At a recent WRAL TechWire event, former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chief of staff Blair Levin urged North Carolina communities to seek a repeal of a state law that restricts local telecommunications authority, reports WRAL TechWire.

“When the new General Assembly returns to Raleigh, tell the assembly to tear down the law that prevents faster, cheaper broadband,” Levin said in a keynote address at the WRAL TechWire Executive Exchange in Wilson, N.C. Wilson's municipal Greenlight network is among the first in the nation to offer high-quality Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Internet access.  

Currently, North Carolina law HB 129 prevents Wilson from expanding its Internet access service area beyond Wilson County and discourages other communities from investing in similar infrastructure. HB 129 was the subject of a legal battle when the city of Wilson (pop. 50,000) wanted to provide Internet access to neighboring Pinetops (pop. 1,400) and other communities beyond the limitations of the state law. They challenged the law, as did Chattanooga, which faced slightly different restrictions in Tennessee.

In February of 2015, the FCC ordered that Wilson could serve communities beyond the county borders, but both states appealed, challenging the agency's authority. The federal appeals court reversed that ruling in August 2016.

Under the provisions of the North Carolina law, Wilson could lose it's exemption to offer service at all, but by temporarily providing free telephone and Internet access to Pinetops, they protect their exemption. Two state legislators have vowed to take action and try to get the state law changed during the next legislative session.

Levin Praises Wilson...

In October in Minneapolis, Broadband Communities Magazine hosted the “Fiber for the New Economy” conference. The first day featured a set of four panels on the role of rural electric cooperatives in providing much-needed connectivity to far-flung communities.

We want to provide the highlights and give further context to some of the most fascinating stories. In this post, we’ll cover some of the latest research coming out of Ball State University’s Center for Information and Communication Sciences.

Indiana’s Electric Cooperatives 

Researcher Emma Green from Ball State University kicked off the track. Her presentation, “Rural Broadband: Technical and Economic Feasibility,” outlined the potential role of rural electric cooperatives in facilitating last mile (connectivity to homes and business) and middle mile (regional connectivity) deployment. 

Green's research centered on Indiana, where 14 percent of the population does not have broadband access (speeds of at least 25 Megabits (Mbps) download and 3 Mbps upload). In rural areas of the state, however, more than half of the population does not have access to those speeds. Green's research underscored how rural electric cooperatives can use their assets (such as Smart Grids, Right-of-Way access, and pole ownership) to facilitate middle mile connectivity. 

We previously noted some of this research from Ball State University in our post BBC Mag Spotlights Rural Electric Co-ops. Focusing on the middle mile is not always a pathway to long-term last mile solutions, and our Christopher Mitchell has often pointed out those pitfalls. Unless a provider is willing to invest in the critical last mile connections, middle mile networks have only a minimal impact.

Green, however, did not stop at the middle mile. She brought her presentation back to bear on last mile connectivity. Electric cooperatives are in a great position to partner with other entities to provide services. They could also simply move forward with last mile fiber projects...

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

Thousands of delegates, politicians, and media personnel flocked to northeast Ohio in July to attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. A lucky few stayed in the bedroom community of Fairlawn at one of two hotels now featuring gigabit Internet connections (1,000 Megabits per second). 

FairlawnGig, the town’s new municipal network, hooked up Hilton Akron-Fairlawn and DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Akron-Fairlawn in time for the convention. Guests could seamlessly stream video, upload content, and communicate with coworkers and family, despite the hotels’ full occupancy. The fiber-optic network will soon be available to residents and businesses across the community. 

More than just the RNC

Fairlawn has a lot to gain from a faster, more reliable network. On a typical workday, the community swells from an overnight population of 7,500 to 40,000, putting a sizeable bandwidth burden on slow-moving incumbent network providers. According to Ernie Staten, Deputy Director of Fairlawn’s Public Service Department in Community Broadband Bits Podcast Episode 201, a typical connection in Fairlawn measured in at 15 Mbps (Megabit per second) download and 1 Mbps upload before the municipal network.

Incumbent Internet service providers clearly weren’t doing enough for families or businesses in today’s connected economy. As we wrote earlier this year, FairlawnGig will be delivering symmetrical gigabit speeds (download and upload speeds up to 1 gigabit per second) at affordable prices. The ability to send data at high-speed is increasingly becoming a critical feature, especially for business subscribers.

Municipal networks have a profound effect on customer-ISP relationship. The hotels will feature the fastest connection within the Hilton hotel network. Tim Winter, Vice President/Regional Manager of the Hilton Akron-Fairlawn and DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Akron-Fairlawn, was quoted by FairlawnGig: 

“We put a lot of trust into the team Ernie Staten and the City of Fairlawn brought together and we are already seeing the results. Our guests and RNC delegates are...