Colorado

Colorado towns keep voting down state ban on municipal broadband by Karl Bode, DSL Reports

9 Colorado cities vote Tuesday on municipal broadband Internet; pot also on local ballots by Mark Harden, Denver Business Journal

County to study broadband possibility by Saja Hindi, Loveland Report Herald

Forty-four Colorado cities and counties joined several others last November to allow their local governments to offer broadband Internet, including Loveland, and Larimer County officials want to give their voters that same opportunity. Nine other Colorado cities also asked voters for that option Tuesday. Senate Bill 152, passed in 2005, prevents local governments from engaging directly or indirectly in broadband service unless voters repeal it locally.

"This ballot initiative is just to restore the county's ability to facilitate the provision of these services in partnership with a public or private entity or through the county itself," said Drew Davis, a business analyst with Larimer County Public Works.

Minnesota

Minnesota's biggest budget issues; statewide broadband debate by TPT Almanac At the Capital

Mississippi

More Internet options can lead to greater growth by Ron Guajardo, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

Ohio

City of Fairlawn passes ordiances authorizing FairlawnGig Broadband project by City of Fairlawn, Ohio; Business Wire

Tennessee

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Colorado

Without SB 152 on the books, Colorado municipalities would not have to spend taxpayer dollars to reclaim local authority to build broadband networks.

Mancos seeks more Internet options by Jacob Klopfenstein, Pine River Times

SB 152 requires local government to seek voter approval before providing telecommunications services. It also prevents municipalities from entering into private-public partnerships or expanding networks to provide those services. The Mancos Board of Trustees passed a resolution March 9 urging citizens to vote in favor of authorizing the town to opt out.

Maine

Small Maine town hopes boosted broadband will stimulate economic development by Nick Sambides Jr., GovTech

Massachusetts

Western Mass. broadband 'pause' goes on and on by Steve Nelson, Berksire Eagle

Tennessee

Federal appeals court deciding municipal broadband expansion by The Associated Press

FCC heads to court for broadband's most important fight yet by Karl Bode, DSL Reports

For years we've noted how 19 states now have protectionist laws in place -- literally written by giant ISP lobbyists -- that prevent towns and cities from building their own broadband networks, or in some cases even striking public/private partnerships with companies like Google Fiber. Last year the FCC voted to dismantle these laws in two states -- Tennessee and North Carolina. Municipal ISPs there (Wilson, NC's Greenlight, and Chattanooga, TN's EPB) complained the laws were preventing them from expanding their gigabit fiber broadband services.

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Alabama

You didn't notice it, but Google Fiber just began in the Golden Age of high-speed Internet access by Susan Crawford, Back Channel

Indiana

'Game of Gigs' organization aims to expand Bloomington, Ind., broadband by Megan Banta, GovTech

For Bloomington, Ind., citywide broadband should be less a question of if and more a question of how, local and national experts said Tuesday.

“Today is a beginning, not an ending,” Mayor John Hamilton said at the end of a four-hour symposium focusing on the benefits of high-speed network connectivity for economic development and quality of life in Bloomington. “My head is buzzing ... in a good way.” Hamilton repeatedly has pushed for the creation of a citywide, community-controlled broadband network since his campaign.

Kentucky

Here's how AT&T is fighting Google Fiber's expansion plans by Daniel B. Kline, Motley Fool

In Kentucky, AT&T looks to slow Google Fiber's expansion by Jake Ryan, NPR

What Google Fiber can and can't do to bridge Louisville's digital divide by David Serchuk, Louisville Business Journal

General

The feds want to keep your broadband provider's nose out of your online by Marguerite Reardon, CNET

Government plans to bring broadband to 20 million more by 2020 by Karl Bode, DSL Reports

Alabama

Google Fiber joins forces with municpal broadband network by Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica

Google to use city-owned network to bring fiber to Hunstville by Wendy Davis, Media Post

This private-public model for broadband could spread far beyond Huntsville, according to muni-broadband proponent Christopher Mitchell, director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance's Community Broadband Networks Initiative.

"In many ways, I think this is a tremendously hopeful development," Mitchell tells MediaPost. "It gives cities a great confidence that if they build passive infrastructure, they will be able to work with ISPs."

Google Fiber is coming to Hunstville, Alabama by Kent Wallace, Financial CV

Google Fiber is bring its ultra-fast Internet service to Hunstville by Lee Roop, AL.com

Hunstville's model for Google Fiber is the future of broadband by Kari Paul, Motherboard

Missouri

AT&T gave $62K to lawmakers months before vote to limit muni-broadband by Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica

Missouri already has a law from 1997 that says municipalities may not sell telecommunications services to the public with the exception of “Internet-type services.” This made it difficult to build a financially sound Internet service because it couldn’t be bundled with other telecom products like telephone calling, municipal broadband advocate Christopher Mitchell told Ars. Mitchell is director of the Community Broadband Networks project for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Arkansas

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