Community Broadband Media Roundup- October 23

California

San Francisco moving closer to building a city-owned Internet network By Dominic Fracassa, SF Gate

Colorado

Avon mayor: Vote ‘yes’ on 2B to allow town authority to provide broadband services by Mayor Jennie Fancher, Vail Daily

Loveland City Council Ward I candidate Lenard Larkin, Reporter-Herald

I support municipal broadband. It is the most cost efficient, customer-responsive form of broadband. Customer service can be in Loveland. Any private interference will mean overseas customer support. From Sandy, Oregon, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, this is shown to be the best format for our future.

About $20,000 invested in Fort Collins broadband ballot issue by Kevin Duggan, The Coloradoan

Fort Collins looks to Longmont for broadband lessons by Kevin Duggan, The Coloradoan

Louisville Question 2G: High-speed internet authorization, Daily Camera

Florida

Commissioner Justin Troller makes pitch for Lakeland broadband service by Christopher Guinn, News Chief

Michigan

Bill would bar Michigan communities from using public money for internet infrastructure by Virginia Gordon, Michigan Public Radio

Critics of the bill say it would harm Michigan communities with inadequate internet access and hurt their economic development.

According to Christopher Mitchell, Director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative with the Institute of Local Self Reliance, the bill would leave the businesses in underserved communities less competitive, hurt their children's education, and result in declining property values.

Michigan Mulls New Restrictions On Muni-Broadband by Wendy Davis, Media Post 

Republican fight against municipal broadband heats up in Michigan by Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica 

Michigan Introduces New, Awful Bill to Ban Community Broadband by Karl Bode, DSL Reports

The bill proclaims that local communities cannot use federal, state, or even their own voter-approved funds to invest in even the slowest Internet infrastructure.

And while it doesn't ban public/private partnerships outright, it does its best to discourage them, notes the folks at Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which has been fighting such ISP-written protectionist drivel for years.

"(An) exception allows local communities to engage in public-private partnerships, but the bill’s ambiguous language is likely to discourage local communities from pursuing such partnerships," the group notes. "Rather than put themselves at risk of running afoul of the law, prudent community leaders would probably choose to avoid pursuing any publicly owned infrastructure initiatives."

North Carolina

Lacking Broadband Service to Blame for NC County’s Business Woes by Wicki Hyatt, Gov Tech (Originally published in The Waynesville Mountaineer) 

The solution to better broadband service across Haywood is probably a combination of different things, including wireless, aerial and underground service, Clasby said, but whatever the combination, it will cost a lot of money…. “The last mile is what we’re trying to get,” Clasby said. “It is essential — kind of like electricity was in the 1930s to let people have access.”

Virginia

59th District candidates propose ways to increase rural broadband access by Margaret Carmel, The News and Advance

Roanoke County lights broadband extension, inching municipal network closer to original vision by Jacob Demmitt, The Roanoke Times

Washington

Seattle Reconsiders Municipal Broadband, and Comcast is Nervous by Karl Bode, DSL Reports

Seattle may take another stab at municipal broadband by Colin Wood, StateScoop

Washington City Seeks Input on Potential Muni Broadband Service by Skagit Valley Herald, GovTech (Originally published in Skagit Valley Herald) 

Cary Moon will pursue city-owned internet if elected Seattle mayor because ‘it is an equity issue’ by Monica Nichelsburg, GeekWire

“Municipal broadband is one of those issues where we know the right thing to do and we keep not doing it because of power and money,” Moon said. “The way you combat that is with an irrefutable vision and a broad coalition that’s building that vision together. Because, until we all band together and hold the city leadership accountable, it will be very hard to pull it off from the mayor’s office.”

Comcast and CenturyLink Spent $50K in Seattle to Support a Mayoral Candidate Who Opposes Community-Owned Internet by Kaleigh Rogers, Motherboard

West Virginia

6 West Virginia Counties Seek Federal Cash to Weigh Broadband Buildout by Kathy Plum, Government Technology

General

Turning Broadband Access Into a Social Movement by Michelle Chen, The Nation

Drawing from local activists and institutions, neighborhood enterprise and public infrastructure, micro-broadband networks are springing up in enclaves that commercial Internet service giants traditionally ignore as “unprofitable.” The Roosevelt Institute’s analysis of New York City as a laboratory for municipal broadband shows that, with political will and public investment, even a tech-poor community can reorient its communications ecosystem. Even when Congress malignly neglects infrastructure, the thirst for technological access can be an avenue toward self-reliant community development and grassroots democracy.

Democrats promote internet access, but affordability is the big issue by Rakeen Mabud, The Hill

Now Is The Time To Fight For Fast Internet By Craig Settles, The Daily Yonder