Community Broadband Media Roundup - May 28

Colorado

Greeley City Council talks broadband in work session by Sara Knuth, Greeley Tribune

Consumer satisfaction with cable, Internet Service Providers drops again by David B. Cline, The Coloradoan

Cortez reveals results of fiber project feasibility study by Stephanie Alderton, The Cortez Journal

 

Connecticut

Telecom industry books major win in municipal-broadband fight by Matt Pilon, Hartford Business

PURA's decision limits communities' use of pole space to local governmental activities like building networks for schools and other public buildings.

The ruling takes away what was once seen as the most economical and realistic avenue to forming municipal broadband networks in Connecticut, imperiling the hopes of communities desiring more affordable, gigabit-speed internet to spur economic growth, attract younger workers and close the "digital divide" for lower-income residents.

 

Minnesota

The speed of your internet service is -- cringe -- up to Congress by Hannah Jones, Minneapolis City Pages

A chance to succeed by Laurel Beager, International Falls Journal

Kudos to members of Koochiching Technology Initiative, or KTI, a local group seeking letters of support from businesses and individuals explaining how internet, or an improved internet, has a made a difference or could make a difference in their lives and their businesses.

The letters will used to apply to the Blandin Foundation to become one of four Blandin Broadband Communities, or BBC.

The two-year program assists selected communities in using a tried and true process to define their technology goals, measure current levels of broadband access and use, and seek technical assistance and resources to meet their goals, which includes use of the internet beyond simple access.

 

Missouri

Survey becomes rural Missouri's plea for help by Ray Scherer, News Press Now

Lawmakers create grant program to spread broadband in Missouri by Annika Merrilees, Columbia Missourian

 

Nebraska

Lincoln Steps Into the Future by Masha Zagar, Broadband Communities Magazine

The broadband project in Lincoln, Nebraska, started the way so many broadband projects start: with complaints by the business community. Companies were leaving the city or declining to move there, citing a lack of broadband choices. The local chamber of commerce, responding to the alarms its members raised, implored the mayor, Chris Beutler, to take action.

A Nebraska statute prevented the city of Lincoln from building and operating its own network, so the mayor’s options were limited. (Though the prohibition isn’t absolute for all Nebraska cities, there are no municipal networks anywhere in Nebraska.) However, he continued to meet with the chamber of commerce and brainstorm about possible solutions.

 

North Carolina

The feds scrapped their rules for an open internet. Now the fight moves to the state level. by Lynn Bonner, Charlotte News & Observer

The state should make sure that broadband internet companies don't interfere with residents' access to websites, a North Carolina state senator said Monday.

Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, a Wake County Democrat, said he will file a bill to prohibit broadband internet service providers from inhibiting open access by blocking some sites, charging extra for 'fast lanes', or intentionally slowing or speeding service.

Open access to the internet is especially important in rural areas, he said, where 88 percent of residents do not have a choice of internet service providers.

Editorial: Widespread broadband access needs to be more than campaign photo-op by Capitol Broadcast Company, WRAL

Key topics include health, broadband, small business in rural NC by Carolina Public Press

  

Oregon

Broadband in Eugene, Oregon by POTs and PANs Blog, CCG Consulting

Cuts threaten subsidies for rural health broadband by Markian Hawryluk, Bend Bulletin

 

Tennessee

EPB expects to top 100,000 telecom customers this fall by Dave Flessner, Chattanooga Times Free Press

Less than a decade after launching its telecommunications business, EPB expects to reach 100,000 customers of its fiber optic services by this fall — nearly triple what EPB initially forecast for the service when it was launched in 2009.

The city-owned electric utility, which added telephone, internet and video services using the same fiber optic network needed for its smart electric grid, has now captured nearly two-thirds of all of its customers with at least one of its telecommunications services. EPB Fiber Optics has signed up more than than 97,500 customers with its ultra-fast fiber optic telecom service in what it proclaims as "Gig City."

 

Virginia

Verizon Flirts With DSL Usage Caps in Virginia by Karl Bode, DSL Reports

Loudoun County Survey Seeks Feedback on Broadband Service by Loudon Now

 

Washington

Firm that sparked outcry in 2015 when it tried to lease Tacoma's Click network is trying again by Candice Ruud, Takoma News Tribune

Town, county express broadband interest by Rick Nelson, The Wahkiakum Eagle

Local officials are coming together to study the feasibility of offering high speed, broadband internet service in Wahkiakum County.

Gene Healy, a member of the board of commissioners of Wahkiakum PUD, presented the issue to his fellow commissioners at their meeting last week, asking, "Do we need a broadband action team?"

This week, he raised the topic at meetings of the Cathlamet Town Council and Wahkiakum County board of commissioners, and members of both boards said they would join the team.

 

West Virginia

Bringing attention to W.Va.'s rural Broadband problem by Jake Jarvis, West Virginia News

 

General

Special Coverage Series: Smart City Solutions by Efficient Gov News Staff

The Case for Fearing the AT&T–Time Warner Merger by April Glaser & Will Oremus, Slate

A former DOJ antitrust lawyer explains how a union between a telecommunications giant and a media giant could harm consumers.

Closing the ‘Digital Divide’ Means Sizing It up First by Dave Nyczepir, Route Fifty

Next Century Cities, a network committed to closing the digital divide, applauded the bill’s effort to ensure comparable broadband access nationally but took issue with its definition of “underserved” rural areas as those where average speed and signal strength lags behind that of the 20 biggest metros.

The FCC’s minimum broadband standards are 25 Megabits per second for download speeds and 3 Mbps for upload speeds.

“When it comes to minimum speed definitions for broadband, we believe that should be uniform across rural and urban areas,” Christopher Mitchell, NCC policy director, told Route Fifty. “We oppose any effort to water down the 25-3 standard.”

The Pros of Public Internet Networks (and Lessons Learned) by MuniNetworks.org, EfficientGov Blog

People don't care about "Net Neutrality": they care about "internet freedom" which is the same as "freedom" by Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing