Six minute interview from Susan talking about the failure of policy in America to expand access to fast, affordable, and reliable networks. Continue reading
“We want to grow our own new businesses in Indianola, and Simpson College is home to an entire group of potential entrepreneurs who we hope will find support for their efforts here and some day choose to locate their businesses here,” [Jerry Kelly, former Indianola mayor and executive director of the city's development association] said…. Continue reading
Jason Bird is the Electrical Superintendent at the city of Princeton Utilities in Illinois. He joins us for the 30th episode of our Community Broadband Bits Podcast to explain why Princeton built a rather unique network. Princeton has built a fiber network to connect some of the local businesses and uses broadband over power lines… Continue reading
On Friday, I wrote a harsh, quick response to FCC Chairman’s Genachowski’s so-called gigabit challenge announced in a guest column on Forbes. Since then, I have learned more about the 1 Gbps Challenge and I have to reiterate my frustration with it. We need the Chairman to reduce barriers to community-owned networks, not just recognize… Continue reading
The next time you hear someone claiming that the broadband market in the U.S. has plenty of competition, remember this statement from Comcast CEO Brian Roberts. And so each of the last two years, we have had modest increases in the cost of the broadband service, and yet we’ve had tremendous sales. We’re 33%, 31%… Continue reading
A new report released by the New Mexico Recycling Coalition (NMRC) details the estimated number of jobs in the recycling industry and predicts how many jobs could be gained through increased recycling activities. It is estimated that close to 5,000 new direct, indirect and induced jobs will be created in New Mexico when the state recycling rate reaches 34%. Continue reading
If you are a 21st century crafter, you are probably prolific at finding inspiration online. You may be familiar with American Crafts of Orem for ideas or products. The company, founded in 1994, is now a customer of UTOPIA and reports significant bandwidth improvement after the switch from old T-1 connections. From the UTPOIA blog:… Continue reading
In a column published today, Chairman Genachowski explains why the U.S. Needs ‘Gigabit Communities.’ It starts off with an accurate observation… Walking the floor of the Consumer Electronics Show last week, I kept thinking of that line from Jaws, “You’re going to need a bigger boat.” All the Internet-connected, data-hungry gadgets that are coming to… Continue reading
The Open Technology Institute at the New America Foundation has released a report on data caps in the U.S. The report, Capping the Nation’s Broadband Future, was authored by Hibah Hussain, Danielle Kehl, Benjamin Lennett, and Patrick Lucey. The paper looks at the growing prevalence of monthly data caps by massive ISPs like Time Warner Cable, AT&T,… Continue reading
In 2007, the City of Amherst, Massachusetts received a $150,000 grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to build a wireless mesh network. DARPA and NSF have long been interested in developing mesh networks that are more resilient than traditional hub and spoke type networks. The City… Continue reading