In the most recent report from the Blandin Foundation, Researcher Bill Coleman from Community Technology Advisors and his crew put boots to the ground to examine the results of Connect America Fund (CAF II) investments. Bill recently visited our office in Minneapolis to discuss the report with Christopher for episode 318 of the podcast.
You can download the report, Impact of CAF II-funded Networks: Lessons From Two Rural Minnesota Exchanges here.
Just outside of Detroit, Michigan, Grosse Pointe communities and institutions are considering whether to work with local Internet service provider Rocket Fiber to build an institutional network (I-Net).
Burlington Telecom (BT), the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) ISP in Burlington, Vermont, has been celebrating two pieces of recent good news. The ISP received praise from customers in a BT survey, and became the first fiber provider in its region to be “fiber certified.”
BT has had some bumps in the road as it transitions from a municipally run ISP to a private sector one. The change didn’t stop the telecom, however, from continuing to receive good feedback from the annual customer survey. Overall, 90 percent of BT customers said they were at least “satisfied” with their service, and 70 percent of those said they were “very satisfied.” BT also saw a 5 percentage point increase in customer satisfaction with the quality of customer service, to 77 percent.
They say the “finger of fate” is fickle, but this week it was our recording equipment that turned on us. Unfortunately, time constraints and prior commitments didn’t allow Christopher the opportunity to make a useable recording of his interview with Bill Coleman from Community Technology Advisors Bill was going to be our guest for episode 318. As a result, we’ve had to shuffle schedules and episode 318 will be available later this week. Thanks for your patience!
Bill has promised to join us for a future episode. He and Christopher plan to discuss the report he and his team published for the Blandin Foundation on CAF II and how the federal program is doing little to help rural communities in Minnesota.
Read more about the report here.
That's Not All
Local fall referendums are still a few months away, but at least four additional Colorado communities have decided to put local broadband authority on the ballot. In addition to Aurora, Cañon City, and Florence, Fremont County will ask voters to opt out of SB 152.
California
How Silicon Valley can use community input to bridge the big broadband gap by Mohammad Shakouri and Jon Walton, Silicon Valley Business Journal
Georgia
The promise and reality of Google Fiber by Jim Burress, Marketplace
Iowa
Williamsburg plans Aug. 14 community meeting by Brian Rathjen, Iowa City Press-Citizen
Kentucky
Spanish Fork, Utah, was recently highlighted in a promotional video touting the successes of its municipal Internet service. The video, produced by the trade group Internet Association, is all about economic development and growth -- something this community of nearly 40,000 has seen since the municipality introduced the service back in 2001, and then subsequently upgraded to fiber.
As the mayor of Spanish Fork notes in the video, before the municipality established its own network, incumbent providers wouldn’t invest in broadband infrastructure in the city. Inadequate Internet access would have pushed out businesses in the community. A number of small business owners are featured in the video, and all emphasize how integral high-speed Internet has been not just for orders, but social media promotions.
Lobbyists from the cable and telecom industry succeeded in using the legislature to firm up their rural Massachusetts monopolies this session. Communities that rely on state funds for local publicly owned broadband infrastructure projects now face restrictions on the reach of their high-speed networks.
A Long Trip Through the Legislature
Great Lakes Energy (GLE), Michigan’s largest electric cooperative and third largest energy utility, is constructing a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network to bring gigabit connectivity to its 125,000 members. Construction in the project’s pilot area is underway. Eligible members may be able to subscribe to services from the co-op’s subsidiary Truestream as soon as the end of the year.
If you’ve never visited the Great Lakes Region in the autumn, you’ve missed out. Now is your chance to redeem yourself and to increase your knowledge for your community. The fall colors and the nip in the air will enhance your visit to Fairlawn, Ohio, and the Great Lakes Connect Broadband Development Conference. The event is scheduled for September 24th - 26th at the Hilton Hotel; the theme is "Creating Intelligent Network Infrastructure to Compete in the Global Economy.”
You can register online and review the agenda as it develops.
A Wholistic Approach
If you haven’t already taken a look at our most recent report, now is your chance to get some insight before you download it and dive in. Profiles of Monopoly: Big Cable and Telecom, written by our Hannah Trostle, recently left ILSR to attend grad school, and Christopher Mitchell, transforms FCC Form 477 data into a series of maps that reveal a sad state of competition in the U.S. broadband market. For episode 317 of the podcast, Hannah and Christopher discuss the report and the main findings.
Interest in broadband as a utility continues to rise across the country and in places where elected officials need a show of support, grassroots groups are stepping up. Recently in Portland, Oregon, a group of locals launched Municipal Broadband PDX, an effort to grow an already increasing momentum in the Rose City.
California
Oxnard sees high-speed Internet expansion as an economic development tool by Wendy Leung, VC Star
Colorado
Aurora to ask voters about municipal broadband by Kara Mason, Colorado Politics
Georgia
Group to propose solution to rural broadband challenge by Tessa Green, Albany Herald
Louisiana
Dorchester County, Maryland, shored up better connectivity for local businesses this past June, utilizing a cooperative network to further fiber infrastructure and to light a business on an island chain in need of some fast Internet connectivity.
The county’s monicker, “Water Moves Us,” describes its region in southeast Chesapeake Bay, home to a number of aquaculture sites. One such business, the Hoopers Island Oyster Company servicing clientele as far away as Asia, felt itself slipping behind in international commerce without access to broadband Internet. But now that fiber optic broadband has come to Hoopers Island, which is actually a chain of three islands on the southwest coast of the county, the business has access to the latest Internet technology to mirror it’s innovative approach to oyster farming.
Sometimes best ideas are brewed up over a pint, and Michaelston-y-Fedw Internet proves that.
A citizen coalition in the 300-person town in Wales, fed up with its crawling 4 Mbps speeds, decided to stop waiting around for fiber to come to them and established their own Community Interest Company (CIC), a UK designation that describes an organization whose primary purpose is community benefit to place it themselves. Entrepreneurial community leaders of Michaelston-y-Fedw hatched the plan in a pub last year, and began it in earnest by establishing their not-for-profit in October 2017.
By the People, For the People