As bills in Virginia and Missouri state legislatures are up for review this year, take a few minutes to listen to Christopher Mitchell and Lisa Gonzalez discuss state preemption, past, present, and future in episode 10 of the Building Local Power podcast. 

John Farrell from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance talks to them about the power of lobbying at the state level and how large national providers aim to control the market by using state laws. We’ve seen it happen in about 20 states and now local authority advocates are fighting to prevent HB 2108 ("Byron’s Bad Broadband Bill") in Virginia and a repeat of last year’s battle in Missouri with SB 186. If those state restrictions are allowed to become law, better connectivity for rural communities will be even more difficult to achieve because municipal networks will be all but stamped out. 

“These big cable and telephone companies are against competition,” says Chris Mitchell. “For them, they’ve grown up in monopoly environments. They are opposed to private-sector competition and public-sector competition.”

During the interview, Christopher and Lisa share examples of cost savings, economic development, and improved quality of life in communities where the big providers could not justify investment. Learn more about the who, what, and why companies like AT&T, Comcast, and CenturyLink spend millions on lobbying efforts in state capitols.

Building Local Power Podcast

This is episode 10 of the Building Local Power podcast, a series that shares the work of staff at the Institute and focuses on local initiatives. With the current state of affairs so uncertain at the federal level, taking action in your own community is more important than ever. New episodes air every other week.

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From our research, we believe the municipal fiber-optic network in Wilson, North Carolina, has the best low-income Internet access program in the nation. Called Greenlight, the fiber network has led to job growth and been a financial success. And now it also offers $10 per month 50 Mbps symmetrical Internet access to those living in housing units owned by the public housing authority.

Greenlight General Manager Will Aycock is back again to tell us about this program and is joined by two additional guests: CEO and President Kelly Vick from the Wilson Housing Authority and Wilson Communications and Marketing Director Rebecca Agner. 

We discuss how the program was created, how it is funded, and how it is impacting the community in addition to public reaction to it. Wilson continues to set a higher bar for what a community can expect when it builds its own network and seeks creative ways to improve opportunity for its businesses and residents.

Read the transcript for this show here.

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

This show is 23 minutes long and can be played below on this page or via iTunes or via 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 Admiral Bob for the music. The song is Turbo Tornado (c) copyright 2016 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: Blue Wave Theory.

Due to illness during the past few weeks, Christopher has been out of commission, in a podcasting sense. He’s on the upswing now, but we’ve decided to give him the week off so he can come back strong for the first podcast of 2017.

In the mean time, we hope you will expand your ILSR podcast menu and listen in to Christopher’s other production, the Building Local Power podcast. We recorded episode #8 earlier in December and posted it last week so it’s still fresh. In the podcast, Christopher interviews Olivia LaVecchia of the Community-Scaled Economies initiative, Karlee Weinmann of the Energy Democracy initiative, and Nick Stumo-Langer, ILSR’s Communication Manager.

They review 2016 happenings and analyze them from a local policy perspective. In addition to the rise of corporate concentration, the four discuss electric utility monopolies, and citizen sponsored initiatives. It’s an interesting conversation that will introduce you to some of the other work we do here at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Check it out.

Keep in mind that we want to hear your ideas for the show - e-mail us or leave a comment below.

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

We will be back on January 10 with the Community Broadband Bits podcast. Have a great week!

Cape Cod is known for tourism, not for connectivity. The nonprofit OpenCape aims to change that. In In a recent Provincetown, Massachusetts morning radio show, Provincetown Town Manager David Panagore spoke with Dr. Michael Goodman of UMass Dartmouth and Steve Johnston of OpenCape to dig into the idea of better connectivity in the region and how OpenCape can make that happen.

Connectivity for the Local Economy

The first guest on "Town Talk" is Dr. Michael Goodman from UMass Dartmouth. He describes how broadband has become an essential utility for the local economy. Goodman's specific examples underscore the importance of Internet service for small businesses providing customer service. 

Lack of connectivity slows down everything, from sending files to running credit cards. High-speed Internet service from community networks has been a major boon to a number of towns. We’ve compiled many examples on our Economic Development page.

Open Cape’s Crowd Fiber Campaign

The Executive Director of OpenCape, Steve Johnston, joins the show to discuss the role of OpenCape in efforts to improve connectivity for homes and businesses. OpenCape is the nonprofit that built a regional network to many schools, libraries, and public institutions throughout Cape Cod. 

The nonprofit began a campaign this past summer to show how many residents need high-speed Internet access. To learn more about the OpenCape Crowd Fiber campaign, check out the Community Broadband Bits Podcast episode #215.

You can also listen the show at WOMR.org.