the Senate to Limit Funds for Rural Internet by Kaleigh Rogers, Motherboard Vice

States defy FCC repeal of net neutrality by Harper Neidig, The Hill