Christopher Mitchell, Director of the Telecommunications as Commons Initiative has been spending many hours on the road these days. Why? Interest in publicly owned broadband networks continues to grow as communities search for savings, economic development, and connectivity on the local level and more organizations seek out Chris’ expertise. From policy to implementation, ILSR continues to reach more communities and groups seeking info on connectivity.

Most recently, Chris participated on a key panel at the 2013 Broadband Communities Summit in Dallas on April 17. The panel, titled By the Numbers: Research Finding on Broadband and Economic Development, focused on current  links between broadband and economic development. The archived video is now available at the BroadbandUS.TV website. Christopher presented first; registration is required to view the video.

Christopher also attended the National Conference for Media Reform in Denver in April. The discussion focused on how communities have created their own networks and the resulting benefits. You can now access audio of the panel discussion, We Built This City: How Communities Can Get Better Broadband.

In March, Chris participated as a panelist at the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C. The FCC’s first Gigabit Cities’ Challenge Workshop was a day long event. The workshop video is now available on the FCC video archives. The discussion included information on policy, development, and implementation in bringing America’s communities closer to meaningful connectivity.

Christopher also gave the keynote address to the Telephone Association of New England keynote address at the Telecom & Technology Symposium Northeast in Maine on April 3rd.

Read ongoing coverage related to these networks at ILSR’s site devoted to Community Broadband Networks.  You can also subscribe to a once-per-week email with stories about community broadband networks.

*Photo of Christopher Mitchell by Glenn Ricart