Virginia’s Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority Recounts Progress Made in 2018

Date: 11 Dec 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

As they look back over their accomplishments, the Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority (RVBA) has more than the holidays to celebrate at the close of 2018. In addition to stimulating competition in the region, the RVBA network is attracting more investment and helping local nonprofits operate more efficiently.… Read More

Malicious Michigan Bill is Bad News for Rural Internet Access

Date: 5 Dec 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Representative Michele Hoitenga from Michigan is at it again. Last year as Chair of the House Communications and Technology Committee, she attempted to pass a bill to discourage her state’s self-reliant municipalities from improving local connectivity. Deja vu as her committee’s agenda for tomorrow, December 6th, picks up HB 5670, a bill sponsored by a different lawmakers and deceivingly titled the “Broadband Investment Act.”… Read More

Another Texas Town Considers Building Infrastructure to Improve Internet Access

Date: 3 Dec 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

People in Lampasas are fed up with outages that have repeatedly plagued the community due to lack of redundant infrastructure connecting the central Texas municipality. Now, the city and the Lampasas Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) are asking the community to complete an Internet survey to help determine how best to move forward an achieve better connectivity.… Read More

Mississippi Law Change Would Enable Electric Cooperatives to Offer Broadband

Date: 30 Nov 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

When it comes to high-quality Internet access, the big corporate ISPs have failed rural Mississippi. Other states with similar digital divide issues are starting to see rural electric cooperatives make efforts to connect members. In some places, legislatures have adjusted state laws that complicated co-ops’ ability to deploy fiber optic infrastructure. Now, the Public Service Commission (PSC) in Mississippi has formally requested that state lawmakers update an antiquated statute to allow rural electric cooperatives to expand high-quality Internet access.… Read More

Georgia City Now Offers Even Faster Internet Access to Residents

Date: 28 Nov 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In a recent episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast, host Christopher Mitchell spoke with Hank Blackwood from Dalton Utilities in Georgia about their publicly owned network, OptiLink. Hank described an upcoming milestone for the community of around 35,000 and a few surrounding rural areas with access to the network. Now it’s official — OptiLink is the first municipal network in the state that offers residential gigabit Internet access to subscribers.… Read More

Creative Sources For Funding Fiber Infrastructure Projects

Date: 27 Nov 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

As interest in publicly owned broadband network infrastructure increases, local communities seek out new ways to fund municipal networks. The Creative Funding Sources For Fiber Infrastructure fact sheet presents new approaches, pros and cons, and provides examples for further study.… Read More

In Op-Ed, ILSR’s Katie Kienbaum Explains How the FCC is Dooming Rural Iowans to Second-Rate Internet Access

Date: 26 Nov 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

When considering Iowa, what comes to mind? Open fields? Livestock? High-quality Internet access? According to the FCC, if you live in Iowa, your broadband problems are over. Of course, as ILSR Research Associate Katie Kienbaum points out in her recent piece in the Des Moines Register, the reality in the Hawkeye State is quite different than the FCC’s flawed stats report.… Read More

35 Communities Join New Community Broadband Accelerator Program

Date: 15 Nov 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Earlier this summer, we talked with Jase Wilson and Lindsey Brannon from Neighborly, the investment firm that uses online investing to allow individuals to invest in publicly owned infrastructure projects, including broadband networks. Jase and Lindsey described a program they had just launched, the Neighborly Community Broadband Accelerator. … Read More

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