Community Broadband Bits

When community leaders in Santa Cruz County, California, decided to take steps to spur economic development, they knew they needed to improve local connectivity. For episode 295 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast, Policy Analyst Patrick Mulhearn from County Supervisor Zach Friend’s office talks with Christopher this week about the steps they’ve taken and their … Continue reading "Santa Cruz County Moving Beyond Incumbent Inaction – Community Broadband Bits 295" ★ Support this podcast ★

When the Eastern Shore of Virginia needed better Internet access, in part to ensure NASA could achieve its mission, Accomack and Northampton counties created the Eastern Shore of Virginia Broadband Authority. Its Executive Director, Robert Bridgham joins us for episode 294 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast.We talk about why they used an Authority and … Continue reading "Virginia’s Eastern Shore Broadband Authority Steadily Expands Fiber Network – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 294" ★ Support this podcast ★

In Virginia, Arlington has found new ways to use its municipal network to reduce the digital divide. Katie Cristol, Chair of the Arlington County Board, and Jack Belcher, County Chief Information Officer, join us for episode 293 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast to explain what they are doing.We discuss how a new residential development, … Continue reading "Arlington Expands Internet Access for Low-Income Households – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 293" ★ Support this podcast ★

We are checking back in with Ernie Staten, Deputy Director of Public Service in Fairlawn, Ohio now that their muncipal Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network – FairlawnGig – is built out and they are still building the citywide Wi-Fi network that will accompany it. We previously talked with Ernie when the network was being built two years … Continue reading "FairlawnGig Keeps Businesses in Town, Attracts More – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 292" ★ Support this podcast ★

It was just a year ago that we highlighted a nation-leading digital inclusion effort from Wilson’s Greenlight municipal fiber network in North Carolina. That was their fourth time on the podcast, owing to the many ways Wilson has developed in ensuring its fiber network investment is benefiting the community. See also podcast episodes 171, 110, … Continue reading "Wilson Tackles Digital Divide with Pay Ahead Option – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 291" ★ Support this podcast ★

Early last year, Connect Your Community and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance released a well-researched and compelling case that AT&T had engaged in digital redlining of Cleveland, refusing to upgrade Internet access to neighborhoods with high poverty rates. In episode 290 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast, we check in to learn more and discuss … Continue reading "Wrestling With Redlining in Cleveland, Lessons For All" ★ Support this podcast ★

Do municipal fiber networks offer lower prices than the their competitors? Yes, almost always, according to a study from Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center called Community-Owned Fiber Networks: Value Leaders in America.David Talbot, a Fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, joins us for episode 289 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast to … Continue reading "Retail Muni Fiber Networks Charge Less – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 289" ★ Support this podcast ★

With only about 757,000 residents and more than 710,000 square miles North Dakota is ranked 53rd in population density among U.S. states, territories, and Washington DC. There may not be many people there, but North Dakota has some of the best connectivity in the United States. Why? Rural cooperatives and independent companies have made continued … Continue reading "North Dakota’s Exceptional Fiber Networks – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 288" ★ Support this podcast ★

With the Federal Communications Comission Republicans poised to redefine broadband to include slow, unreliable, and often bandwidth-capped mobile service, we talk with two high school students from southeast Ohio, Herron Linscott and Lilah Gagne, that have succeeded despite the lack of fixed broadband access in their homes. Soon the FCC may include those homes as … Continue reading "The Challenge of Mobile Only – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 287" ★ Support this podcast ★

It is that time of year – as 2017 draws to a close, we pulled Nick, Hannah, Lisa, and myself back into a podcast to talk about the predictions we made one year ago on episode 234. And despite having to deal with our failed predictions from last year, we dive right into making more … Continue reading "2017 in Review and a Preview of 2018 – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 286" ★ Support this podcast ★

David Young is a veteran of our Community Broadband Bits podcast, having been interviewed in episodes 182, 228, and 238. For reasons that are beyond this interviewer, he still has a job in Lincoln as the Fiber Infrastructure and Right of Way Manager. Just kidding David – you are such a friendly person I cannot help … Continue reading "Catching up with Lincoln on Fiber, 5G, and US IGNITE – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 285" ★ Support this podcast ★

If everyone subscribed to Internet access, the business models for supplying it would be much easier. But there are strong reasons for why many are locked out of Internet access today, a subject we explore with National Digital Inclusion Alliance Executive Director Angela Siefer in episode 284 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. We discussed what … Continue reading "Discussing the Digital Divides On Road to Digital Equity – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 284" ★ Support this podcast ★

We're continuing the interviews Christopher conducted while at the November Broadband Communities Economic Development Conference in Atlanta; this week, he's talking with Stephen Barraclough, General Manager for Burlington Telecom (BT) in Vermont. Stephen has worked diligently to reinvigorate and preserve the publicly owned network that, regardless of troubles, has been popular with subscribers.Christopher and Stephen had their … Continue reading "Reinventing Burlington Telecom – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 283" ★ Support this podcast ★

Fort Collins, like more than 100 communities in Colorado, had already opted out of the state law that requires a referendum prior to a city or county investing in an Internet network, even with a partner. But it went back to another referendum a few weeks ago to amend its city charter to create a telecommunications … Continue reading "Organizing For a Community Network, Against Big Cable – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 282" ★ Support this podcast ★

Christopher went to Atlanta for the Broadband Communities Economic Development Conference in early November, and while he was there, he touched base with this week’s guest Will Rinehart. Will is the Director of Technology and Innovation Policy at the American Action Forum, a DC nonprofit organization that’s been around since 2009.Will and Christopher don’t always … Continue reading "Another Perspective on Policy From American Action Forum – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 281" ★ Support this podcast ★

NC Hearts Gigabit is a grassroots group recently launched in North Carolina that aims to dramatically improve Internet access and utilization across the state. We caught up with Economic Development Consultant Christa Wagner Vinson, CEO of Open Broadband Alan Fitzpatrick, and Partner of Broadband Catalysts Deborah Watts to discuss what they are doing. We discuss their … Continue reading "NC Hearts Gigabit – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 280" ★ Support this podcast ★

Grant County's Public Utility District was, along with some nearby PUDs, among the very first deployers of Fiber-to-the-Home networks shortly after the turn of the millennium. And per Washington's law, they built an open access network that today has more than twenty service providers.Grant County PUD Project Specialist Russ Brethrower joins us for Community Broadband … Continue reading "Lessons From the Nation's Oldest Open Access Fiber Network – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 279" ★ Support this podcast ★

As an increasing number of communities invest in and explore the advantages of publicly owned networks, Christopher finds himself making more trips to cities and towns across the country. In addition to sharing what we discover about all the communities we research, he absorbs what he can from others who also document the way local … Continue reading "Intelligent Communities In Dublin, Ohio, And Beyond – Community Broadband Bits Episode 278" ★ Support this podcast ★

The Kit Carson Electric Cooperative serves rural north central New Mexico and has been an early investor in a fiber-optic network that has brought high quality Internet service to a state largely stuck with 90's era DSL from incumbent CenturyLink. Luis Reyes, CEO of Kit Carson, joins us for episode 277 to discuss how the utility … Continue reading "Kit Carson Fibers up New Mexico – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 277" ★ Support this podcast ★

After being told by the large telephone incumbent that he could pay a nominal fee in rural Michigan to get phone service, John Reigle built a home. And when the telephone company changed its mind after quoting an outrageous price, he created a cooperative that is building fiber networks in a very rural region of Michigan. General … Continue reading "Allband All-in For Rural Michigan Internet Access – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 276" ★ Support this podcast ★