This is the transcript for episode 364 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. For this episdoe, Christopher speaks with David Young, former Fiber Infrastructure and Right-of-Way Manager for the city of Lincoln, Nebraska. They discuss the city's conduit network, its partnership with Allo, and how the broadband infrastructure is creating new opportunities for Lincoln. Listen to the episode, or read the transcript below.

David Young: Competition works in a dense urban environment. I think that that's one measurement of success.

Lisa Gonzalez: Welcome to episode 364 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. I'm Lisa Gonzalez. This week we have another interview Christopher recorded while at the Mountain Connect broadband conference in Colorado. He caught up with one of our returning guests, David Young. If you're a fan of the podcast, you will immediately associate David with Lincoln, Nebraska, but David is now working in Kansas City, Kansas. Christopher and David reviewed the years long project in Lincoln that started with conduit and has culminated in a citywide Fiber-to-the-Home network. David discusses how the community worked within the confines of one of the most restrictive state laws and some of the technical aspects of their conduit deployment that led to where they are today. He also discusses their partnership with ISP Allo and their agreement. David talks about Lincoln's decision to pursue a public-private partnership and some of the considerations other communities should review as they look at various network models. David and Christopher spend some time reviewing some of the many benefits Lincoln has enjoyed due to the presence of the network. Now here's Christopher with David Young.

Christopher Mitchell: Welcome to another episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. I did it a little differently that time because I'm at Mountain Connect sitting across from former multiple guest, David Young. Welcome back to the show. David.

David Young: Hi, Chris. How are you?

Christopher Mitchell: We're at Mountain Connect. It's a wonderful event. And David graced us with his presence this year, so I found an excuse to shove a mic in...

This is the transcript for episode 362 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. In this episode, Christopher interviews Matt Rantanen, wearer of many hats, about creative solutions for connecting tribal lands. Listen to the episode, or read the transcript below.

Jess Del Fiacco: Welcome to episode 362 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. This is Jess Del Fiacco filling in for Lisa Gonzalez. This week, Christopher chats with Matt Rantanen, director of technology at the Southern California Tribal Chairman's Association and director of the Tribal Digital Village Network. They discuss Matt's experiences finding creative solutions for better connectivity in Indian country, which often involves working throughout tricky terrain. Matt also talks about how the FCC's impact on tribal communities has changed in recent years, why broadband is continuing to become more and more important on reservations, and some promising new tools that are becoming available. We also get to learn about Matt's newest project, a company called Arcadian Infracom that's working to create diverse fiber paths throughout the U.S., thanks to some innovative partnerships with tribal communities. Now here's Matt and Christopher.

Christopher Mitchell: Welcome to another episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. I'm Chris Mitchell with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and today I'm talking to my good friend Matt Rantanen who — now pace yourself for this — is the director of technology of Southern California Tribal Chairman's Association and director of the Tribal Digital Village Network. Welcome back, Matt.

Matt Rantanen: Hey, good to be here, Chris.

Christopher Mitchell: So I'm excited. I know that you have a very interesting project going on in the southwest that we're going to talk about here in a minute, but first of all, I think just for people who haven't heard of it before, do you want to just very quickly remind us what Tribal Digital Village is?

Matt Rantanen: Sure. The Tribal Digital Village is an initiative that was started with a Hewlett Packard grant back in 2001 that essentially was designed to bring resource programs to...

This is the transcript for episode 360 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. In this episode, Christopher speaks with Ben Bawtree-Jobson from SiFi Networks about how the company is building an open access network in Fullerton, California. Listen to episode 360, or read the transcript below.

Ben Bawtree-Jobson: We found a great solution here economically to deliver the same solution to a city but without that city taking on any burden, and that is the case in Fullerton. There's no financial burden to the city whatsoever.

Lisa Gonzalez: Welcome to episode 360 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast from the institute for Local Self-Reliance. I'm Lisa Gonzalez. Not long ago, fiber optic network developer SiFi Networks and the city of Fullerton, California, announced that they will be working together to build an open access Fiber-to-the-Premise network throughout the city. They've established an aggressive timeline and a partnership in which the company will fund the infrastructure development, find ISPs to operate on it, and handle the task of connecting businesses and residents to the network. In this interview with SiFi Networks CEO Ben Bawtree-Jobson, we learn more about the company, their approach, and the plan to connect people in the southern California city. We find out more about SiFis other projects and how they've adapted their model to suit working in the U.S. Ben explains some of the company's thoughts on micro trenching, allocation of risk, and the many uses they foresee for the fiber network beyond Internet access for the population of Fullerton. Here's Christopher with Ben Bawtree-Jobson of SIFi Networks.

Christopher Mitchell: Welcome to another episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. I'm Chris Mitchell with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. I'm in Minneapolis, and today I'm talking to Ben Bawtree-Jobson, the CEO at SiFi. Welcome to the show, Ben.

Ben Bawtree-Jobson: Thank you for having me.

Christopher Mitchell: Well, I'm excited to have you. I'm a huge fan of science fiction, and I think we're going to be talking nothing but future interplanetary plane travel, right?

Ben Bawtree-Jobson: Yeah, perhaps. Yeah, we often get confused...

This is episode 358 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. In this episode, Christopher speaks with two leaders from Centeral Virginia Electric Cooperative about the co-op's new subsidiary, Firefly Fiber Broadband. Listen to the episode, or read the transcript below.

Melissa Gay: What I've learned along the way is how absolutely satisfying and how gratifying an experience it is to be involved in this, and how our predecessors must have felt in the 30s when they turned those lights on.

Lisa Gonzalez: Welcome to episode 358 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. I'm Lisa Gonzalez. In early 2018, the Central Virginia Electric Cooperative announced details of their plan to deploy Fiber-to-the-Home to members across their service area. Beginning with the pilot project, they plan to bring high quality Internet access to members in some of the least connected areas of the state. This week, Christopher talks with Gary Wood and Melissa Gay from the co-op. Gary and Melissa describe why CVEC decided to take on the project and what Internet access is like in the region. They discuss the reason why this project makes sense, including the multiple uses for the fiber that will benefit both Internet access subscribers and electric customers. During the conversation, we get to hear about the process that led to the decision to deploy fiber to this region of Virginia, how the cooperative is funding the project, their marketing techniques, and the lessons learned from taking on the Firefly Broadband project. You can learn more about the CVEC project at muninetworks.org and by visiting the cooperatives update page mycvec.com/community/broadband. Now let's learn about the Firefly Broadband project from the Central Virginia Electric Cooperative with Gary Wood and Melissa Gay.

Christopher Mitchell: Welcome to another episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. I'm Chris Mitchell with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance up in Minneapolis. Today I'm talking to two people from Virginia who come with very high recommendations from Jon Chambers, a frequent guest. We're gonna introduce you first to Gary Wood, the president and CEO of the Central Virginia Electric Cooperative. Welcome to the show.

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