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Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
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Results of Tuesday's Elections
A few local elections on Tuesday had questions relating to publicly owned broadband networks. In Seattle, candidate McGinn strongly supported a publicly owned fiber optic network for the city and he may yet get his way as the race is a dead heat and ballots are still being counted.
FCC Needs Your Comments on Local Government and Broadband
The FCC is asking for comments on the contribution of federal, state, tribal, and local government to broadband [pdf].
Missouri's Consultant, Competition Spurs Investment, and Maine's Middle Mile
A columnist explains why Missouri hired broadband network consultant Jim Baller to aid in expanding broadband across the state.
Tacoma Raises Prices for Cable Subscribers
Tacoma's Click! network, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, has announced a coming price hike to cover increased costs for carrying channels.
Tacoma's Click!
Community Fiber Networks, Symmetry, and the Flu
Many publicly owned community fiber networks offer symmetrical connections - allowing subscribers to both upload and download content at the same speeds. This approach treats the subscriber as both a producer and consumer of content (one of the reasons I generally avoid calling a subscriber a "customer" or "user").
TDS Ups Ante in Monticello with Predatory Pricing
Monticello Minnesota, the small community located 40 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, recently returned to the news when its telephone incumbent, TDS, began offering a fast 50/20 Mbps residential broadband connection for $50/month.
Longmont, Colorado, Considers Broadband Options
As I noted previously, a community in Colorado - Longmont - will soon vote on whether the local government should be allowed to sell retail Internet services.
Maine Needs Publicly Owned Broadband
My colleague in Portland, Maine, and I wrote this commentary for Maine's Portland Press Herald.
Last January, as the economy spiraled downward, Time Warner did what no other company could have gotten away with under the circumstances: It imposed a price increase of as much as 5.5 percent on its Maine customers.
Video on Australia's Proposed National Broadband Network
Alcatel-Lucent has created a terrific video (I saw it at Fiberevolution.com) for Australia regarding their proposed National Broadband Network. Australia is the latest of many countries poised to surpass the U.S.
CNET's Real Deal Video - On Broadband Networks
Wherein I answer some questions to clear up common misconceptions about the broadband and cable networks upon which we depend...
Lafayette and Incumbent Responses to New Networks
For another real-world example of how companies respond to public entry into the telecom market (as opposed to theoretical arguments about crowding out investment), let's look back down to Lafayette and how cable incumbent Cox responded:
“Cox froze the cable rates in Lafayette, and they didn’
The Real Deal on CNET
On Thursday, Oct 22, at 1:00 PM PDT (which is 4:00 PM EDT and, most importantly, 3:00 CDT), I will be a guest on CNET's The Real Deal - a live show that takes questions from listeners and viewers.
Checking in on Seattle
We occasionally look in on Seattle's broadband discussions because they are the largest city in the U.S. in which there is something approaching a serious discussion about a publicly owned community fiber network.
Network Neutrality and Public Goods
Following up on my recent piece about Comcast and the public interest, I wanted to note some good arguments for network neutrality.
Publicly owned Wi-Fi in Oklahoma City Saves Millions
Last year, Oklahoma City launched the world's largest muni Wi-Fi mesh network (not residential use, just public safety and other muni uses).
Comcast, Caps, and the Public Interest
While I try to keep postings on this site to the subject of publicly owned networks, I think it important to discuss the ways in which some major carriers routinely flout the public interest.
Charter to Cleveland, TN: You Are Not Sufficiently Profitable
Not too far away from Chattanooga, Tennessee, (home to the largest muni fiber network in the U.S.) lies Cleveland (Tennessee).
Rural Vermont Fiber Update
Vermont's proposed East Central Fiber Network is moving forward, confident that the strength of their application for federal broadband stimulus funding will get them an award.
100 Mbps to everyone for $350 billion
We finally have a realistic estimate of the cost of bringing 100Mbps to every home in America... and Light Reading labeled the cost "jaw-dropping."
Want to provide 100-Mbit/s broadband service to every U.S. household?
Residents Oppose Closing of St. Cloud's CyberSpot Wi-Fi Network
Many have held up the CyberSpot Wi-Fi network in Florida's Saint Cloud as a successful example of public provisioning of wireless. From my perspective, the network was always interesting in that it did not attempt to pay for itself out of network revenues. The city built the network and provided services over the 15 square miles for free - they viewed it as a public service.