Colorado

Colorado cities voting on taxes, pot, broadband and bees this year by Joey Bunch, The Denver Post

Ten towns and cities already have approved — by wide margins — the push for faster Internet under a 10-year-old Colorado law that restricts how municipalities provide broadband.

"Today it's viewed very much as a utility, a basic, fundamental service," Mamet said of Internet service. "It's also very much an economic-development issue in cities large and small."

We need municipal broadband; vote yes on 2B by Edgar Peyronnin, The Coloradoan

Delaware

What Reason.com got wrong about Newark’s municipal broadband project by Tony Abraham, Technical.ly

North Carolina

Networking leaders talk gig cities, broadband future in North Carolina by MCNC, PR Newswire

Oregon

Should LO create its own Internet service network? by Saundra Sorenson, Lake Oswego Review

“Just getting this network would put Lake Oswego on the map,” Lazenby told the council. “I think increasing that level of service, especially for the demographics we have here — highly educated, many tech-oriented folks in our community — that would be a real service to make available.”

Mitchell emphasized that municipal fiber networks allow for community self-reliance and provide protection from price-gouging.

“When I think about relying on Google, if Google decides to get out of this business, the community has no say about who takes it over,” he said.

Mitchell made the case that Lake Oswego had some unique advantages over other cities in establishing a municipal fiber-based utility.

“You have a collection of high-tech companies, various entities that appear together, in ways that communities don’t have access...

Community Broadband News By State

Colorado

Vote ‘yes’ on broadband by Jon Quinn, Steamboat Today

Letter: Let’s work to get municipal broadband by Robin Gard, The Coloradoan

Delaware

City exploring municipal broadband service by Karie Simmons, The Newark Post

Louisiana

Biloxi, Gulfport advance high-speed Internet proposal for Coast by Anita Lee, The Sun Herald

Gulfport, Biloxi to create municipal broadband network by The Bayou Buzz

Massachusetts

Leverett Launches Municipal Broadband Network by Fierce Telecom

Tired of Waiting For Verizon, MA Town Gives Itself Gigabit Fiber by Karl Bode, DSL Reports

Getting wired for wireless by Anita Fritz, The Recorder

Kelley said the bigger job of constructing a 60-mile network, should voters approve the town’s creation of a municipal entity to provide municipal broadband Internet service to all, will go out to bid after the vote on Nov. 3.

“Greenfield’s new municipal broadband pilot project is being engineered to employ leading-edge technology, which will replace the antiquated legacy telephone and cable networks that residents and businesses currently rely on,” said Kelley.

 

Otis special town meeting voters back broadband network activation by Dick Lindsay, The Berkshire Eagle Dispatch

Pennsylvania

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Georgia

Peachtree City approves fiber optic plan AJC.com

Ohio

Fairlawn steps closer to creating municipal broadband utility by Sean Patrick, Akron.com

Lakewood council approves new fiber optics service provider for city buildings by Beth Mlady, Cleveland.com

Maine

Maine PUC Considers Rule Changes to Increase High-Speed Broadband Statewide by Darren Fishell, GovTech

Minnesota

Committee updates city council (Austin) on broadband Internet by Jeron Rennie, KIMT

New York

Lawmakers urge PSC to speed up broadband review, State of Politics

As this study advances, we urge the Commission to take actions which expand competition in the  broadband marketplace. One such option, municipal broadband, should receive consideration and study. The City of Albany, for example, is beginning to explore the building of a municipal  broadband network and recently issued an RFP for a study to assess its current broadband options and the fasibility of building a municipal broadband network.  

Will Faster Broadband Speeds Entice Residents to the Countryside? by Denise Raymo, GovTech

Users would create a cooperative and be the system owners, paying a flat rate for Internet service and another fee dedicated to equipment purchase, upkeep and staffing.

Tennessee

Attorneys in Tennessee filed an appeal last week against the FCC, saying that the order that allows EPB to expand its fiber infrastructure infringes on state sovereignty. 

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Featured Stories

FCC's Sohn Urges Cities to Build Own Broadband by John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable

Don't wait for incumbents to supply requisite service Sohn told NATOA that rather than viewing themselves as taxers and regulators, her audience should see themselves instead as facilitators of the kind of service they have been "begging" incumbents to provide "for years."

FCC's Sohn: Forget Incumbents, Build Your Own Broadband Networks by Karl Bode, DSL Reports

Sohn was quick to highlight successes in places like Sandy, Oregon, and the surge in public/private partnerships like the one between Ting and Westminster, Maryland. Sohn also highlighted the important fact that after fifteen years of apathy, the FCC is finally taking aim at protectionist state laws written by incumbent ISP lawyers, which prohibit towns and cities from wiring themselves -- even in cases where nobody else wants to.

How to Build a Better Internet by Adam Clark Estes, Gizmodo  

If America wants a better internet, it’s going to take work. We’re going to have to dig holes and install new equipment. Local governments will need to help startup ISPs compete with big telecom in a fair way. We need to hold companies like Comcast and Time Warner Cable accountable for selling shitty service for high prices. After all, we invented the internet. We should make it better.

Georgia

City to study building broadband service by Ben Nelms, The Citizen

Maine

Maine PUC Considers Rule Changes to Increase High-Speed Broadband Statewide by Darren Fishell, Bangor Daily News

Minnesota

Completion of Lake County...