There’s still time to register and make your plans to attend the Fiber for the New Economy: Economic Development Conference presented by Broadband Communities Magazine. A fall trip to Atlanta on November 7 - 9 will include workshops, a range of economic development discussions, and the opportunity to view a new film on the broadband struggle in Pinetops, North Carolina.

There will be panel discussions and/or workshops on:

• Financial modeling for community networks, CAF II, and other funding sources
• Smart City and IoT initiatives
• Rural communities, jobs, attracting entrepreneurs, and connectivity
• Fiber and gigabit connectivity and their impact on local jobs, education, and residential access
• State legislative efforts to improve connectivity and federal policies
• Electric Cooperatives and connectivity
• TV White Spaces, 5G, small cell deployment
• Cooperative efforts between economic development and broadband experts
• Latest research on broadband, economic development, and investment
• Marketing for broadband networks
• Partnerships between the private and public sectors
• Fiber connectivity and MDUs
• Approaches to addressing and reducing the digital divide

Pass The Popcorn

As an added bonus, attendees will be able to screen Do Not Pass Go: The Battle For Broadband, a short documentary film about Pinetops, North Carolina. The community was able to obtain gigabit fiber optic service from Greenlight, the municipal network from nearby Wilson. Shortly after, an appellate court determined that Wilson was acting outside of state law, forcing the two communities to find another way for Pinetops to keep high-quality Internet access. Their situation is still uncertain.

Christopher will be participating on the "Broadband Champions Speak Out" panel at 10 a.m. on Nov. 8th and will also lead the panel on "Spawning an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem" at 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 9th.

CLIC Day

The Fiber for the New Economy: Economic Development Conference event from Broadband Communities Magazine may seem like a long way off, but November 7th is just around the corner.

CLIC Day

The Renaissance Concourse Atlanta Airport will host the event and Christopher will be speaking or leading panels on each day of the conference. There is also a special program on Tuesday, November 7th, from the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC). The CLIC Day program will focus on legislative issues and how local communities can begin change at home.

Check out the agenda for CLIC day here.

Multi-Topic, Multi-Day

In addition to issues of local authority, the 3-day conference will address a range of issues such as rural broadband solutions, gigabit connectivity in education and economic development, and serving MDUs. There will also be panelists from electric cooperatives, mobile broadband providers, and consultants sharing information and strategies. Legal issues, digital equity, and financing are just a few more topics on the agenda.

Chairman Jim Baller described the group of speakers:

We are assembling an outstanding multi-disciplinary roster of national, regional and local experts, practitioners and community leaders who have highly relevant, first-hand experience. Emphasizing, but not limiting themselves to the Southeast Region, our speakers will provide a wealth of economic research; case histories highlighting what is working well and what is not; and how-to materials and other practical information that attendees can take home and put to immediate use in their communities.

You can see the full list of speakers here.

Register for the conference and reserve your hotel room online. Worth it! 

The 2017 Broadband Communities Summit, Fiber: Get In The Game Of Gigs, is approaching fast. From May 1 - 4, the Downtown Sheraton in Dallas, Texas, will be packed with policy wonks, advocates, experts, and vendors all mulling over the importance of high-quality connectivity. You can still register online.

Once again, the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC) will hold a special preconference session on Monday afternoon. Christopher will participate in the CLIC session as a panelist on the section titled, “The 2017 State Legislative Session: Challenges and Opportunities for Local Internet Choice.” It’s scheduled to start at 2 p.m. and the panel will discuss various state legislative measures this session and state barriers in general.

Christopher will also be on Tuesday’s Blue Ribbon panel as part of the Economic Development Program at 3 p.m. Lev Gonick, CEO from OneCommunity will moderate the discussion and the other speakers will be Nicol Turner-Lee, a Fellow in Governance Studies at the Center for Technology Innovation from the Brookings Institutions and Hilda Legg, Vice Chairman of Broadband Communities. Here’s a description of the topic from the agenda:

We now have a new administration, a new congress, and a new FCC.  They are all focusing on new investment strategies, accelerating high-capacity wireless deployment, and addressing the digital divide.  What does all this mean for local communities?  Can public-private partnerships provide fertile common ground?

Check out the full agenda for the main event and for the CLIC preconference session. 

Earlybird full pass registration expires on April 19, so register now for the best price.

As SB 186 sits patiently in committee, advocates of better broadband from the private and public sectors are banding together to share their thoughts on the bill. They believe that the bill will stifle attempts to improve connectivity throughout the state. In a recent letter to the Chair and members of the the Missouri Senate Local Government and Elections Committee, they laid out the other reasons why SB 186 should not advance.

"Harmful...Stifling...Hampering"

The Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC) organized the letter and signed on with 14 other companies and associations. It wouldn’t be the first time - Missouri is an all too common battle ground in the fight to protect remaining potential for municipal networks and public private partnerships.

They describe the bill as:

“…[H]arming both the public and private sectors, stifling economic growth, preventing the creation or retention of jobs around the State, particularly in rural areas, hampering work-force development, and diminishing the quality of life in Missouri.”

This is the third time in as many years that Missouri State Legislators have tried to push through legislation that would benefit large cable and DSL incumbents. The goal of the bill this year as before is to lock out any possibility of competition now or in the future. Last year, HB 2078 saw some drama when its author tried to slip in the foul language within the text of a public safety bill that had nothing to do with telecommunications. Luckily, sharp advocates were paying attention and had already educated Members who were on the conference committee. Those in favor of local authority stripped out the language and when anti-muni Members tried to amend it into a third bill, the author moved to have it removed under threat of filibuster.

Don't Make A Rough Situation Worse

Missouri already imposes restrictions on municipal networks. In the letter, the signatories refer to local authority as a key in solving Missouri's poor connectivity problems:

A few of us from the Community Broadband Networks Initiative recently attended the BBC Community Toolkit Program & Economic Development conference in downtown Minneapolis. On the first day, Gigi Sohn, Special Counselor for External Affairs for Chairman Wheeler at the FCC received the award from the Coalition for Local Internet Choice for the Local Internet Choice National Champion. The Obama administration’s FCC, under the guidance of Chairman Wheeler and the sage advice of Gigi, has become enlightened to the positive potential of community networks. 

Pressing On

To their credit, the agency has dealt with a number of issues, including network neutrality and a number of other consumer centric matters. We have reported on some of them, but the most central to our work has been the issue of state laws that restrict the deployment and expansion of municipal Internet networks. Gigi, as one of Chairman Wheeler’s top advisors on this matter, played a pivotal role in helping the agency pursue municipal networks as a critical aid to local control, competition, and the ultimate national goal of ubiquitous Internet access.

Gigi reflected on the court battle that reversed the FCC ruling from 2015 preempting state barriers that prevent North Carolina and Tennessee municipal utility Internet networks from serving nearby communities. She noted that advocates shared truths about community networks with data about economic development, competition, and quality of life. The benefits of local authority became clear but, unfortunately, the courts showed us that this is not a battle to be fought on the federal level. The court may have agreed with the fact that municipal networks are beneficial, but they did not believe the FCC had the authority to preempt state laws, even if they are counter-productive.

In other words, in order to obtain local Internet choice, the fight has to also be local:

As you say good-bye to September, consider making your way to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to attend the 2016 Broadband Communities Mag Annual Conference at the downtown Radisson Blu. The event is scheduled for October 18 - 20 and you can still register online.

The Economic Development Conference Series brings Fiber For The New Economy to the "City of Lakes" as part of its Community Toolkit Program. The conference is full of information you can use if your community is looking for ways to improve local connectivity through fiber. There will be presentations on economic development, financing, and smart policies that help lay the groundwork for future fiber investment. There are also some special sessions that deal specifically with rural issues and a number of other specialized presentations and panel discussions.

Christopher will be presenting twice on Wednesday, October 19th at 10:00 a.m. and again at 11:15 a.m. with several other community broadband leaders on the Blue Ribbon panel. They will address questions and discuss important updates, review helpful resources, and describe where we need to go next.

Next Century Cities will present a special Mayor’s Panel on October 20th and the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC) will arrive on October 18th for a special day-long program.

Check out the full agenda online.

Key facts on the Broadband Communities’ Conference

What: “Fiber for The New Economy”

Where: Radisson Blu Downtown Hotel, 35 S. Seventh St., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402.

When: Oct. 18-20, 2016

Photo of Lake Harriet and the Minneapolis skyline courtesy of Baseball Bugs

In order to allow local governments to help communities get the connectivity they need to compete, Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (Dem.-CA) introduced the Community Broadband Act of 2016 on September 13. The bill is designed to preserve local authority for municipalities, tribal, and local governments that wish to serve community anchor institutions, businesses, and residents with advanced telecommunications capability.

From Rep. Eshoo’s official statement:

“I’m disappointed that a recent court ruling blocked the FCC’s efforts to allow local communities to decide for themselves how best to ensure that their residents have broadband access. This legislation clears the way for local communities to make their own decisions instead of powerful special interests in state capitals.”

“Rather than restricting local communities in need of broadband, we should be empowering them to make the decisions they determine are in the best interests of their constituents. Too many Americans still lack access to quality, affordable broadband and community broadband projects are an important way to bring this critical service to more citizens.”

Rep. Eshoo introduced “dig once” legislation last fall and has long advocated for federal legislation to support Internet network deployment and increase universal access. This legislation would pair with Senator Cory Booker's 2015 Community Broadband Act.

When Christopher spoke with Sam Gustin for Motherboard about the bill, he said:

[He’s]“excited to see Rep. Eshoo's bill that would restore local authority to communities. Local governments need to be empowered to decide how to improve internet access rather than leaving their businesses and residents at the mercy of a few big monopolies.”

The Coalition for Local Internet Choice also responded positively:

CLIC applauds Congresswoman Eshoo for her efforts to protect local Internet choice and the options of all local communities to deploy critical broadband infrastructure.

Every day, community leaders are working to overcome barriers to developing Internet networks. On Monday, April 4, 2016, Chris took part in the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC) pre-conference panel on Public Perspectives to Partnerships at the Broadband Communities Summit in Austin, Texas. Chris was joined by Gabriel Garcia, Bill Vallee, Jon Gant, and Drew Clark. The panel was moderated by Catherine Rice.

The group discussed strategies, business models, and lessons learned when building a successful public-private partnership (PPP).

Public Perspectives on Partnerships: Lessons Learned and Best Practices

Moderator:

Catharine Rice – Project Director, CLIC

Speakers:

Bill Vallee – Office of Consumer Counsel, State of Connecticut, New Britain, CT

Jon Gant – Director, UC2B

Christopher Mitchell – Community Networks Director, ILSR

Gabriel Garcia – Director, Senior Counsel, General Counsel, Legal Services, CPS Energy, San Antonio, TX

Drew Clark – Chairman and Publisher, BroadbandBreakfast.com

Are you going to the Austin Broadband Communities Conference this spring? If you plan on attending the April 5 - 7 event, you may want to head out one day early so you can check out the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC) Preconference Day event on April 4.

From the CLIC email invite:

CLIC's pre-conference day will focus on how communities can facilitate the development of local gigabit networks. Our interactive panel of experts will share best practices and how successful community-led networks have responded to various fiber deployment hurdles, including political, legal, financial, market or resource barriers. You will be able to meet in-person and hear from the public officials who are facilitating, and the private companies who are engaged in and seeking, local public-private broadband partnerships.

The event will be open to all conference attendees and will start at 8:45 a.m. Some of the presentations include: 

A Discussion of How Successful Community-Led Networks Have Responded to Barriers and Challenges

• Overcoming Legal and Political Barriers: Strategies to Advocate for Your Community’s Authority
• Overcoming Financial Barriers: Strategies to Identify and Use Funding Sources to Finance Networks from Build-outs to Upgrades
• Overcoming Market Barriers: Strategies to Maximize the Use and Benefits of the Network Once You Have It 

Public-Private Partnerships

• An Introductory Survey of Business Models and Legal Considerations in Building Broadband Public-Private Partnerships
• Private Perspectives on Partnerships: Meet the Private Sector Gigabit Partners
• Public Perspectives on Partnerships: Lessons Learned and Best Practices (Chris will speak on this topic)

For more information on speakers, you can review the full agenda here.

As communities across the country realize the big corporate providers may never bring the kind of connectivity they need, public-private partnerships (PPPs) are sprouting up everywhere. A new report by Joanne Hovis, Marc Schulhof, Jim Baller, and Ashley Stelfox, takes a look at the issues facing local governments and their private sector partners.

Interjection from Christopher Mitchell: Partnerships are emphatically not sprouting up everywhere. To be more correct, enthusiasm around the idea of partnerships is sprouting up in many places. But compared to the hundreds of municipal networks currently in operation, we could maybe name ten partnerhips in existence today.

The Emerging World of Broadband Public-Private Partnerships: A Business Strategy and Legal Guide examines the practical considerations when investigating PPPs for better connectivity. The report was published by the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC) and the Benton Foundation. 

The Benton Foundation sums up the three models explored in the report:

Private investment, public facilitation – The model focuses not on a public sector investment, but on modest measures the public sector can take to enable or encourage greater private sector investment. Google Fiber is the most prominent example, but there is significant interest among smaller companies

Private execution, public funding – This model, which involves a substantial amount of public investment, is a variation on the traditional municipal ownership model for broadband infrastructure—but with private rather than public sector execution.

Shared investment and risk – In this model, localities and private partners find creative ways to share the capital, operating, and maintenance costs of a broadband network.

The authors also share expertise on a range of legal topics that often arise when working with a private sector partner. They share their years of experience with matters such as confirmation of authority at state and local levels, project planning, and common issues related to negotiating the agreement.