Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
Karl Bode
Tech, telecom, media, and consumer rights reporter at TechDirt, Motherboard, Verge, and ILSR. Helped build DSL Reports.
Stories by this author
Siloam Springs, Arkansas Is Weighing Its Options For Citywide Fiber Build
In 2012 the residents of Siloam Springs, Arkansas voted against building their own fiber network after some misleading electioneering by the regional cable monopoly Cox Communications.
Lexington, Tennessee Will Soon See Fiber Competition Thanks To Local Utility
Lexington, Tennessee is the latest U.S. city that will soon see the expansion of more affordable fiber thanks to the city-owned utility, Lexington Electric System (LES). LES’ recent $27.49 million state grant award will be the backbone of a new initiative that will both improve the utility’s electrical services, and deliver a long overdue dose of broadband competition to the area. The plan is deploy over 2,100 miles of fiber to bring high-speed Internet access to 22,000 residents across Henderson, Decatur, Benton, Carroll and Hardin counties that already receive electricity service from the utility.
Lehi City, Utah Breaks Ground On Open Access Fiber Network
Lehi City, Utah has broken ground on its new citywide fiber optic broadband network. The network, which city leaders say should take somewhere around three years to complete, will be built on the back of Lehi’s Utilities Department, part of a growing trend of U.S. utilities using an historic infusion of federal funding to expand affordable broadband connectivity. The Lehi Fiber Network will operate as an open access network, meaning that multiple ISPs will be able to utilize the city’s new infrastructure, providing a much-needed dose of broadband competition to local residents and businesses alike. Five ISPs have already committed to providing service over the city-owned fiber.
Monopoly Providers Mire NTIA Broadband Grant Process With Costly, Empty Challenges
Over 230 communities have applied for National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Broadband Infrastructure Program grants.
New York City’s Ambitious Broadband Plan Is A Shadow Of Its Former Self
In 2020, New York City officials unveiled a massive new broadband proposal they promised would dramatically reshape affordable broadband access in the city.
Instead, the program has been steadily and quietly dismantled, replaced by a variety of costly half-measures that critics say don’t solve the actual, underlying cause of expensive, substandard broadband.
Fairfield, California Exits Research Phase, Will Soon Unveil City Access Plan
Fairfield City, California is one of several cities in the state hoping to lean on both California’s broadband expansion initiative and the American Res
LA County Moves Closer to Municipal Broadband
Last November the LA County Board of Supervisors quietly and unanimously approved a project that could dramatically reshape affordable Internet access in the largest county in the United States. The newly approved plan first aims to deliver wireless broadband to the 365,000 low-income households in Los Angeles county that currently don’t subscribe to broadband service, starting with a 12,500 home pilot project. But the vote also approved a new feasibility study into a Los Angeles county-wide municipal fiber network.
Cox Looks to Head Off Municipal Network Competition in Rhode Island
Cox Communications recently grabbed headlines for an announcement that the company would be investing more than $120 million in Rhode Island to expand and upgrade its Internet infrastructure. But officials in the state say much of the planned deployments may not actually even be new.
Blocking of Sohn FCC Nomination Could Harm Broadband Funding, Mapping, and Reform
For more than a year and a half, the nation’s top telecommunications regulator has been stuck in limbo, thanks to a combination of federal dysfunction and industry lobbying. Now the nomination of popular reformer Gigi Sohn to the FCC is facing a full frontal assault by telecom monopolies dedicated to preventing the agency from standing up to monopoly power.
Santa Clara County Moves Toward Municipal Fiber Network
Driven by Covid frustration and a boom in available grant money, Santa Clara County, California officials say they’re moving forward with their plans to explore a municipal broadband network, with the formal next steps expected to be announced at the tail end of this year.