[Davisgig] Recently in Community Networks... Week of 3/10

[Christopher Mitchell]

*Recent Stories from MuniNetworks.org - a project of the Institute for
Local Self-Reliance. Instructions for unsubscribing appear at bottom.  Send
feedback.  Forward Widely.*


Lafayette Congratulates Wilson; Offers Support After FCC Ruling
<http://muninetworks.org/content/lafayette-congratulates-wilson-offers-support-after-fcc-ruling>
Tue, March 03, 2015 | Posted by lgonzalez
<http://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/lafayette-congratulates-wilson-offers-support-after-fcc-ruling>

*When the FCC announced its intention last week
<http://www.muninetworks.org/content/cable-companies-lose-big-fcc-barriers-community-broadband-struck-down>
to
neutralize the negative impacts of Tennessee and North Carolina anti-muni
laws, celebrating reached far beyond Chattanooga and Wilson. In Lafayette
<http://www.muninetworks.org/content/three-new-companies-move-silicon-bayou>,
home to LUS Fiber, City-Parish President Joey Durel took time to write a
supportive letter to Wilson's Mayor Bruce Rose.*

*We reproduce the text of that letter below. As Durel points out, the two
communities have strong similarities and the victory in Wilson has also
reached Lafayette. Durel notes that a community's decision to better its
connectivity should always be a local choice, that partisanship is not a
natural part of the equation, and he encouraged Rose to "stay strong."*

Dear Mayor Rose:

... Read the Letter from Joey Durel Here ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/lafayette-congratulates-wilson-offers-support-after-fcc-ruling>

Rural Electric Co-Mo Coop Goes Gig - Community Broadband Bits Episode 140
<http://muninetworks.org/content/rural-electric-co-mo-coop-goes-gig-community-broadband-bits-episode-140>
Tue, March 03, 2015 | Posted by christopher
<http://muninetworks.org/users/christopher>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/rural-electric-co-mo-coop-goes-gig-community-broadband-bits-episode-140>

As high quality Internet has become more essential for business and quality
of life, those who realized that the existing telecom providers had no
intention to invest in better connections in their rural Missouri
communities began to ask their electric cooperative - Co-Mo
<http://www.co-mo.coop/> - to step up and do it.

This week, we talk with Randy Klindt, General Manager of Co-Mo Connect,
which is building a gigabit fiber network out to its members despite having
not been chosen to receive any stimulus funds.

We discuss how they have structured the network, why they felt compelled to
get into the business, and some of the results from their approach.

... Listen to the Show Here ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/rural-electric-co-mo-coop-goes-gig-community-broadband-bits-episode-140>

Missouri Senate Committee Hears Anti-Muni Bill; Private Companies and
Groups Ask For No Vote
<http://muninetworks.org/content/missouri-senate-committee-hears-anti-muni-bill-private-companies-and-groups-ask-no-vote>
Wed, March 04, 2015 | Posted by lgonzalez
<http://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/missouri-senate-committee-hears-anti-muni-bill-private-companies-and-groups-ask-no-vote>

As the Senate version of Missouri's latest anti-muni bill, SB 266 [PDF]
<http://www.senate.mo.gov/15info/pdf-bill/intro/SB266.pdf>, moved forward
recently, a group of private sector companies and interested
organizations appealed
to state lawmakers [PDF]
<http://www.baller.com/wp-content/uploads/JointOppMissouriSB2662-18-15.pdf>
urging
them to stop it in its tracks.

In January we reported on HB 437
<http://www.muninetworks.org/content/missouri-bill-creates-new-barriers-community-networks>,
introduced by House Member Rocky Miller. Its Senate companion, which
establishes an identical slash and burn strategy to discourage municipal
broadband investment, appears to be gathering interest.

The Senate Jobs, Economic Development and Local Government Committee heard
the bill on February 18th but chose not to vote on it, reports the Columbia
Tribune
<http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/politics/schaefer-seeks-to-block-columbia-from-creating-high-speed-internet/article_a67033ac-9c6b-58bc-8df5-425d0e713b56.html>.
Members of the committee received a copy of the correspondence.

... More Coverage Here ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/missouri-senate-committee-hears-anti-muni-bill-private-companies-and-groups-ask-no-vote>

Co-Mo Cooperative: Bringing Some of the Fastest Speeds in the Nation to
Rural Missouri
<http://muninetworks.org/content/co-mo-cooperative-bringing-some-fastest-speeds-nation-rural-missouri>
Sun, March 08, 2015 | Posted by lgonzalez
<http://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/co-mo-cooperative-bringing-some-fastest-speeds-nation-rural-missouri>

Co-Mo Cooperative and the Co-Mo Connect Board of Directors recently voted
to proceed <http://www.co-mo.coop/news/newsdetail.aspx?itemID=288> with the
final phases of its gigabit FTTH
<http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term13> project.
The decision assures the plan to bring to triple-play
<http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term27> to all Co-Mo members by the end
of 2016.

We checked in on Co-Mo about a year ago
<http://www.muninetworks.org/content/central-missouri-coop-offer-gigabit-upgrades-speeds-no-price-increase>,
when the cooperative announced it would increase speeds without increasing
prices for both residential and business members. Residential fiber
Internet service ranges from $39.95 per month for 5 Mbps
<http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term18> to $99.95 per month for gigabit
service; all speeds are symmetrical
<http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term24>.

Triple-play service extends beyond the electric service territory. During
the first phase of the project, the city of California (pop. 4,200) opened
up city poles for Co-Mo in space that was previously used by a cable
company that no longer operated in the area. The project then expanded to
Tipton (pop. 3,200) and Versailles (pop. 2,500).

... More in This Followup to Our Podcast with Klindt Here ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/co-mo-cooperative-bringing-some-fastest-speeds-nation-rural-missouri>

Blackburn and Tillis Introduce Bill Aimed to Undo FCC Decision to Restore
Local Authority
<http://muninetworks.org/content/blackburn-and-tillis-introduce-bill-aimed-undo-fcc-decision-restore-local-authority>
Mon, March 02, 2015 | Posted by lgonzalez
<http://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/blackburn-and-tillis-introduce-bill-aimed-undo-fcc-decision-restore-local-authority>

Last week, the FCC made history
<http://www.muninetworks.org/content/cable-companies-lose-big-fcc-barriers-community-broadband-struck-down>
when
it chose to restore local telecommunications authority by nullifying state
barriers in Tennessee and North Carolina. Waiting in the wings were Rep.
Marsha Blackburn and Senator Thom Tillis from Tennessee and North Carolina
respectively, with their legislation to cut off the FCC at the knees. [A PDF
of the draft legislation
<http://blackburn.house.gov/uploadedfiles/states_rights_muni_broadband_act.pdf>
is
available online.]

Readers will remember Blackburn from last year
<http://www.muninetworks.org/content/revisiting-blackburn-amendment-debates>.
She introduced a similar measure in the form of an amendment to an
appropriations bill. Blackburn has repeatedly attributed her attempts to
block local authority to her mission to preserve the rights of states.

... Not a Surprise - Our Coverage Here ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/blackburn-and-tillis-introduce-bill-aimed-undo-fcc-decision-restore-local-authority>

Remembering David Carr, and His Writing on Monopoly Power
<http://muninetworks.org/content/remembering-david-carr-and-his-writing-monopoly-power>
Wed, March 04, 2015 | Posted by lgonzalez
<http://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/remembering-david-carr-and-his-writing-monopoly-power>

Stacy Mitchell <http://ilsr.org/stacy-mitchell/>, Co-Director of ILSR and
Director of the Community-Scaled Economy Initiative, took a few moments to
look back over the work of David Carr. Carr's work included investigating
monopolies in the telecommunications space. Stacy's story, re-posted
here, originally
ran on ILSR.org
<http://ilsr.org/remembering-david-carr-writing-monopoly-power/>.

What will we do without David Carr, the brilliant media columnist at the
New York Times who died last week
<http://ilsr.org/remembering-david-carr-writing-monopoly-power/www.nytimes.com/2015/02/13/business/media/david-carr-media-equation-columnist-for-the-times-is-dead-at-58.html>?
At ILSR, we will especially miss his writing on monopoly power, Amazon, and
the book business. Below we’ve excerpted and linked to a few of his best
recent pieces on those subjects.

In Modern Media Realm, Big Mergers Are a Bulwark Against Rivals
<http://ilsr.org/remembering-david-carr-writing-monopoly-power/www.nytimes.com/2014/07/17/business/media/in-modern-media-realm-big-mergers-are-a-bulwark-against-rivals.html?_r=0>
—
July 16, 2014

Comcast’s bold strategy of acquisition kicked off a wave of defensive
consolidation, fueled by a combination of fear and abundant capital in the
media realm.

... Lots of Great Thoughts from an Excellent Thinker Here ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/remembering-david-carr-and-his-writing-monopoly-power>

Community Broadband Media Roundup - March 6, 2015
<http://muninetworks.org/content/community-broadband-media-roundup-march-6-2015>
Sun, March 08, 2015 | Posted by rebecca
<http://muninetworks.org/users/rebecca>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/community-broadband-media-roundup-march-6-2015>

Outlets are continuing to pick up on the fact that the FCC's Community
Broadband decision was a big one for the future of the Internet.

*Community Broadband*

The Most Important Decision the FCC Made Last Week Wasn't on Net Neutrality
<http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121188/fcc-community-broadband-ruling-could-transform-internet-access>...
By
David Dayen, The New Republic

…Telecoms have reacted to this wave of community broadband in ways you
would expect from politically powerful, deep-pocketed corporations. First
they sued the pants off any municipality trying to build their own network.
Then they used their clout in state legislatures to restrict their reach.
In Tennessee, only municipal electric companies can provide broadband, and
only in the markets they serve. In North Carolina, community broadband
networks cannot jump county lines. States like Missouri and Texas ban
communities from building their own fiber-optic
<http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term10> networks.

FCC Tests Its Authority Over States: Agency takes on laws keeping cities
from running Internet service
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/fcc-tests-authority-over-states-involving-internet-service-1425258986>...
by
Drew Fitzgerald, The Wall Street Journal

... BOOM - What a Roundup! ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/community-broadband-media-roundup-march-6-2015>

-- 
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