A group of rural residents living east of Madison, Wisconsin, gathered near Portage of Columbia County to discuss their lack of affordable high speed access to the Internet. These are people f… Continue reading
USA Today, February 5, 2012 In his article, journalist Rick Jervis turned to Christopher Mitchell on the development of community networks. More than 150 local governments across the country have built or are planning to build cyber networks, says Christopher Mitchell of the Minneapolis-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a non-profit group that advocates community development… Continue reading
A local government in southeast North Carolina is the first entity to deploy a “Super Wi-Fi” white-spaces broadband network. New Hanover County, North Carolina, owns the network that was devel… Continue reading
With AT&T continuing to push H.3508, a bill to further erode local authority over broadband and ensure AT&T faces no competition in areas of the state, a number of corporations have sig… Continue reading
Recent comments by Mitt Romney, the probable Republican nominee for President all but guarantee the inequality issue will remain front and center this election year. When asked whether people who question the current distribution of wealth and power are motivated by “jealousy or fairness” Romney insisted, “I think it’s about envy. I think it’s about… Continue reading
The world’s biggest retailer has gotten an undeserved free pass from many environmentalists. It’s time to take a tougher line and set a higher standard. In the conclusion to her series on Walmart’s greenwashing, Stacy Mitchell outlines four ways we can hold Walmart accountable. Continue reading
What if installing more solar could reduce electricity prices? It’s already happening in Germany, world leader in solar power, and it’s likely to happen in the U.S., too. Continue reading
The USA Today occasionally covered the Lafayette muni fiber network fight as Cox and Bellsouth used every dirty trick conceivable against the community to shut it down. Reporter Rick Jervis lo… Continue reading
Updated 2/1/12 because I underestimated how the tiered pricing worked. Thanks to bkarney at Renewable Energy World for the comment. Last week I wrote about the time-of-use pricing scheme that PG&E offers in San Francisco, and how solar power is worth 14% more compared to a standard flat-rate electricity plan. In reality, it’s 36% or… Continue reading
Local governments are often looking for low-risk options for expanding broadband access to residents and local businesses. There are not many. Seattle put some extra conduit in the ground as a part of a different project that was tearing up the streets but Comcast was the only provider interested. The problem with a haphazard program… Continue reading