[Davisgig] Recently in Community Networks... Week of 4/7

Tue Apr 7 08:56:38 PDT 2015

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Opportunities and Challenges as Lafayette Considers Muni Fiber Expansion -
Community Broadband Bits Episode 144
<http://muninetworks.org/content/opportunities-and-challenges-lafayette-considers-muni-fiber-expansion-community-broadband>
Tue, March 31, 2015 | Posted by christopher
<http://muninetworks.org/users/christopher>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/opportunities-and-challenges-lafayette-considers-muni-fiber-expansion-community-broadband>

After we heard that Lafayette's LUS Fiber <http://lusfiber.com/> was
considering
expanding
<http://muninetworks.org/content/lafayette-considers-expansion-one-nearby-town-strikes-itself-list>
to
some nearby communities, we knew we had to set up an interview with Terry
Huval, Director of the Lafayette Utilities System in Louisiana.

In our interview this week, Terry and I discuss Lafayette's success, the
legacy of the law creating special barriers that only apply to cities
building fiber networks, and the challenges of expanding LUS Fiber beyond
the boundaries of the city.

We also discuss some plans they are developing to celebrate the 10th
anniversary of the referendum on July 16, 2005, in which a strong majority
of voters authorized the building of what was then the largest municipal
FTTH <http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term13> network in the nation.

Despite its success, Lafayette has been targeted by cable and telephone
shills that are willing to say just about anything to defend the big
corporate monopolies. We addressed these attacks in this Correcting
Community Fiber Fallacies report
<http://muninetworks.org/content/correcting-community-fiber-fallacies-attacks-lus-fiber>
.

... Listen to the Show Here ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/opportunities-and-challenges-lafayette-considers-muni-fiber-expansion-community-broadband>

Bozeman City Commission Approves Master Plan: "It's A No-Brainer"
<http://muninetworks.org/content/bozeman-city-commission-approves-master-plan-its-no-brainer>
Wed, April 01, 2015 | Posted by lgonzalez
<http://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/bozeman-city-commission-approves-master-plan-its-no-brainer>

Bozeman elected officials voted unanimously on January 26th to approve a
recently completed master plan and take the next step to deploying publicly
owned open access <http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term625> infrastructure.
We discussed the Bozeman approach in a recent podcast with city staff and a
local business
<http://muninetworks.org/content/bozemans-public-private-approach-depth-community-broadband-bits-podcast-142>
.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports
<http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/city/commissioners-again-endorse-bozeman-fiber-project/article_8bcb9ec2-a5e8-11e4-955c-0bc487d83c94.html#disqus_thread>
that
local business leaders attended the City Commission meeting to speak in
favor of the initiative, including the local Chamber of Commerce president,
representatives from local tech companies, and the director of the Downtown
Bozeman business coalition.

Commissioners heard comments from supporters, CenturyLink, and local
provider Montana Opticom <http://www.mt-opticom.com/>. Even though Jim
Dolan from Montana Optimcom expressed some concerns about some engineering
issues, the local ISP rep still said, "It’s a great initiative and it
really will help the valley.” The Chronicle reports commissioners
questioned supporters for about an hour before voting to move forward.

... More Details on Bozeman's Financing Approach Here ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/bozeman-city-commission-approves-master-plan-its-no-brainer>

Cooperative Lights Up $88 Gigabit in Northeast Alabama
<http://muninetworks.org/content/cooperative-lights-88-gigabit-northeast-alabama>
Thu, April 02, 2015 | Posted by lgonzalez
<http://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/cooperative-lights-88-gigabit-northeast-alabama>

Farmers Telecommunications Cooperative <http://farmerstel.com/> (FTC) is
now bringing gigabit service to its Alabama members. According to the Online
Reporter
<http://www.onlinereporter.com/2015/02/13/if-a-tiny-telco-in-ne-alabama-can-go-all-fiber-why-cant-every-telco/>,
FTC is the largest member-owned cooperative in the state and offers
symmetrical <http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term24> service to
businesses and residents in two counties.

The cooperative began in 1952 when telephone companies of the time did not
want to invest in the rural area of the state due to low expected returns.
Years earlier, the community had organized its own electric cooperative and
reproduced its success to bring telephone service to residents. The area,
referred to as Sand Mountain, is a natural plateau at the southern tip of
the Appalachian Mountain chain.

WHNT 19 News
<http://whnt.com/2015/02/11/gigabit-internet-service-officially-launched-on-areas-of-sand-mountain/>
attended
a lighting ceremony in Geraldine where the FTC CEO said that the
cooperative has covered approximately 84 percent of its membership area.
The fiber network runs between Chattanooga and Huntsville, consisting of
approximately 2,770 miles of fiber.

... More on Another Exciting Rural Coop Gigabit Offering ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/cooperative-lights-88-gigabit-northeast-alabama>

Chanute and Chattanooga Added to List of Rural Broadband Experiment Funds
<http://muninetworks.org/content/chanute-and-chattanooga-added-list-rural-broadband-experiment-funds>
Wed, April 01, 2015 | Posted by lgonzalez
<http://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/chanute-and-chattanooga-added-list-rural-broadband-experiment-funds>

A year ago, the FCC accepted applications from entities seeking Connect
America funds for rural broadband experiments
<http://www.muninetworks.org/content/march-7th-deadline-connect-america-fund-expressions-interest>.
After provisional awards and some eliminations, Chanute's FTTH
<http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term13> project, Chattanooga's EPB, and
a number of additional cooperatives are now on the list of provisional
winners reports Telecompetitor
<http://www.telecompetitor.com/fcc-chooses-12-new-rural-broadband-experiment-winners/>
.

According to the article, $27 million became available when 16 entities
were eliminated for various reasons.

A recent Chanute Tribune article
<http://www.chanute.com/news/article_4c4144b2-c3b8-11e4-bdba-abd726849c9d.html>
reports
that the city's expected award will be approximately $508,000 if it passes
the FCC's post-selection process.

... Read the Rest of This Interesting Development Here ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/chanute-and-chattanooga-added-list-rural-broadband-experiment-funds>

Carl Junction Partnering for Wi-Fi in Missouri
<http://muninetworks.org/content/carl-junction-partnering-wi-fi-missouri>
Tue, March 31, 2015 | Posted by lgonzalez
<http://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/carl-junction-partnering-wi-fi-missouri>

Carl Junction has been looking for a way to improve connectivity in its
southwest corner of the state for several years. Plans for a fiber network
<http://www.muninetworks.org/content/carl-junction-missouri-plans-community-owned-fiber-network>did
not come to pass, but the community has found a private partner to bring
ubiquitous high-speed Wi-Fi <http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term29>to
town.

The City Council voted unanimously to approve a deal with Aire Fiber, reports
the Joplin Globe
<http://www.joplinglobe.com/news/local_news/carl-junction-official-announces-broadband-deal/article_dcf49fea-9202-56ac-ab15-75c15cfe035a.html>,
for a basic plan that will offer service for $49.99 per month. Users will
not be constrained by data caps, speeds will be up to 50 Mbps
<http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term18> download
<http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term8> and 10 - 15 Mbps upload
<http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term28>, and the network will provide
service to each address in town. Installation is $99 per address; rates
will be the same for businesses and residences. There are no long term
committments. The partners have launched their campaign to get signups
online <http://www.carljunction.airefiber.com/> seeking 289 subscriptions
to get the project off the ground.

... More on This Approach in Our Story Here ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/carl-junction-partnering-wi-fi-missouri>

Bar Harbor, Maine, Studies Muni Fiber to Replace Time Warner Cable Franchise
<http://muninetworks.org/content/bar-harbor-maine-studies-muni-fiber-replace-time-warner-cable-franchise>
Mon, March 30, 2015 | Posted by lgonzalez
<http://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/bar-harbor-maine-studies-muni-fiber-replace-time-warner-cable-franchise>

For the past several months, Maine communities have been a hotbed of
broadband activity. Bar Harbor <http://www.barharbormaine.gov/>, located
midway along the state's Atlantic coast, is another community looking at
fiber as a necessary investment.

According to a February article in the Mount Desert Islander
<http://www.mdislander.com/featured/town-weighing-options-create-fiber-optic-broadband-network>,
the town of 5,200 has decided to move forward with a feasibility study. The
town received Internet access at no additional cost as part of its previous
franchise <http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term12> agreement with Time
Warner Cable. That agreement expired about a year ago and, as we have seen
in other communities, the cable giant now appears to be holding out in
order to charge for the same service.

... Read the Story Here ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/bar-harbor-maine-studies-muni-fiber-replace-time-warner-cable-franchise>

Click! Network Rates Set to Increase to Cover Retrans Fees
<http://muninetworks.org/content/click-network-rates-set-increase-cover-retrans-fees>
Fri, April 03, 2015 | Posted by lgonzalez
<http://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/click-network-rates-set-increase-cover-retrans-fees>

Tacoma's Click! network raised prices in 2010
<http://www.muninetworks.org/content/tacoma-raises-prices-cable-subscribers> in
order to cover increases in retransmission fees for its television feeds.
Fees have continually risen for Click! and other networks and, according to
Tacoma's News Tribune, will continue to rise. The market is fundamentally
broken, with small providers struggling to keep up as sports programming
shoots through the roof and companies like Comcast merge with content
owners.

In Tacoma, the situation was so bad it led to a fee dispute between KOMO
and Click! network that resulted in a channel blackout on the network. The News
Tribune pursued
<http://www.thenewstribune.com/2015/01/24/3605051_after-2-year-fight-tacoma-releases.html?rh=1>
document
requests early in 2014 to obtain copies of the retransmission agreements at
the center of the dispute between the network and KOMO. The documents
revealed that agreements with several broadcasters rewarded broadcasters
significant increases in retransmission fees. Over a six year period,
KOMO's rate increased 416 percent.

... Get the Rest of the Details here ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/click-network-rates-set-increase-cover-retrans-fees>

Community Broadband Media Roundup - April 3
<http://muninetworks.org/content/community-broadband-media-roundup-april-3>
Sat, April 04, 2015 | Posted by rebecca
<http://muninetworks.org/users/rebecca>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/community-broadband-media-roundup-april-3>

Even after the FCC’s approval of broadband expansion, state lawmakers
refuse to acknowledge that EPB should be able to deliver faster, affordable
Internet to nearby communities.

Tennessee legislation to expand broadband coverage on hold for now
<http://www.wdef.com/news/story/Tennessee-legislation-to-expand-broadband/NB6RQUAhdE-BA6If3eo8RQ.cspx>,
WDEF

“In the 21st Century, broadband infrastructure is just as critical as good
roadways to the economic development and quality of life of a community.
Allowing investor-driven entities headquartered in other states to pick
which Tennessee communities win and which lose when it comes to this
critical infrastructure undermines the fundamental principle of local
control.”

Tennessee puts municipal broadband bill on hold
<https://civsourceonline.com/2015/04/02/tennessee-puts-municipal-broadband-bill-on-hold/>
by
Bailey McCann, CivSource

... Read the Full Roundup Here ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/community-broadband-media-roundup-april-3>

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