Jon Chambers, a partner at Conexon, returns to visit us this week to talk about rural connectivity and the approaching Connect America Fund (CAF) auction. Conexon works with electric cooperatives to establish high-quality Internet networks for members, typically in rural areas where national providers don’t offer the kinds of services communities need.

Having spent time at the FCC to examine several of their spending programs, Jon Chambers is our go-to guest to discuss next year’s Connect America Fund auction. In this interview, Jon and Chris talk about some of the problems that plague the program and how potential new bidding and award rules will set future deployment standards. Jon gets into where the rules fall short on expanding rural connectivity and offers suggestions for a more consumer driven approach.

For more details on Jon’s thoughts about how to improve the bidding process for the Connect America Fund, check out his article, The Risk of Fraudulent Bidding in the FCC Connect America Fund Auction, on the Conexon blog.

To comment on the FCC proceedings on Competitive Bidding Procedures and Certain Program Requirements for the Connect America Fund Phase II Auction, submit your thoughts at the FCC website under proceeding Docket 17-182 and Docket 10-90.  

For more information on rural electric cooperatives and their efforts to bring high-quality connectivity to their members, listen to Jon talk with Christopher for episode 229 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast.

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This show is 30 minutes...

When policy and decision makers discuss how to improve connectivity in the U.S., they often compare Internet access in other parts of the world to connectivity in America. We can learn from efforts in other places.

Benoit Felten, CEO of Diffraction Analysis, has analyzed business models, approaches, and infrastructure development all across the globe. His company has studied infrastructure and Internet access from short-term and long-term perspectives through the multi-faceted lens of international economies. Benoit joins us for episode 266, his second appearance on the Community Broadband Bits podcast.

In addition to development of infrastructure, Christopher and Benoit get into competition, quality of services, and how it varies from place to place. Benoit has recommendations based on his years of analysis from different communities and cultures around the world. Be sure to also check out episode 21, in which Benoit and Christopher discuss Stokab.

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This show is 40 minutes long and can be played on this page or via iTunes or the tool of your choice using this feed.

You can download this mp3 file directly from here. Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index.

Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

After we saw April Glaser's article on a local San Francisco ISP connecting low-income housing to high-quality Internet access, we knew we wanted to learn more. Preston Rhea is the Senior Field Engineer for Monkey Brains and someone we knew from his work with the Open Technology Institute at New America. He joins us with Mason Carroll, Lead Engineer for Monkey Brains, to explain what they are doing in Hunters Point and more broadly across San Francisco.

Monkey Brains delivers Internet access primarily via high-capacity fixed-wireless links to buildings with multiple tenants. Working with the San Francisco Housing Development Corporation, they are delivering gigabit access to low-income housing units at Hunters Point. 

Preston and Mason discuss the process, the challenges, the long-term plan, and more. In particular, they discuss why good wiring in each building is important for ensuring high-quality access to each household rather than just relying on common Wi-Fi access points around the buildings. 

Silicon Beat also covered this story.

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This show is 28 minutes long and can be played on this page or via iTunes or the tool of your choice using this feed.

You can download this mp3 file directly from here. Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index.

Thanks to Arne...

After a recent announcement from Microsoft committing to building rural networks using TV white spaces [NYT, Ars Technica stories], we asked Public Knowledge Senior Vice President and long-time TVWS enthusiast Harold Feld to explain the significance. 

We discuss what TVWS are and why this announcement is such a big deal given that we have previously covered multiple deployments of TVWS over the years. In short, Microsoft's commitment can drive TVWS from niche to mainstream. 

We also discuss why some TV Broadcasters are very opposed to this development and are trying to smear Microsoft. And finally, we explore what kind of bandwidth TVWS may be delivering soon and how the technology could mature. 

Don't miss Harold's wonderfully sci-fi-reference-packed blog posts at Tales From the Sausage Factory. 

Read the transcript of the show here.

We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.

This show is 18 minutes long and can be played on this page or via iTunes or the tool of your choice using this feed.

You can download this mp3 file directly from here. Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index.

Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.