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ECFiber Connecting Rural Vermonters To The Speed They Need - Community Broadband Bits Podcast 251

We’ve been covering the East-Central Vermont Community Fiber-Optic Network (ECFiber) since 2009; it has come a long way from inception. ECFiber is a group of rural Vermont towns that are working together to deploy a regional network to offer high-quality Internet access to communities typically stuck with slow, unreliable connections such as DSL and dial-up. In this episode, Christopher talks with Carole Monroe, CEO of ValleyNet, and Irv Thomae, District Chairmen of ECFiber’s Governing Board. The not-for-profit ValleyNet operates the ECFiber network.

The organization has faced ups and downs and always seemed to overcome challenges. It began with funding from individual local investors who recognized the need to bring Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) to the region. Now, the organization is characterized as a “communications union district,” which creates greater funding flexibility and stability.

In this interview, Carole and Irv talk about the new designation and the plans for bringing the network to the communities that are clamoring for better Internet access. They also get into recent developments surrounding overbuilding by DSL provider FairPoint, a project funded by CAF II subsidies. We hear how ECFiber is bringing better connectivity to local schools and helping save public dollars at the same time and we find out more about the ways Vermonters in the eastern rural communities are using their publicly owned network.

This show is 29 minutes long and can be played on this page or via Apple Podcasts or the tool of your choice using this feed

Transcript below. 

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

Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index. See other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance here.

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

Press Release: Tennessee Sends Broadband Accessibility Act of 2017 to Gov. Haslam's Desk

Tennessee Legislature Passes Broadband Accessibility Act, Delivers Hollow "Victory"

While Governor Haslam's Signature Legislation Sounds Great, AT&T Will Be Laughing all the Way to the Bank

 

Contact:

Christopher Mitchell

christopher@ilsr.org

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - Late yesterday, the Tennessee Legislature officially sent Governor Bill Haslam's signature legislation, the Broadband Accessibility Act of 2017, to his desk. Unfortunately, this bill is more about making taxpayer dollars accessible to AT&T than ensuring rural regions get modern Internet access.

"What we have on one side is a taxpayer-funded subsidy program, and on the other we have a subscriber-based model," says Christopher Mitchell, director of the Community Broadband Networks initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. "The tragic thing is, AT&T is a taxpayer subsidized monopoly in rural Tennessee that only has to provide a service far slower than the definition of broadband. Locally-rooted networks like Chattanooga's EPB not only offer nation-leading services but have tremendous community support."

With this bill's passage, the Tennessee General Assembly will likely not pass any other broadband legislation during this session. The Broadband Accessibility Act won't improve Tennessee's rating as 29th in Internet connectivity, but it will do a great job of lining AT&T's pockets. As we've tracked throughout the session, there are a number of bills worth supporting that would actually increase connectivity and allow municipalities to take part in their own broadband future.

Infographic: The Market Has Spoken. The Market Is Broken.

“Monopoly” may be a fun family night activity, but if you live in a place where you have little or no choice for Internet access, it’s not fun and it’s not a game.

According to FCC data, most families don’t have a choice in Internet access providers, especially providers they like. Nevertheless, the biggest companies keep reporting increasing revenues every year. People aren’t happy with the service they’re receiving, but companies like AT&T and Comcast continue to thrive. What’s going on?

In a recent State Scoop piece, Christopher wrote: 

[T]he market is not providing a check to AT&T or Comcast power. They are effectively monopolies — and as we just saw — can translate their market power into political power to wipe out regulations they find annoying.

At the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, where we work to support local economies, this broken market is a major problem. Cable monopolies are bad for local businesses, which become less competitive from paying too much for unreliable Internet access. Communities cannot thrive without high quality Internet access today. 

We created this infographic to present the evidence showing that the market is broken. This resource also discusses why creating more competition in the current market is such a challenge. An effective way to overcome this broken market, however, is to consider what hundreds of local communities are already doing - investing in publicly owned Internet infrastructure. Our infographic offers a few examples of different models, each chosen to suit the communities they serve.

Get a larger version of the infographic here

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Get a larger version of the infographic here.

Kudos to intern Kate Svitavsky who created the infographic.

Stay up to date on community networks with our newsletter.

Video On Community Networks: One of Our Favs

 

Take a minute to learn just a few of the reasons why local communities invest in publicly owned networks. Our short 2012 video is a great way to share information about community networks - there can be other options beyond big cable and DSL providers.

 

 

ECFiber Picks Up Steam; FairPoint Deploys DSL (Not An April Fool's Joke)

We haven’t reported on East Central Fiber (ECFiber) in almost a year and, boy, are things hopping in Vermont. The community network has obtained funding to expand in east-central Vermont and have a plan to bring high-quality connectivity to more towns during the next two years. In the mean time, FairPoint Communications is using federal funding to overbuild inferior DSL in many of the areas already served by ECFiber. No, this is not an April Fool's Joke.

First, The Good News: ECFiber Is Growing

We recently touched base with Carole Monroe, Stan Williams, and Irv Thomae from ECFiber in Vermont to get caught up on what's happening with the publicly owned network comprised of 24 member towns. 

The last time we shared an update, they had just announced plans to expand the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network. The organization of 24 member towns received an infusion of $9 million in revenue bonds, which allowed ECFiber to pay down existing debt and add more fiber miles to the network.

Prior to obtaining the new funding source, ECFiber had always used the crowd funding approach, which limited growth to small and steady deployments. In 2015, the state legislature enacted a state law that created “communications union districts.” A Union District can consist of municipalities that join forces to invest in Internet infrastructure; the new model made it easier for ECFiber to obtain funding for larger deployments.

This February, ECFiber announced that the network would now bring service to parts of Royalton, Strafford, Pittsfield, and Randolph, with more growth on the way:

DIY Wireless in Brinnon, Washington

Seattle has received a lot of attention as it's struggled with the concept of a community network, but people in the small community of Brinnon are moving past the talking phase. A group of residents are tired of waiting for high quality Internet access and don't expect a national provider to bring it to them any time soon. People in Brinnon are considering a fixed wireless approach pioneered in the San Juan Islands, which is a few hours north.

Community members have formed a nonprofit, West Canal Community Broadband Project, to bring wireless Internet service to the town and neighboring communities. Two hundred people have already signed up on the nonprofit’s website.

The community is located about 25 miles due west (62 miles by car to get through the Sound) and home to about 800 people. People in Brinnon with the best connections have DSL, but many use satellite or mobile Internet access. Data caps associated with satellite and mobile plans drive up the costs and neither source is reliable. With such a small population, the locals don't expect any incumbent investment soon; they're exercising their self-reliant muscles and hashing out the details of better local connectivity on their own.

If all goes as planned, Brinnon could see better Internet access options by next summer.

Very Little Connectivity

The community center and the school have high-speed Internet service thanks to a federal grant project in Jefferson County, but residents and businesses struggle to connect. 

The goal of this wireless project is fast, reliable Internet service without data limits for both business and residents. The residential download speed will be 25 Megabits per second (Mbps), and business connections will have speeds of 50 Mbps. Customized plans with speeds of up to 250 Mbps will also be offered. No word yet on expected upload speeds. The cost for each tier of service has not yet been decided.

The DIY Wireless Project

Happy Holidays From Us To You!

 

Xmas and New Year's Eve are traditionally a time to get sentimental. We started getting sentimental about last year's poetic holiday masterpiece by Tom Ernste and Hannah Trostle and decided to share it again this year.

From all of us at the Community Broadband Networks Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, we wish you a happy holiday season and a 2017 filled with great moments!

 

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ICYMI Amazing Internet Service Second Only to Safe Streets

Thinking about moving? High-speed Internet service and safe streets probably top your list of desired new home features. High-speed Internet access was second only to “safe streets” in choosing where to live, according to a 2016 survey from Fiber to the Home Council (FTTH Council).

Nearly all the respondents (98 percent) valued “safe streets” as “very important”, while 91 percent of all the respondents considered high-speed Internet service as “very important” in choosing where to live. The survey also noted that respondents with Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) are far more satisfied than those with cable or DSL connections. 

Connectivity Has Value

This comes as no surprise considering the value added by great connectivity. From accessing bank accounts to communicating with teachers, families need reliable, high-speed Internet service for many common tasks these days. FTTH brings fiber directly to the home, ensuring that everyone there has a fast, reliable connection.

FTTH Council’s 2015 report highlighted how FTTH increases home values by more than $5,000, nearly the same amount as installing a new fireplace. Broadband Communities magazine found that FTTH also improves the value of apartment buildings.

An Ongoing Trend

Comparing the FTTH Council’s recent survey results with the American Planning Association’s 2014 report, it is obvious that high-speed Internet access continues to grow in importance.

Chattanooga Recognized as Best Gaming ISP for 2017

Sometimes speed is not the answer. Chattanooga boasts EPB Fiber, a municipal network that can handle speeds of up to 10 Gigabits (that’s 10,000 Megabits) per second. That, however, is not what won it recognition this week.

PC Mag named Chattanooga as the Best Gaming Internet Service Provider (ISP) of 2017 because of its quick, reliable performance. The network beat out both Verizon FiOs (#2) and Google Fiber (#3).

Latency and Jitter

To determine which ISP was best for gaming, PC Mag looked specifically at two technical measurements: latency and jitter. Latency is how long it takes for a packet to travel from the user to the server and back. Jitter measures how consistent the latency is in a connection. High latency makes games lag -- the last thing you want for an online multiplayer.

It’s unsurprising that the top ISPs on the list have Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) networks. Fiber has the best performance in latency and jitter compared to cable and DSL connections. Chattanooga’s network has the least latency and jitter. 

More MuniNetworks on the List?

Several cities have built FTTH networks. Why weren’t more municipal networks on the list? PC Mag Senior editor Eric Griffith explained in the article: 

For an ISP to be included, it had to have a minimum of 100 tests with that tool in that time frame.

So yes, it is possible your own personal super-amazing Gigabit-capable uber-ISP didn't make the cut here—it's because we don't have enough tests from them to include and maintain any statistical validity. That said, share in the comments if you've got an ISP with not just great speeds but what you have determined to be killer quality when it comes to online gaming.”

If you want your network to be included on the list next year, encourage people in your community to take PC Mag's Speed Test. Until then, Chattanooga is the reigning champion.

Connectivity In Kitsap: LUD In Lookout Lane

Residents in the Lookout Lane neighborhood of Kitsap County, Washington, tired of shoddy DSL do they joined forces to take advantage of publicly owned fiber. By the end of 2016, this group of organized neighbors anticipates connecting to the Kitsap Public Utility District (KPUD) open access fiber network.

How Did They Do It?

According to the October newsletter from the Northwest Open Access Network (NoaNet), neighbors in the Lookout Lane area had dealt with slow DSL for some time, paying $60 per month for speeds that rarely reached 1 Megabit per second (Mbps). Some of the residents have careers in the tech industry and required high-speed connections to work from home, but the national incumbent would not invest in upgrades. Lack of high-quality Internet access also caused several home sales to fall through.

Members in the neighborhood decided to petition the KPUD to form a Local Utility District (LUD), to fund their portion of the cost of a fiber expansion to their homes. KPUD would finance the cost of deployment to the edge of the neighborhood. Residents decided the investment was worth an assessment on their property rather than contending with the outdated technology offered by the incumbent.

The Lookout Lane LUD is the first in the state of Washington established for Internet infrastructure.

Forming A LUD In Washington

NoaNet describes the steps in forming a LUD on their newsletter:

How does a LUD work?