This is the transcript for episode 326 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. In this episode, Christopher talks with representatives from the City of Mont Belvieu, Texas, about their community fiber network MB Link. They discuss some of the legal challenges the city had to overcome to establish MB Link and how Mont Belvieu has managed to successfully market the network to city residents. Listen to the episode here.

Nathan Watkins: And the courts ruled that electricity was a public improvement, similar to public works and utilities, and we argued that reliable high speed broadband Internet is also a public utility and a public works. And the judge ruled in our favor.

Lisa Gonzalez: This is episode 326 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. I'm Lisa Gonzalez. In this episode, four folks from Mont Belvieu, Texas, talk with Christopher about their network MB Link. Nathan Watkins, Dwight Thomas, Scott, Swigert, and Brian Ligon discuss their experiences with the network that the community has been quick to embrace. They talk about some of the challenges they faced, including a hurdle put in place by the state of Texas, and the many ways overcoming those challenges have paid off. Mont Belvieu has a thriving oil and gas industry, but they're quickly becoming known for their gigabit connectivity. Now, here's Christopher with Nathan Watkins, Dwight Thomas, Scott Swigert, and Brian Ligon.

Christopher Mitchell: Welcome to another edition of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. I'm Chris Mitchell with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, and today we're breaking a record. We're going to have more people on this show than we have had in any other episode. So let me start by introducing these folks from Mont Belvieu, Texas. Nathan Watkins is the City Manager. Welcome to the show.

Nathan Watkins: Thank you for having me.

Christopher Mitchell: And we have Dwight Thomas, the Director of Broadband and IT.

Dwight Thomas: Thank you for having me as well.

Christopher Mitchell: We also have Scott Swigert, the Assistant City Manager. Welcome.

Scott Swigert: Thank you. Welcome. Thank you...

 This is the transcript for episode 324 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. In this episode, Christopher discusses the new Fiber-to-the-Home project from Great Lakes Energy, Michigan's largest electric cooperative, with Shari Culver, the co-op's Vice President of Communications, Marketing, and Energy Optimization. Listen to their conversation.

Shari Culver: We identified Fiber-to-the-Home as something that was really important to the future of Great Lakes Energy. And there's lots of synergies with the grid. It's important to future technologies, but it's also really important to our members. We want to help them have a better experience, you know, at home and in their personal life.

Lisa Gonzalez: This is episode 324 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. I'm Lisa Gonzales. Increasing numbers of rural electric cooperatives are using their infrastructure as a foundation to develop Fiber-to-the-Home Internet access service. In the northern areas of Michigan's lower peninsula, Great Lakes Energy has started a project that will begin connecting members as early as October. In this week's podcast, Christopher talks with Shari Culver from the cooperative about their service, Truestream. Their project is starting in Petoskey and will offer symmetrical services up to a gigabit to residents. As the project progresses, the cooperative will examine demand and take a nimble approach to their deployment plans. Shari explains the environment in the region, the history of Great Lakes Energy, and the factors the cooperative have needed to consider as they've pondered the potential of a large Fiber-to-the-Home project. Now, here's Christopher with Shari Culver from Michigan's Great Lakes Energy.

Christopher Mitchell: Welcome to another edition of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. I'm Chris Mitchell with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Minneapolis, Minnesota, talking with Shari Culver, the Vice President of Communications, Marketing, and Energy Optimization at Great Lakes Energy. Welcome to the show.

Shari Culver: Thanks, Chris.

Christopher Mitchell: I appreciate your patience. I'm struggling a little bit to get started here on a...

This is the transcript for episdoe 322 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. In this episode, Chris speaks with Richard Shockey, of Shockey Consulting and the SIP Forum, about how new technology is addressing the problems of spam phone calls, robocalls, and caller ID spoofing. Listen to the podcast here.

Richard Shockey: So you're making a cryptographic assertion that my telephone number is from who I am and that the network itself can double-check that and then provide you with some indicator of some form that in fact, there is a high probability that this call is from the person they're doing an ascertation for.

Lisa Gonzalez: This is episode 322 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. I'm Lisa Gonzalez. By now, most of us are woefully familiar with spam phone calls, robocalls, and calls that spoof caller IDs. At the very least, they're annoying, disruptive, and make us feel like we've been tricked into answering a call we wouldn't otherwise give the time of day. In this week's podcast, Christopher speaks with a man who's working with others to try to curb these deceptive practices. Richard Shockey of Shockey Consulting has been in the telecommunications and technology business for decades, advising telecom and technology companies and investors, as well as national agencies. He fills many roles, but in recent years he's been on the SIP Forum, an IP communications industry association that engages in numerous activities that promote and advance SIP-based technology. Richard discusses how market conditions, lack of investment, and the transition to new technology has created the right situation in which robocalls and caller ID spoofing is much easier. He also describes a plan of attack to use technology to reverse the trend. He gets into the problems in implementing the approach, such as how to present the technology to end users and how to deal with errors, especially in reporting. Richard also goes on to describe how tackling the rules of adopting the new technology are a significant hurdle that needs to be resolved as we venture through the transition to voice over IP services. Now, here's Christopher with Richard Shockey of Shockey Consulting.

Christopher Mitchell: Welcome to...

This is the transcript for episode 320 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. In this episode, Christopher Mitchell speaks with Jase Wilson and Lindsey Brannon from Neighborly about how the firm reimagines the "humble municipal bond," making it easier for communities to fund public infrastructure projects, such as broadband networks. Listen to this episode here.

Lindsey Brannon: There are smart communities out there who have done their own research and who are looking for that innovation and connectivity with capital, so Neighborly makes it easier to do that.

Lisa Gonzalez: This is episode 320 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. I'm Lisa Gonzalez. Consistently, local communities that want to invest in publicly owned broadband infrastructure cite financing as one of their biggest challenges. Our guests this week are working to overcome that challenge by making investment in municipal bonding more accessible to communities and the individuals who live in them. Jase Wilson and Lindsey Brannon are from Neighborly. That's a firm that's working with local communities looking for ways to fund projects, such as open access broadband networks and other public infrastructure projects. They're simultaneously opening up investment opportunities for individuals and entities interested in advancing those projects. In this interview, Jase, Lindsey, and Christopher discuss how the publicly owned open access model suits their mission and why they're pursuing that mission. They also talk about how this type of financing can overcome some of the challenges more traditional approaches take because the investor and the subscriber overlap. You'll learn about a recent example of a project in Vermont and a new program they've developed to jumpstart local efforts. Whether you're looking for tools to help you fund your community's project or are interested in an investment that emphasizes local self-reliance in a variety of ways, checkout neighborly.com for more about the firm, their approach, and the different types of projects they've helped develop. Now here's Christopher with Jase Wilson and Lindsey Brannon from Neighborly.

Christopher Mitchell: Welcome to another edition of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. I'm Chris...