Tag: "transcript"

Transcript: Community Broadband Bits Episode 26

Posted March 19, 2015 by

Thank to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for the episode 26 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast with Josh Wallace on the municipal utility dark fiber business in the city of Palo Alto, California. Listen to this episode here.


00:15:

Lisa Gonzales:  Hello, and welcome to the Community Broadband Bits podcast, brought to you by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.  This is Lisa Gonzales.

In our 26th episode, we talk to Josh Wallace.  He works for Fiber Optics Business Development for the city of Palo Alto, California.  Josh and Christopher discuss the community's extensive fiber network, and how the city uses dark fiber to offer reliable, high-capacity infrastructure to local businesses.

Josh and Chris review how the city became involved in the business of dark fiber, and Josh describes the resulting commercial relationships, and the process.

Here are Chris and Josh.

00:50:

Chris Mitchell:  Josh Wallace, thank you for coming on Community Broadband Bits.

00:53:

Josh Wallace:  Thank you very much.  I appreciate your inviting me, Chris.

00:56:

Chris:  So I've known a little bit about Palo Alto.  I know that you have a dark fiber network.  I've worked with -- or, I've talked with some people from Palo Alto previously, as you've considered making other investments.  But let's start at the very beginning and get a sense of why -- how you came to have a dark fiber network.

01:13:

Josh:  Well, in the late '90s, there was a question about whether or not we would be able to renew some of our electric contracts in an optimal way we had originally had in the late '50s.  So the big search for revenue.  And it was thought that maybe we would have to shore up some revenue from some renewed contracts that might not be quite as good as we hoped.

So, you know, we looked around, and we realized that at the same time that we could connect all of our SCADA system -- our electric network control system -- with fiber optics, we could actually jump into the fiber optics business.

So essentially our business involves licensing to customers in the Palo Alto area a surplus fiber optic telecommunications system.  It takes a couple of fiber strands to connect the SCADA system.  So...

Read more

Transcript: Community Broadband Bits Episode 142

Posted March 19, 2015 by

Thanks to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for the episode 142 of the Community Broadband bits podcast with Brit Fontenot, David Fine, and Anthony Cochenour on the Bozeman Fiber Initiative. Listen to this episode here.

 

00:08:

David Fine:  But, I think, for a lot of these startup businesses, they're just suffering -- there's a big gap between, you know, fiber-delivered broadband services that they can get and then everything else in the market, as far as the service that they can get.  And I think that's where this network comes in.

00:22:

Lisa Gonzalez:  Hello.  This is the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.  I'm Lisa Gonzalez.

Many of us dream of living in regions surrounded by natural beauty, such as mountain communities, the open range, or lush forests.  Unfortunately, these geographies are not necessarily rife with broadband networks.  A growing number of these communities are organizing to take control of their situations and invest in fiber networks for economic development.  In Bozeman, Montana, a group of community leaders, businesses, and residents have moved beyond an idea, to work toward better connectivity.  In this podcast, Chris touches base with several guests in Bozeman: Brit Fontenot, the City of Bozeman Economic Director; David Fine, City Economic Development Specialist and Project Manager for the Bozeman Fiber Initiative; and Anthony Cochenour, who is President of local Hoplite Industries.  In addition to being a local business leader, Anthony is also working on the Bozeman Fiber Initiative.  In this discussion, Brit, David, and Anthony describe how they've moved from vision to reality.  They talk about their inclusive approach to keep providers engaged, and they discuss their long-term plan for the network.

Each week, we bring you the latest on municipal networks and telecommunications through the Community Broadband Bits Podcast.  And we don't share any annoying advertisements.  But we sure could use your support.  Please take a moment to go to ILSR.org and click on the orange "donate" button.  Or, you can also click on "donate" at muninetworks.org .  Every contribution is appreciated.

Now, here are Chris,...

Read more

Transcript: Community Broadband Bits Episode 50

Posted March 19, 2015 by

Thanks to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for the episode 50 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast, in which Christopher and Lisa respond to arguments against municipal networks. Listen to this episode here.

 

00:22:

Chris Mitchell:  We have a special edition of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast this week.  We're going to be responding to common arguments that we hear from the other side, typically from the cable and telephone guys.  And so, Lisa, you and I are going to be listening to a few of these arguments that they make, and we're going to offering our thoughts on them.

00:41:

Lisa Gonzalez:  So, Christopher goes to all sorts of conferences and different panel discussions all over the country.  And he gets the opportunity to talk to a lot of different people and hear a lot of different interesting conversations.  So, this first statement that we wanted to talk about deals with the amount of coverage that ....

01:04:

Chris:  Right.

01:04:

Lisa:  ... in broadband.  Right Chris?

01:05:

Chris:  And last year, I was in Wisconsin, for the WiscNet conference.  And I heard a claim that I've heard just about everywhere I've gone.  And so, we'll lead off with one of the big lobbyists in Wisconsin for the telephone companies.

01:22:

Lisa:  OK.

01:24:

Audio clip:  Um.  I'm Bill Esbeck.  I'm the Executive Director of the Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association.  Almost all of our member companies have 100 percent broadband availability in their local service territories.  And, statewide, there's, you know, somewhere between 5 and 10 percent of the most difficult customers to serve that may not have a broadband connection from the local phone company.

01:53:

Lisa:  So, is that right, Chris?  Would you say that there's about 100 percent of people in Wisconsin who have access to broadband?

01:57:

Chris:  Well, he said, of his member companies, of the trade association that he represents.

02:03:

Lisa:  Ah, yes.  Very important distinction.

02:05:

Chris:  Right.  And so, this is something we often hear.  And the first question tends to be, what is broadband?  And what you often find is, when...

Read more

Transcript: Community Broadband Bits Episode 51

Posted March 19, 2015 by

Thanks to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for the episode 51 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast with Christie Batts of Clarksville's municipal fiber network in Tennessee. Listen to this episode here.

 

00:21:

Lisa Gonzalez:  Thank you for joining us for another Community Broadband Bits Podcast, from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.  This is Lisa Gonzalez.

This time, we reach out to another gigabit community: Clarksville, Tennessee.  CDE Lightband joined the growing list of municipal networks who offer 1-gig service this spring.  And it's even taken on a residential 1-gig user.  Chris talks with Christie Batts, Broadband Division Manager, who provided info about benefits to the community and challenges the network faced along the way.  This community, filled with military personnel and college students, faces some unique circumstances that influence the network and the utility.  Here's Chris, visiting with Christie Batts from CDE Lightband.

01:01:

Chris Mitchell:  Welcome to another episode of Community Broadband Bits.  Today, we're talking with Christie Batts, the Broadband Division Manager at the Clarksville Department of Electricity, in Tennessee.  We're going to be dealing with folks in the central time zone of Tennessee, as opposed to an Eastern Time zone.  In the past, we've talked with folks from Chattanooga, from Bristol, and from Morristown.  So, welcome to this show, Christie.

01:29:

Christie Batts:  Thank you.  I'm glad to be here.

01:31:

Chris:  I'm excited to talk to you, too.  The service is called Lightband.  And I've just -- poking around a little bit, I saw that you had a referendum all the way back in 2006.  You've had to deal with Charter and AT&T in your community for a long time.  And the thing that I was just really excited about was learning that you were one of the first networks to do symmetrical services.  Right out of the gate, you started with 10-megabit symmetrical.  And I just want to commend you for that, because I think that doing symmetrical services is one of the best parts of these networks.  So, thank you for that.  And then, the last thing I wanted to make sure people knew was that you're a gigabit community.  And I'm sure we're going to talk...

Read more

Transcript: Community Broadband Bits Episode 141

Posted March 11, 2015 by

Thanks to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for the episode 141 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast on our reaction to the FCC decisions on community network barriers and network neutrality. Listen to this episode here.

 

00:08:

Chris:  We're not always going to have an FCC that's this good.  And so, I hope we can both get what we can out of it, but also need to recognize that we need to still have local control over the networks, so we're not just depending on the FCC to protect us.

00:23:

Lisa:  Hey, there, everybody.  Welcome to the Community Broadband Bits Podcast.  Today, Chris and I have switched roles a little bit.  He's been traveling all over the country lately.  He's going to tell us a little bit about his travels lately.  And the first place that he went to -- and I'm sure that everybody is not surprised to hear this -- he was in DC.  And, Chris, what were you doing there?

00:46:

Chris:  Well, I was able to attend the open meeting of the Federal Communications Commission, where they discussed the muni petitions from Chattanooga and Wilson, as well as the net neutrality decision.  And I was actually in the room, watching it unfold.  It was pretty incredible.

01:03:

Lisa:  Yeah.  Yeah.  I watched a little bit -- well, I watched the whole thing, actually, from afar.  But tell us a little bit about that.  Describe what it was like.  What did it feel like?

01:13:

Chris:  Well, it felt quite historic.  And it also felt really fun, because I was sitting next to Bill Vallee and Harold Feld -- sitting between the two of them.  And I think they're two of the best senses of humor in our line of work.  So ...

01:26:

Lisa:  Oh, God.  Harold's tweets were hilarious.

01:29:

Chris:  [laughs]  Yeah.  And so, you know, I was sitting there, watching their discussions.  Even when they came in, actually, it was the three commissioners that have been supporting our positions all along -- Commissioners Rosenworcel, Clyburn, and Chairman Wheeler.  And they came in and were clearly in a good mood.  And they had actually grabbed hands at one point.  And there's some photos that came from that.  But it was rather...

Read more

Transcript: Community Broadband Bits Episode 52

Posted March 11, 2015 by

Thanks to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for the episode 52 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast with Harold Feld. Listen to this episode here.

 

00:20:

Lisa:  Hello.  This is Lisa Gonzalez, from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.  Welcome to another episode of our Community Broadband Bits Podcast.

In episode 52, we visit once again with Harold Feld, Senior Vice President of Public Knowledge.  Harold is well-known for his extensive work on telephone and broadband issues that impact consumers.  This time, Chris and Harold talk about events in Fire Island, New York, and Barrier Island, New Jersey.  Both communities were hit hard by Hurricane Sandy over six months ago.  And both are still waiting for telephone and Internet connections to be restored.  Verizon has decided it is not longer interested in offering telephone service via traditional copper wires.  The company has filed an application with the FCC to, instead, integrate its inferior VoiceLine service.  As Chris and Harold discuss, this situation could determine U.S. communications policy as we move forward.  Here are Chris and Harold with the details.

01:14:

Chris:  Welcome to another episode of Community Broadband Bits.  Today, we're back with Harold Feld, in DC, with Public Knowledge.  Harold, can you remind us, what is -- what Public Knowledge does?

01:26:

Harold:  Thank you.  So, Public Knowledge, we're a nonprofit in Washington, DC.  We're a digital advocacy group, and believe in everybody's right to access information online in a meaningful way, without gatekeepers or either government or private corporate intermediaries.

01:47:

Chris:  In addition to all of the great resources you have available at publicknowledge.org , you also write a blog that's semi-famous -- it's totally famous in our telecom world -- "Tales From the Sausage Factory."  So, I encourage people to check that out.  I don't think we noted it last time.

02:02:

Harold:  Yes.  Thank you very much.

02:05:

Chris:  So, we wanted to talk about Fire Island.  And -- an area that was impacted by Sandy.  Can you tell us why this island is suddenly something that's really important to you and me?

...

Read more

Transcript: Community Broadband Bits Episode 53

Posted March 11, 2015 by

Thanks to Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for the episode 53 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast with Mike Litterer on the muni fiber initiative in Waverly, Iowa. Listen to this episode here.

 

00:20:

Lisa Gonzalez:  Hello.  This is Lisa Gonzalez, from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.  Welcome to another episode of our Community Broadband Bits Podcast.

This week, Chris takes us to Waverly, Iowa, to talk with Mike Litterer.  He's the Assistant General Manager of Waverly Light & Power.  Mike will soon be taking over as Interim General Manager.  Waverly is now looking into the possibility of building its own network.  In 2000, Waverly passed a referendum to establish a telecommunications utility.  The results of the referendum prompted incumbents to improve services.  Chris and Mike discuss why the community has waited so long on its telecommunications initiative, and what factors bring them to act today.

01:00:

Chris Mitchell:  Welcome to another Community Broadband Bits Podcast.  Today, we're talking with Mike Litterer, the Assistant General Manager down in Waverly, Iowa, a little bit south of where I am in Minnesota.  And he is the Assistant General Manager currently, will see soon be the Interim General Manager, in an exciting community in which a new municipal broadband network is on the horizon -- and has been for quite some time.  So, welcome to the show, Mike.

01:26:

Mike Litterer:  Thank you very much.

01:27:

Chris:  So, to start, Mike, can you tell us a little bit about Waverly?

01:30:

Mike:  Sure.  Waverly is a small-to-mid-sized community about 20 miles north of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area in Iowa.  We are a population of just under 10,000.  And we have a pretty diverse business group here in Waverly.  Anything from the food industry to manufacturing to the insurance agency.  We have a small college in town, Wartburg College.  And really have just a diverse type of business in Waverly.  And we also do -- it's kind of a mix of rural and urban.  We do have quite a bit of farming community around us.

02:12:

Chris:  Actually, that answers a question for me, which is -- I was never familiar with where...

Read more

Transcript: Community Broadband Bits Episode 140

Posted March 9, 2015 by

Thanks Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for the episode 140 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast with Randy Klindt on Co-Mo Cooperative's fiber-to-the-home project in Missouri. Listen to this episode here.

 

00:08:

Randy Klindt:  And we're saving everybody, on average, around $20 to $25 per month.  And when this project is complete, that's about $1 [million] to $1.5 million a year of disposable income put back into our members' pockets that they can spend on other things.

00:25:

Lisa Gonzalez:  Hello.  This is the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.  I'm Lisa Gonzalez.

Many people think that Google Fiber in Kansas City has the top average speed in Missouri.  Well, in 2014, Ookla ranked Tipton, with approximately 3,200 people, as number one.  This rural town was also ranked 18th in the U.S., all thanks to its local electric provider, Co-Mo Cooperative.  The electric cooperative, located in the center of Missouri, began in 1939 to bring electricity to rural farmers.  Co-Mo Cooperative is on-track to provide Internet access via next-generation fiber to all its members for a large swath of rural central Missouri.  In Episode 140, Chris talks with Randy Klindt, General Manager of Co-Mo Connect, the triple-play service available from the utility in the Tipton area.  Randy's description of the Co-Mo Connect network echoes what we've heard from other cooperatives.  A community-minded approach that focuses on including both town and rural properties.  As more electric cooperatives answer rural demands to provide broadband access, successful cooperatives, such as Co-Mo, can pass on lessons learned to ease the way for others.

Each week, we bring you the latest on municipal networks and telecommunications through the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, without annoying advertisements.  Please take a moment to go to ilsr.org and click on the orange "donate" button.  Or click on "donate" at muninetworks.org .  Every contribution is appreciated.

Now, here are Chris and Randy, talking about Co-Mo Cooperative's fiber-to-the-home project.

02:08:

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

Read more

Transcript: Community Broadband Bits Episode 54

Posted March 5, 2015 by

Thanks Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for the episode 54 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast with Brian Skelton on the municipal fiber network in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Listen to this episode here.

00:20:

Lisa Gonzalez:  Welcome to the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.  I'm Lisa Gonzalez.

Tullahoma, Tennessee, is home to LightTUBe, offering triple-play to residents and businesses, and recently adding 1-gig service.  Brian Skelton, General Manager of the Tullahoma Utilities Board talks with Chris this week about the network's growth and its success.  LightTUBe provides unique local channels on its television service, and also refuses to offer what he calls gimmick prices.   Tullahoma Utilities Board regularly raises speeds without raising rates.  Here are Chris and Brian.

00:56:

Chris Mitchell:  Welcome to another edition of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast.  Today I'm talking with the General Manager of the Tullahoma Utilities Board, Brian Skelton.  Welcome to the show.

01:07:

Brian Skelton:  Thank you, Christopher.  I appreciate it.

01:10:

Chris:  I'm really excited to get a better sense, because we spoke with Clarksville recently.  We're slowly making our rounds across Tennessee.  Maybe you can start by telling us a little bit about Tullahoma and where it's located.

01:22:

Brian:  Sure.  I'd be glad to.  Tullahoma is a mid-sized town in southern-middle Tennessee.  We are equidistant -- about 65 miles -- from Nashville, Chattanooga, and Huntsville.  So if you drew a dot in the middle of those three cities, you would basically have Tullahoma.  We're about 12 miles off the interstate.  So we don't have an interstate highway to bring manufacturing here.  It is a technology community.  We have Arnold Engineering Developmental Complex, which is adjacent to Tullahoma.  They have about 2,000 employees.  It's the largest wind tunnel complex in America -- maybe in the world, I can't remember.  Lots of engineers, scientists, technology people working there.  We do have a moderate amount of industry in town.  Goodrich...

Read more

Transcript: Community Broadband Bits Episode 137

Posted March 2, 2015 by

Thanks Jeff Hoel for providing the transcript for the episode 137 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast with Jeff Gavlinski on the Mountain Connect Internet conference in Colorado. Listen to this episode here. 

 

00:08:

Jeff Gavlinski:  We'll never lose our focus, as a base, in terms of talking about how do we fix our rural infrastructure issues.  But we need to also be cognizant of the fact that we have broadband issues in our metro areas as well.

00:23:

Lisa Gonzalez:  Hello.  This is the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.  I'm Lisa Gonzalez.

If you've been paying attention to community broadband lately, you know that Colorado is one of the busiest places for municipal networks, and one of the places where local communities are taking the necessary steps to regain local authority.  Colorado is also home to Mountain Connect, a broadband conference that draws people from all over Colorado, and even from surrounding states.  Chris has presented at the conference, and describes it as one of his favorite events.  This week, he speaks with co-chair, Jeff Gavlinski, who shares the story how the event has grown to include topics beyond the original focus, which was rural connectivity.  Jeff provides information on the upcoming conference, which is scheduled for June 7th-9th in Vail.  Jeff also gives us an in-the-trenches perspective on Colorado's existing state barriers.  Currently, local governments face too much uncertainty to take any steps, even in creating partnerships with private entities.

We bring you the Community Broadband Bits Podcast ad-free each week.  But we need your support.  Please consider contributing to our work.  It's easy.  Go to ilsr.org and click on the orange "donate" button.  Every little bit helps.

Now, here's Chris and Jeff Gavlinski from Mountain Connect.

01:51:

Chris Mitchell:  Welcome to another edition of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast.  I'm Chris Mitchell.  Today, I'm speaking with Jeff Gavlinski, the co-chair of Mountain Connect, a wonderful conference that will be coming up in Colorado in June.  Welcome to the show, Jeff.

02:07:

Jeff Gavlinski:  Thank...

Read more

Pages

Subscribe to transcript