Community Broadband Media Roundup - October 3

Georgia

Broadband survey looks to boost Internet service in rural Northeast Georgia by Joshua Silavent, Gainesville Times

In Dahlonega, for example, residents have only Windstream to choose from. The only thing preventing new providers from emerging in rural parts of the state is economics.

“I don’t believe a monopoly is the answer,” Gooch said.

Indiana

Lafayette upgrades public Wi-Fi access by Jeremy Ervin, Lafayette Journal & Courier

Kansas

Public-private partnership sought for high-speed Internet service in Topeka and Shawnee County by Tim Hrenchir, Topeka Capital-Journal

Massachusetts

Cambridge needs strong dig once/touch once policies by Saul Tannenbaum, Medium

Broadband committee urges town to vote for muncipal light plant by John Osborn, Harvard Press

Minnesota

Ely vying for broadband grant, would benefit area by Tom Coombe, Ely Echo

North Carolina

Appeals court decision kills North Carolina town's gigabit Internet, could your town be next? by Brandon Hill, Hot Hardware

Tennessee

AT&T sues Nashville in bid to stall Google Fiber by Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica

General

Bridging the digital (vet) divide by John Eggerton, MultiChannel News

ISP explains data caps to FCC: Using the Internet is like eating Oreos by Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica

Internet data doesn't disappear when it's used the way an Oreo disappears when you eat it. It's true that there is only so much bandwidth an ISP can provide at any given moment, but a monthly data cap doesn't solve that problem. The per-second bandwidth limitations are addressed by the different speed tiers imposed by ISPs: Customers already pay more to get a higher number of megabits per second.

Calix announces five municipal broadband fiber-optic network deployments by LightWave Online

In tough terrain, state and county officials get creative to extend networks by Heather B. Hayes, StateTech Magazine

“The key is to look for opportunities to piggyback onto what’s already been built,” says Mitchell. He notes that some rural areas actually have faster and more robust infrastructure than many cities, though its availability is usually uneven. “If you can interconnect with a power co-op or another organization, you no longer have to think about building a 100-mile network across your county; you just have to build a three-mile network to that existing infrastructure.”

Photo of the horse courtesy of Norja Vanderelst via pixaby.