Community Broadband Media Roundup- November 20

Colorado

Comcast, CenturyLink smacked down in Colo.: Voters approve city-owned broadband network by Bob Fernandez, The Philly Inquirer

Disdain for Comcast, CenturyLink drove Fort Collins broadband support by Kevin Duggan, The Coloradoan

The vote-no campaign, which spent a record $451,000, didn’t succeed for the same reason the push for municipal broadband in Fort Collins began five years ago: disdain for current internet service providers.

Companies such as Comcast and CenturyLink have terrible reputations for delivering the internet speeds and reliability customers pay for each month. And there is little love for their service when it comes to dealing with customer complaints and problems.

Despite 'Misinformation' Campaign by Telecom Industry, Municipal Broadband Wins in Colorado by Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams

Led by Comcast, "cable providers campaigned heavily against the Fort Collins move," the Denver Post reports, "spending more than $256,000 in television and radio ads." The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), however, says that by the time of the election, "that figure had jumped to more than $450,000." In an effort to promote the ballot measure, local residents formed the Fort Collins Citizens Broadband Committee, which raised less than $10,000, but was ultimately victorious.

 

Michigan

Local communities deserve to make their own choices by Christopher Mitchell, The Times Herald

Whether on broadband internet, wages, jobs, or the environment, local communities deserve to make their own choices, free from state interference. Ultimately, this is about determining what is more important: the rights of local voters, or the rights of corporate interests.

We clearly see where this representative’s allegiances lie.



New Mexico

Luján Introduces Legislation To Improve Deployment Of High Speed Internet In New Mexico And Rural Areas, Los Alamos Daily Post

 

New York

Stefanik reintroduces broadband legislation By Pete Demola, The Sun Community News

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-Willsboro) is reintroducing a pair of bills designed to boost broadband for farmers and rural residents.

The Broadband Connections for Rural Opportunities Program Act, known as B-CROP, would award grant funding to rural high-need broadband projects in combination with current loan funding available through USDA’s Rural Utilities Service.

State-funded broadband efforts make progress by Pete Demola, The Sun Community News

 

West Virginia

Fayette County leaders are hopeful for broadband in near future by Matt Combs,  Register-Herald

 

General

FCC proposal would hurt broadband in rural and low-income communities, activists warn by Jason Shueh, StateScoop

This Week in Comcast: Why the impending fight over AT&T merger matters by Michelle Caffrey, Philadelphia Business Journal

Back to the municipal broadband fight discussed last week — the cable industry’s opposition to local governments deploying their own publicly owned high-speed internet was dealt a blow in Fort Collins, Colo. Last week, 57 percent of Fort Collins residents voted to allow the town to opt out of a state law prohibiting municipal broadband systems, Ars Technica reports. If municipal broadband comes to fruition there, then Comcast could lose between $5.4 million and $22.8 million, The Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative estimated. In Seattle, however, the mayoral candidate who opposed municipal broadband won with 61 percent of the vote.