From rl at 1st-mile.org Tue Aug 2 09:55:58 2016 From: rl at 1st-mile.org (Richard Lowenberg) Date: Tue, 02 Aug 2016 10:55:58 -0600 Subject: [Davisgig] Yolo County Solar Message-ID: Of interest, as related to broadband initiatives. RL http://www.govtech.com/dc/articles/Three-Ways-Local-Governments-Can-Use-Solar-Power-for-Themselves-Part-1-Yolo-County.html --------------------------------------------------------------- Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director 1st-Mile Institute 505-603-5200 Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504, rl at 1st-mile.org www.1st-mile.org --------------------------------------------------------------- From christopher at newrules.org Tue Aug 2 09:44:30 2016 From: christopher at newrules.org (Christopher Mitchell) Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2016 11:44:30 -0500 Subject: [Davisgig] Recently in Community Networks... Week of 8/2 Message-ID: *Recent Stories from MuniNetworks.org - a project of the **Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Instructions for unsubscribing appear at bottom. Send feedback. Forward Widely.* TN Study Suggests Stamping Out State Barriers Mon, July 25, 2016 | Posted by lgonzalez The results of a statewide Tennessee survey on residential and business connectivity are in and they ain't pretty. Thirteen percent of the state - more than 834,000 people - don?t have access to 25 Megabits per second (Mbps ) download and 3 Mbps upload , which is the FCC's definition of broadband. Authors of the study make a number of recommendations, the first of which is *removing state barriers that stifle Internet infrastructure investment*. *"...A More Open Regulatory Environment"* The study, commissioned by the state?s Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) earlier this year, includes feedback from more than 23,000 households and businesses. >From page 13 of the report: The State of Tennessee could consider lifting administrative burdens and restrictions to broadband infrastructure investment to fostering a more open regulatory environment. ... More Details on Tennessee's Official Study Here ... Tiny Mt Washington Builds Fiber-to-the-Home - Community Broadband Bits Podcast 212 Wed, July 27, 2016 | Posted by christopher Overlooked by the incumbent telephone company, Mount Washington in the southwest corner of Massachusetts is becoming one of the smallest FTTH communities in the country by investing in a municipal fiber network. A strong majority of the town committed to three years of service and the state contributed $230,000 to build the network after a lot of local groundwork and organizing. Select Board member Gail Garrett joins us for episode 212 of the Community Broadband Bits to discuss their process and the challenges of crafting an economical plan on such a small scale. It turns out that the rural town had some advantages - low make-ready costs from the lack of wires on poles and no competition to have to worry about. So they are moving forward and with some cooperation from the telephone company and electric utility, they could build it pretty quickly. We also discuss what happens to those homes that choose not to take service when it is rolled out - they will have to pay more later to be connected. ... Listen to the Show Here ... Read the transcript of this episode here ... Greenlight Upgrades Pinetops, North Carolina, With FTTH Thu, July 28, 2016 | Posted by Catharine Rice In April, Wilson?s, municipal fiber network, Greenlight, expanded to pass every home in neighboring rural Pinetops . How is it going? Acting Town Manager, Brenda Harrell said, ?We just love it!? *No Longer Out of Reach* Pinetops is about a 20 minute drive due east from Greenlight?s operations center, but more importantly, it is in another county entirely. Wilson serves six neighboring counties with its municipal electric services. Turning on internet service in Pinetops was an easy reach for Wilson, where fiber was being deployed as part of an automated meter infrastructure project. Back in February 2015, the FCC preempted a North Carolina state law, known as H129, that prohibited Wilson from serving any residents outside of Wilson County. The preemption allowed Wilson to finish the project it had to suspend when H129 became law. In addition to the benefits of automated metering, Pinetops now experiences a higher quality of life with fast, affordable, reliable Internet access. ... More on Wilson's Important Investment in their Region Here ... Community Connections - Joey Durel: Lafayette, Louisiana Wed, July 27, 2016 | Posted by rebecca The city of Lafayette, Louisiana had an export problem. For years they had seen their young people become educated and move away from the small city, but local leaders like Joey Durel listened to experts like Terry Huval when they encouraged him to look into building a citywide fiber network. In this video Christopher Mitchell interviews Joey Durel, former City-Parish President of Lafayette, Louisiana. In 2009 Lafayette Utilities System installed infrastructure for a fiber telecommunications network called LUS Fiber . The network provides digital cable, telephone service, and high-speed Internet to all households in Lafayette. In the video, Durel emphasizes the hidden benefit of controversy when building advanced Internet networks: controversy educates the public. When local leaders are able to "think outside the box" and encourage discussion and debate, they are much more able to educate their constituents and in turn, make change. ... Watch the Video Here ... Tullahoma?s LighTUBe Connects 3,500th Customer Fri, July 29, 2016 | Posted by alexander Tullahoma Utilities Board (TUB) recently celebrated its 3,500th Internet customer , rewarding the lucky LightTUBe subscriber with a $350 bill credit. TUB has offered Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH ) triple-play services to the Tennessee town of 19,000 since 2009. LightTUBe now boasts an estimated market penetration rate of 39 percent, despite competition from publicly-traded incumbents Charter, Comcast, and AT&T. LightTUBe delivers $90 per month symmetrical gigabit connectivity (1,000 Megabits per second), so upload and download speeds are equally fast. LightTUBe also offers other affordable options and has repeatedly lowered prices and increased speeds . ... Hard to Avoid Writing "Totally Tubular" Here - More Details ... Rewriting the Rules, Santa Cruz County Encourages Competition Mon, July 25, 2016 | Posted by hannah South of California?s Bay Area with its buzzing tech startups and expensive housing, Santa Cruz County has been overlooked by the big Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The city of Santa Cruz had less than stellar connectivity, and the rest of Santa Cruz County was no better. That?s when county leaders decided to rewrite the rules. Throughout 2014 and early 2015, the Board of Supervisors for Santa Cruz County developed a broadband master plan, created a ?dig once? policy, andstreamlined the regulatory permit process . Cutting down red tape at the county level encouraged both small and large ISPs to reconsider investing in Santa Cruz. ... Cruz Through the Rest of this Story Here ... Kandiyohi County And CTC Co-op Team Up For Connected Future Tue, July 26, 2016 | Posted by lgonzalez In an effort to improve local connectivity, Kandiyohi County will collaborate with a local cooperative, Consolidated Telecommunications Company of Brainerd (CTC Co-op). Kadiyohi County is in step with the increasing number of rural communities joining forces with cooperatives when big corporate providers find no reason to invest in less populated areas. *Keeping It Local* In early July, the County Board of Commissioners signed a letter of intent with CTC Co-op in order to start planning for a potential project. The move improves the county?s chances to obtain one of the Minnesota Border-to-Border Broadband Program grants and motivates CTC Co-op to begin allocating some of its own funds toward a potential Kandiyohi project. ... Read our Full Coverage Here ... Port of Ridgefield, Washington: Dark Fiber Network On Deck Sat, July 30, 2016 | Posted by Scott The Port of Ridgefield is planning to build a municipal open access dark fiber-optic network that could provide access to high-speed Internet connectivity for the Washington state community of 7,000. *Planning Stage* Town officials held a public informational meeting in late June to update residents and businesses on the fiber project, which is still in the planning stage. Estimated cost of the proposed 42-mile fiber backbone is $2.4 million, Nelson Holmberg, Port of Ridgefield vice-president of innovation, told us. ... Information About the Time Table and Other Details Here ... Community Broadband Media Roundup - August 1 Mon, August 01, 2016 | Posted by Nick *Minnesota* City studies $50 million broadband plan by Andrew Setterholm, Rochester Post Bulletin & GovTech *Tennessee* Broadband service is vital for Tennessee businesses, new study shows by Dave Flessner, Times Free Press *Vermont* ECFiber Awards Design and Engineering Contract by BBC Wires ... Read the Full Community Network Media Roundup Here ... -- You can always find our most recent stories and other resources at http://MuniNetworks.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Community Networks Weekly Updates" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to communitynetworks-weekly+unsubscribe at ilsr.org. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/a/ilsr.org/d/optout. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ls at whitewavedigital.com Sun Aug 7 11:22:41 2016 From: ls at whitewavedigital.com (Larry Dieterich) Date: Sun, 7 Aug 2016 11:22:41 -0700 Subject: [Davisgig] draft- What good broadband means to me, and what I want from broadband. Message-ID: Hi All, I am crafting a letter to send to "whom it may concern", supporting the need for better broadband in our communities. I think that stories about broadband, good and bad, are very useful to help people frame the issue. I encourage others to tell their stories about the network. I plan to send the final letter to the BATF or any other parties that anyone thinks useful?. Please comment, suggest, embellish or use. thanks, Larry Dieterich ## What good broadband means to me, and what I want from broadband. The information necessary to function in the world is increasingly available *only* on the public network. In the consumer realm, critical things such as healthcare information, schedules and appointments, navigating the daily needs of life, are all increasingly reliant on resources that are only available online. The low cost of providing services and information online has led many entities to curtail services based on telephone, postal, or in-person access. Network access is no longer optional. At the same time, the real needs of business and commerce have moved to the public network. Without reliable access to the Internet, business cannot continue to grow in the current paradigm. It is not only about communication, it is about access to supplies, orders, time tracking, billing and payment. I want to relate a personal story about the benefit of good Internet - I am an avid gardener. Last summer, I discovered severe damage to my tomatillo plants, apparently from insects. After observing the damage, I needed information to diagnose and control the problem. I am lucky to have good Internet where I live and I have an Internet-connected computer near my garden. I took a sample of the damaged plants and used the networked computer and a search for the phrase "insect damage in tomatillos". Within a few minutes, using images of damage that were contributed by other gardeners, I knew exactly what was causing the problem and how to control it. I was able to find non-toxic and economical means of control; a strong spray of water to dislodge the feeding larvae. I saved my crop without driving anywhere, spending time on the telephone, poring through books in the library, or buying poison. It was safe and successful and nearly immediate because of the close proximity of a well-networked computer. On a related note; it is *content* that makes the Internet useful. Having fast, reliable, trusted and affordable Internet connection allows the creation of content to become widely distributed. Individuals can make contributions of their own, using material that is not presently available on the Internet as well as their own experience, to enrich the body of knowledge. The public network is not just about consuming information; but also about contributing knowledge and useful content. With the ubiquity of digital cameras, it is even more important to have access to high speed easy access to enable the easy contribution of images. The ability to access the public network is no longer an optional luxury or an interesting novelty. Good Internet access, fast, secure and unfettered, is essential to effective living and community participation. The best communities are those with network access that effectively supports remote work, remote access to services and information. The benefits are enormous and include such things as peer-to-peer services such as offsite backup of our unique data to a trusted remote location, such as a neighbor?s home or a remote office. This is enabled by high speed Internet. Another very useful thing is remote monitoring of our homes while we are away. This, too, is enabled by high speed Internet. The possibilities are currently huge and will only grow more with the proliferation of better connectivity. Increasingly, the demands of living in the networked information age are outstripping the legacy infrastructure. Fiber connections will future-proof communications investments and make a lasting asset of our expenditures. Broadband access has acquired essential status on par with roads, water, sewer and garbage collection. Let?s invest in our community by installing municipally owned fiber-based network connectivity that generates revenue for the city and improves our quality of life, making our community a more desirable place to dwell while sparking and supporting imagination and innovation. The benefits of municipally-owned and widespread gigabit fiber are numerous and obvious. ## From szsherm at yahoo.com Mon Aug 8 23:04:42 2016 From: szsherm at yahoo.com (Shneor Sherman) Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2016 06:04:42 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Davisgig] NYTimes Article on Rural Broadband References: <1758712541.13271856.1470722682617.JavaMail.yahoo.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1758712541.13271856.1470722682617.JavaMail.yahoo@mail.yahoo.com> This could be a lot less expensive,,, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/08/technology/how-to-give-rural-america-broadband-look-to-the-early-1900s.html Shneor Sherman From christopher at newrules.org Tue Aug 9 09:34:56 2016 From: christopher at newrules.org (Christopher Mitchell) Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2016 11:34:56 -0500 Subject: [Davisgig] Recently in Community Networks... Week of 8/9 Message-ID: *Recent Stories from MuniNetworks.org - a project of the **Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Instructions for unsubscribing appear at bottom. Send feedback. Forward Widely.* Smart FCC Decisions Helped Create the Internet - Community Broadband Bits Podcast 213 Tue, August 02, 2016 | Posted by christopher We originally planned this episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast to answer the question of "What is the Internet?" But as we started talking to our guest, Principal of Interisle Consulting Group Fred Goldstein, we quickly realized we first had to dig into a little bit of history. This is not the story of how the Department of Defense and university researchers created the ArpaNet. We are focused on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and telephone companies and how the FCC's Computer Inquiries allowed the Internet to thrive. Fred lived it and offers a passionate retelling of key events, motivations, and more. This conversation is setting the stage for a future show - later this month - focused on answering the original question: "Just what, exactly, is the Internet?" And we'll also talk about network neutrality and other hot topics in answering it. But for now, we hope you enjoy this show. We went a bit long and it is a bit technical in places, but we think the history is important and a reminder of how good government policy can lead to great outcomes. ... Listen to the Show Here ... Bozeman Fiber Transitions from Construction to Operations Tue, August 02, 2016 | Posted by alexander Local officials are preparing to light a highly anticipated nonprofit fiber-optic network in Bozeman, Montana. Over the course of three years, nonprofit Bozeman Fiber, Inc. laid about 30 miles of fiber optic cable in downtown Bozeman, connecting local government, businesses, and schools to a high-speed, fiber-optic network. According to local news provider MTN News via KBZK, Bozeman Fiber will be completely operational within the next 60-90 days. For Bozeman, affordable fiber-optic Internet access presents an important opportunity for local economic development. Anthony Cochenour of Bozeman Fiber explained the project?s goal to MTN News, "More bandwidth at lower costs, and better availability for higher bandwidth than we can get today. It?s one of the barriers to entry that Bozeman has to attracting increasingly large and interesting businesses, the business that we want to be here.? ... Learn More About Their Fairly Unique NonProfit Approach ... Lake Region Electric Cooperative: More Fiber in Oklahoma! Wed, August 03, 2016 | Posted by hannah Electric cooperatives are bringing high-speed Internet service throughout northeast Oklahoma. In 2014, Bolt Fiber, a subsidiary of Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative, started building a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network throughout their service area. Now, slightly to the south, Lake Region Electric Cooperative is planning to expand their FTTH network. Lake Region Electric Cooperative is about to begin another phase of construction on their FTTH network in the area around Tahlequah, Oklahoma, capital of the Cherokee Nation. The subsidiary or the electric co-op, Lake Region Technology and Communications , is managing the project. *Expanding Reliable, Rural Internet Service* In late 2014, the co-op began two pilot projects for FTTH service. After the success of those projects, the co-op decided to expand. They have divided their service area into 11 zones and are seeking sign-ups. The co-op will expand the FTTH network to the zones where the most people pre-register. The network provides high-speed Internet access, HD video, and high-quality phone service. ... BOLT to the Rest of our Story ... Community Connections - Terry Huval from Lafayette, Louisiana Thu, August 04, 2016 | Posted by rebecca "We Speak French, Eat Crawfish, and Have the Fastest Broadband in the World." Terry Huval's fascination with fiber started with the fiber on his fiddle strings, so it's pretty appropriate that he regailed Christopher with his skills during this Community Connections episode. In the previous episode you heard from former Mayor, Joey Durel about overcoming controversy and Lafayette's LUS Fiber . In this episode, Huval emphasizes why ownership is so important for cities to control their fiber infrastructure. He also touches on the other benefits of the public fiber network: faster response for outages, better connectivity for public safety and traffic control, and more than $13 million in cost savings for residents and businesses! ... Watch the Video Here ... Nashville Considering One Touch Make Ready Thu, August 04, 2016 | Posted by lgonzalez In 2015, Nashville welcomed Google Fiber with open arms , anticipating all the possibilities gigabit connectivity could mean for businesses and residents. The deployment is moving slowly, however, in part because of time consuming make ready work on utility poles. In order to speed up the process and establish better policy for the city in general, Nashville has just introduced a one touch make ready ordinance . *Too Many Wires* A recent Nashville Scene article described the situation, common in a number of communities where utility poles already carry a number of wires: The thousands of poles that stand around the city, most of which are owned by Nashville Electric Service, are arranged with power on top and communications equipment in a line below that. In Nashville, this means NES equipment pushes electricity up top, while broadly speaking, gear from Comcast and AT&T ? whether for home phone, cable or internet service ? operates below. ... Read More on Nashville's Leadership to Lower Cost of Competition ... Preliminary Study Puts Charles City Back on Track to Digital Self-Determinism Fri, August 05, 2016 | Posted by alexander Local officials in Charles City, a town of 7,500 in northeastern Iowa, approved a preliminary study of community broadband interest late last month. The study will determine whether additional funds should be allocated toward a more comprehensive study. This announcement comes on the heels of increased regional interest in the Iowa Fiber Alliance, a proposed multi-community fiber ring. The preliminary study will cost the city $18,500 and should be completed before the end of the summer. The Community Broadband Engagement and Education Project seeks to engage key community stakeholders, educate the public on high-speed community networks, and ultimately measure the interest of local residents, businesses, and government leadership. ... More on Charles City, Back in Charge Here ... North Carolina Communities Create West-Next Generation Network Mon, August 01, 2016 | Posted by hannah Drawing inspiration from a previous project in the Research Triangle, communities around Asheville are joining forces. The goal is high-speed Internet access. West - Next Generation Network (WestNGN) is a multi-government collaboration in the Asheville area to encourage investment in fiber-optic networks for Gigabit (1,000 Megabits) connectivity to the region. *An Established Model* The Research Triangle, the area around Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, started a new collaborative model to bring Gigabit connectivity to their communities. Six municipalities and four universities there established the North Carolina Next Generation Network (NCNGN) . The project encourages private sector providers to develop ultra-fast networks. ... Read our Full Coverage on Their Approach Here ... FairlawnGig Connects Two Hotels In Time For RNC Sat, August 06, 2016 | Posted by alexander Thousands of delegates, politicians, and media personnel flocked to northeast Ohio in July to attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. A lucky few stayed in the bedroom community of Fairlawn at one of two hotels now featuring gigabit Internet connections (1,000 Megabits per second). FairlawnGig, the town?s new municipal network , hooked up Hilton Akron-Fairlawn and DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Akron-Fairlawn in time for the convention . Guests could seamlessly stream video,upload content, and communicate with coworkers and family, despite the hotels? full occupancy. The fiber-optic network will soon be available to residents and businesses across the community. ... Another Municipal Network Improves Connectivity Here ... "Big Sky Broadband Workshop" Set for August 31st - September 1st in Missoula Mon, August 08, 2016 | Posted by lgonzalez The National Telecommunications and information Administration (NTIA ) will be hosting the "*Big Sky Broadband Workshop *" on August 31st and September 1st in Missoula, Montana. If you happen to be in the area and keen to learn more about connectivity in the region, plan to attend this free event. Our own Christopher Mitchell will be participating in one of the panel discussions. >From the NTIA announcement: Broadband is a critical driver of economic growth and prosperity across the country. The ?Big Sky Broadband Workshop? will bring together state, local and federal officials, industry representatives, community leaders and other key stakeholders to share real-world broadband success stories and lessons learned from across the region. The summit will also examine the gaps that remain and strategize on what still needs to be done to expand access to and adoption of high-speed Internet services for the benefit of all citizens. The event will begin at noon on August 31st in Missoula?s Hilton Garden Inn; there will also be a reception later that evening. Panel discussions will continue the next morning at 9 a.m. Community Broadband Media Roundup - August 8 Mon, August 08, 2016 | Posted by Nick *California* Cruzio to launch high-speed Internet pilot project by Jessica A. York, Santa Cruz Sentinel The move is designed to create a demonstration area ahead of completed public-private negotiations with the city of Santa Cruz to co-develop a new $30-$40 million broadband utility citywide. Cruzio expects to display both the construction methods and business model needed to wire up each participating home and extend its underground fiber optic cable network ?backbone? by self-funding the first step. *Colorado* Boulder County, Colo., considers putting municipal high-speed broadband on November ballot by John Fryar, GovTech ... Read the Entire Community Network Media Roundup Here ... -- You can always find our most recent stories and other resources at http://MuniNetworks.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Community Networks Weekly Updates" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to communitynetworks-weekly+unsubscribe at ilsr.org. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/a/ilsr.org/d/optout. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jhframe at dcn.org Wed Aug 10 21:23:44 2016 From: jhframe at dcn.org (Jim Frame) Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2016 21:23:44 -0700 Subject: [Davisgig] Prevailing Wage Considerations Message-ID: It's not too early to start thinking about the contracting and construction aspects of a municipal fiber network. We need to be cognizant of the ramifications of public funding, even if it's for work preparatory to construction of the project. As a rule of thumb, if any public monies get into the mix, prevailing wage regulations apply to the entire project, and that can dramatically increase the cost of construction. (I don't think the feasibility study qualifies, but once the effort becomes a "public works project" the funding sources matter, even prior to actual construction.) If the build is done with the city as the contracting agency, there's no question that the rules apply. But if it's built for a private non-profit, the question goes to the source of funds. I'm not suggesting that paying prevailing wages is necessarily a bad thing, just that it's a factor worthy of consideration. And the earlier the better in order to prevent any unintentional commitments. The reason I bring this up now is that in doing some research in connection of my own business -- prevailing wage requirements can be maddeningly complex and confusing -- I came across a Department of Industrial Relations ruling on a fiber project. The project owners thought they were exempt from the regs, but the DIR ruled otherwise. For anyone who wants to dive into the details, the ruling document can be found here: http://www.dir.ca.gov/OPRL/coverage/year2015/2013-015(A).pdf -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Frame jhframe at dcn.org 530.756.8584 Frame Surveying & Mapping 609 A Street Davis, CA 95616 -----------------------< Davis Community Network >------------------- From christopher at newrules.org Wed Aug 24 12:08:06 2016 From: christopher at newrules.org (Christopher Mitchell) Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2016 14:08:06 -0500 Subject: [Davisgig] Recently in Community Networks, Week of 8/24 Message-ID: *Recent Stories from MuniNetworks.org - a project of the **Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Instructions for unsubscribing appear at bottom. Send feedback. Forward Widely.* Open Cape Works With Communities for Last Mile - Community Broadband Bits Podcast 215 Tue, August 16, 2016 | Posted by christopher Cape Cod's Open Cape is the latest of the stimulus-funded middle mile broadband projects to focus on expanding to connect businesses and residents. We talk to Open Cape Executive Director Steve Johnston about the new focus and challenge of expansion in episode 215 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. Steve has spent much of his first year as executive director in meetings with people all across the Cape. We talk about how important those meetings are and why Steve made them a priority in the effort to expand Open Cape. We also talk about the how Open Cape is using Crowd Fiber to allow residents to show their interest in an Open Cape connection. They hope that expanding the network will encourage people to spend more time on the Cape, whether living or vacationing. The Cape is not just a vacation spot, it has a large number of full time residents that are looking for more economic opportunities and the higher quality of life that comes with full access to modern technology. ... Listen to the Show Here ... Read the transcript of this episode here ... Chattanooga's EPB Ranked Tops By J.D. Powers, Consumer Reports Mon, August 15, 2016 | Posted by lgonzalez EPB customers love the fast, affordable, reliable Internet access they get from their muni and they appreciate the way its smart-grid helps them save money on their electric bill. According to a new J.D. Power report, their municipal utility is also the highest rated mid-size utility in the South for customer service and reliability. *Double Honors* Just a month ago, Consumer Reports magazine rated EPB the best TV and Internet access utility in the county for customer satisfaction, as chosen by a reader survey. The J.D. Power report went on to rank EPB number two in the country in the category of municipal or investor-owned electric utility. ... More Evidence That Chattanooga's EPB Fiber is Killing It ... Community Connections - Anne Schweiger, Boston, Massachusetts Wed, August 17, 2016 | Posted by rebecca In this week's Community Connections, Christopher chats with Anne Schweiger, Broadband and Digital Equity Advocate for the city of Boston. Schweiger talks about the challenges that Boston faces, including a lack of competition and adoption of broadband in the home. She talks about the importance of "baking good broadband practice" into building codes for cities. In February, 2016 the Boston Globe editorial board came out in support of a municipal network. Boston has its own conduit network and significant fiber assets, but residents and businesses must seek service from large private providers. ... Watch the Video Here ... Comment Highlights: Proposed HUD Rule To Expand Low-Income Residential Internet Access Wed, August 17, 2016 | Posted by KateSvitavsky The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently asked for comments about a proposed rule to expand low-income access to high-speed Internet. The regulations would require building owners to install high-speed Internet infrastructure in HUD-funded multi-family rental housing during new construction or substantial rehabilitation, improving Internet access by promoting competition. Because the Internet infrastructure is not owned by one company, many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can compete to provide residents with better options. A variety of individuals and groups provided feedback for HUD, including local governments, nonprofit advocacy groups, ISPs, and professional associations. The majority of comments support HUD?s proposed rule, with many encouraging HUD to go further in their efforts to close the digital divide. ... Read the Full Story with Excerpts From The Comments Here ... Virginia?s Fauquier County Hires Broadband Consultant Thu, August 18, 2016 | Posted by alexander Fauquier County, located less than an hour west of Washington, D.C., recently formalized a contract with a Virginia-based consultant to develop a broadband Internet strategy for the county. The county is home to nearly 70,000 residents, many commute to work in D.C. *What?s the problem?* Fauquier County had the eighth-highest median income in the United States in 2011, yet its rural residents lack high-speed Internet access options. Large corporate Internet service providers (ISPs), Comcast and Verizon, deliver high-speed Internet to profitable markets in Fauquier?s largest towns, Bealeton, Warrenton, and Marshall. However, due to low population densities and low projected returns, incumbent ISPs did not invest in broadband infrastructure upgrades that rural communities need. ... Many More Details in Our Story Here ... And the Award for Community Broadband Network of the Year Goes to-- Ammon, Idaho! Fri, August 19, 2016 | Posted by hannah On August 1st, the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA ) recognized Ammon, Idaho?s promise at the 2016 Community Broadband Awards. NATOA named Ammon?s open access network the 2016 Community Broadband Project of the Year . *Innovative Ideas in Idaho* It's a great recognition for the innovative little city in Idaho. They have been incrementally building an open access Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH ) network for years. In 2015, they won an award for designing an ultra high-speed application to use the network to coordinate responses to school shootings. And earlier this year, they approved an ingenious funding method: a Local Improvement District (LID). Residents will have the choice of opting into the costs and benefits of the fiber project or opting out completely. ... (Re)Watch Our Ammon Video at the Bottom of This Story ... Community Broadband Media Roundup - August 22 Mon, August 22, 2016 | Posted by Nick *Colorado* Lafayette eyes municipal broadband, EcoPass for November ballot by Anthony Hahn, Colorado Hometown Weekly & GovTech Larmier County refers broadband-law exemption to November ballot by Dallas Heltzell, BizWest El Paso County may ask voters to help bring Internet service to rural communities by Matt Steiner, Colorado Springs Gazette ... Read the Full Community Network Media Roundup Here ... -- You can always find our most recent stories and other resources at http://MuniNetworks.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Community Networks Weekly Updates" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to communitynetworks-weekly+unsubscribe at ilsr.org. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/a/ilsr.org/d/optout. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rob at omsoft.com Wed Aug 24 22:06:32 2016 From: rob at omsoft.com (Robert Nickerson) Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2016 22:06:32 -0700 Subject: [Davisgig] NYTimes Article on Rural Broadband In-Reply-To: <1758712541.13271856.1470722682617.JavaMail.yahoo@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1758712541.13271856.1470722682617.JavaMail.yahoo.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1758712541.13271856.1470722682617.JavaMail.yahoo@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Hi Someone else also forwarded this article to as well, good piece. ILSR is where we get a lot of our support material. If we had a semi locally owned electric cooperative to work from, they would be a natural initiator of an effort. PG+E might be an ideal candidate to lease the DavisGIG fiber to in our community. It seems like it would be something in their interest that would provide their operations a direct benefit. For example, Chattanooga EPB leading the way on that with automated and autonomous real time power routing capabilities their networked electrical assets provide. At the July BATF meeting some people from the Community Choice Energy committee came to make that proposition, and it has been added as a consideration or possible use case scenario to the feasibility study RFP document. The city release date for that is sometime around 9.1.2016 by the way. RAN On 8/8/2016 11:04 PM, Shneor Sherman via Davisgig wrote: > This could be a lot less expensive,,, > > http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/08/technology/how-to-give-rural-america-broadband-look-to-the-early-1900s.html > > Shneor Sherman > _______________________________________________ > > Please ref our wiki for details, documents and contacts: > > http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~help/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=start > > Davisgig mailing list > Davisgig at list.omsoft.com > http://list.omsoft.com/mailman/listinfo/davisgig > From rob at omsoft.com Wed Aug 24 22:19:03 2016 From: rob at omsoft.com (Robert Nickerson) Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2016 22:19:03 -0700 Subject: [Davisgig] Prevailing Wage Considerations In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hi Unless the Davis Funding Club and some banks finance DCN to construct this network on behalf of the town, we plan for the PWL to apply in our case. It will be interesting to see how this develops as we get more input. Thanks RAN On 8/10/2016 9:23 PM, Jim Frame wrote: > It's not too early to start thinking about the contracting and > construction aspects of a municipal fiber network. We need to be > cognizant of the ramifications of public funding, even if it's for > work preparatory to construction of the project. As a rule of thumb, > if any public monies get into the mix, prevailing wage regulations > apply to the entire project, and that can dramatically increase the > cost of construction. (I don't think the feasibility study qualifies, > but once the effort becomes a "public works project" the funding > sources matter, even prior to actual construction.) > > If the build is done with the city as the contracting agency, there's > no question that the rules apply. But if it's built for a private > non-profit, the question goes to the source of funds. > > I'm not suggesting that paying prevailing wages is necessarily a bad > thing, just that it's a factor worthy of consideration. And the > earlier the better in order to prevent any unintentional commitments. > > The reason I bring this up now is that in doing some research in > connection of my own business -- prevailing wage requirements can be > maddeningly complex and confusing -- I came across a Department of > Industrial Relations ruling on a fiber project. The project owners > thought they were exempt from the regs, but the DIR ruled otherwise. > > For anyone who wants to dive into the details, the ruling document can > be found here: > > http://www.dir.ca.gov/OPRL/coverage/year2015/2013-015(A).pdf > From rob at omsoft.com Wed Aug 24 22:34:51 2016 From: rob at omsoft.com (Robert Nickerson) Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2016 22:34:51 -0700 Subject: [Davisgig] Moving the Project Forward Message-ID: <04334116-6bd7-625d-acb0-b1db4c61b1f2@omsoft.com> Hello Davisites! Here is a a letter going out to our davisgig-announce list at some point soon. Want to share the good news, and if you have any feedback let me know by private email. Please READ ? TLDR ? Make the City Council Meeting on Tues. Our City Council will take its first important step toward realizing our goal of a community owned fiber optic network! Next Tuesday's 8/30/16 City Council meeting will feature a report by the Broadband Advisory Task Force, and a vote of affirmation in support of our important work in procuring a feasibility study for fiber optic cable deployment for all the homes and businesses in Davis. Assuming this carries, the RFP will go forward as a request from, and funded by, City of Davis. City council members will receive the draft RFP in their materials packets and will vote on approval of it for publishing. This RFP is based on the one we all developed some months back, with some small changes. This is the important first step, DavisGIG has raised funds for, and building on that success, now the City Council will be stepping in to fully fund this study, as well as the essential conduit and infrastructure mapping, and code changes to implement a Dig Once policy. DavisGIG and DCN will use your generously contributed funds to support and sustain this effort through community outreach efforts while this study, and others, like engineering, and demand aggregation efforts, go forward. All of you, DavisGIG, and the BATF, are about to take the very important step of reclaiming network access from big investor owned entities, and managing this ourselves, in our own community. Lets work together, if you think you have a worthwhile perspective to share, come down, and give 3 minutes to tell the council members. This is a milestone, and its important for citizens to come and speak at public comment in support of this item, which will feature presentations from Diane Parro, CIO City of Davis, and Chris Clements, BATF co-chair. This is the first meeting of the new City Council, a new group of leaders, with an important agenda, and its imperative they know how important a fiber optic deployment is to our residents and businesses. They want to know the considered opinion of citizens on this matter, and not just "X Company sucks!!" or "I need more speeds.." It will also be great for them to see some more people supporting and working on, DavisGIG, aside from Jeff M and I. A community owned fiber optic network is an investment in our future. Not only will it provide very reliable and cheaper Internet connections to everyone now, we will help fund our city through our monthly broadband payments, and get better service without the constant worry of ever increasing Internet access bills. Furthermore, building out our own telecommunications plant gives us lots of options. Our city will be able to implement real time telemetry throughout its utility operations, and realize lots of benefits unbounded network access has to offer. See some of the exciting applications being sponsored by US-Ignite at www.us-ignite.org So good job, as has been told again and on, this is a multi year process, but our work so far is starting to bear significant results. Thank you for your continued interest and engagement. RAN -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jhframe at dcn.org Sun Aug 28 12:14:57 2016 From: jhframe at dcn.org (Jim Frame) Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2016 19:14:57 +0000 Subject: [Davisgig] Enterprise Article Message-ID: The article on the city's broadband efforts in the Sunday Enterprise describes DavisGig as "a nonprofit arm of Davis Community Network." I don't know where Felicia Alvarez, the reporter, got that language, but I'm pretty sure it didn't come from anyone at DCN. It not only mischarachterizes the relationship between the two organizations, it sort of implies that DCN is a for-profit. I note this mostly to underscore the fact that the DCN board of directors greatly appreciates the hard work being done by the Gig crew, and that DCN isn't trying to steal the spotlight from DavisGig. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From wjwagman at dcn.org Sun Aug 28 12:52:44 2016 From: wjwagman at dcn.org (Bill Wagman) Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2016 12:52:44 -0700 Subject: [Davisgig] Enterprise Article In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <021801d20165$beddd760$3c998620$@dcn.org> Perhaps a letter to the editor is in order. I?m not a very good writer, perhaps someone else could take this on. Bill Wagman From: Davisgig [mailto:davisgig-bounces at list.omsoft.com] On Behalf Of Jim Frame Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2016 12:15 PM To: davisgig at list.omsoft.com Subject: [Davisgig] Enterprise Article The article on the city's broadband efforts in the Sunday Enterprise describes DavisGig as "a nonprofit arm of Davis Community Network." I don't know where Felicia Alvarez, the reporter, got that language, but I'm pretty sure it didn't come from anyone at DCN. It not only mischarachterizes the relationship between the two organizations, it sort of implies that DCN is a for-profit. I note this mostly to underscore the fact that the DCN board of directors greatly appreciates the hard work being done by the Gig crew, and that DCN isn't trying to steal the spotlight from DavisGig. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mike790 at gmail.com Sun Aug 28 13:17:46 2016 From: mike790 at gmail.com (Mike Adams) Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2016 13:17:46 -0700 Subject: [Davisgig] Enterprise Article In-Reply-To: <021801d20165$beddd760$3c998620$@dcn.org> References: <021801d20165$beddd760$3c998620$@dcn.org> Message-ID: I did drop her an email correcting her reference to gigabyte rather than gigabit; guessed I missed the forest for the tree... On Sun, Aug 28, 2016 at 12:52 PM, Bill Wagman wrote: > Perhaps a letter to the editor is in order. I?m not a very good writer, > perhaps someone else could take this on. > > > > Bill Wagman > > > > *From:* Davisgig [mailto:davisgig-bounces at list.omsoft.com] *On Behalf Of *Jim > Frame > *Sent:* Sunday, August 28, 2016 12:15 PM > *To:* davisgig at list.omsoft.com > *Subject:* [Davisgig] Enterprise Article > > > > The article on the city's broadband efforts in the Sunday Enterprise > describes DavisGig as "a nonprofit arm of Davis Community Network." I > don't know where Felicia Alvarez, the reporter, got that language, but I'm > pretty sure it didn't come from anyone at DCN. It not only > mischarachterizes the relationship between the two organizations, it sort > of implies that DCN is a for-profit. > > > > I note this mostly to underscore the fact that the DCN board of directors > greatly appreciates the hard work being done by the Gig crew, and that DCN > isn't trying to steal the spotlight from DavisGig. > > _______________________________________________ > > Please ref our wiki for details, documents and contacts: > > http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~help/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=start > > Davisgig mailing list > Davisgig at list.omsoft.com > http://list.omsoft.com/mailman/listinfo/davisgig > > -- Mike Adams -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chrispeterr at me.com Sun Aug 28 14:06:59 2016 From: chrispeterr at me.com (Christian Renaudin) Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2016 14:06:59 -0700 Subject: [Davisgig] [Davisgig-announce] Moving the Project Forward In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I would like to be involved during this city council meeting if possible and share my perspective as a business owner in Davis. I also own 502 Mace Blvd Building representing more than 8 businesses including Yolo First 5. It is critical that we be less dependent on comcast's unreliable Internet service. I feel that we are a decade behind countries like South Korea and France when they get 100 MB starting effective speed for less than $40 Euros per month. Here we pay at least $120 per month for a mere effective 30MB best case scenario. This is unreal for a nation that claims technology leadership in the world and when you think that we are only 70 miles away from Silicon Valley. I am willing to offer at least $1,000 donation provided this guarantees access to a FAST speed and reliable internet alternative to this town ? I know many businesses who would donate more. Indeed having an independent alternative to reliable and fast speed internet is a smart investment in our community's future for residents AND supporting businesses. Christian Renaudin De : Davisgig-announce on behalf of Robert Nickerson via Davisgig-announce R?pondre ? : Date : Thursday, August 25, 2016 at 11:57 AM ? : Cc : Robert Nickerson Objet : [Davisgig-announce] Moving the Project Forward Hello Davisites Please READ ? TLDR ? Make the City Council Meeting on Tues. Our City Council will take its first important step toward realizing our goal of a community owned fiber optic network! Next Tuesday's 8/30/16 City Council meeting will feature a report by the Broadband Advisory Task Force, and a vote of affirmation in support of our important work in procuring a feasibility study for fiber optic cable deployment for all the homes and businesses in Davis. Assuming this carries, the RFP will go forward as a request from, and funded by, City of Davis. City council members will receive the draft RFP in their materials packets and will vote on approval of it for publishing. This RFP is based on the one we DavisGIG developed some months back, with some small changes. This is the important first step. DavisGIG has raised funds for the study, and building on that success, now the City Council will be stepping in to fully fund this study, as well as the essential conduit and infrastructure mapping, and code changes to implement a Dig Once policy. DavisGIG and DCN will use your generously contributed funds to support and sustain this effort through community outreach efforts while this study, and others, like engineering, and demand aggregation efforts, go forward. All of you, DavisGIG, and the BATF, are about to take the very important step of reclaiming network access from big investor owned entities, and managing this ourselves, locally, in our own community. Lets work together, if you think you have a worthwhile perspective to share, come down, and give 3 minutes to tell the council members. This is a milestone, and its important for citizens to come and speak at public comment in support of this item, which will feature presentations from Diane Parro, CIO City of Davis, and Chris Clements, BATF Chair. This is the first meeting of the new City Council, a new group of leaders, with an important agenda, and its imperative they know how important a fiber optic deployment is to our residents and businesses. They want to know the considered opinion of citizens on this matter, and not just "X Company sucks!!" or "I need more speeds.." It will also be great for them to see some more people supporting and working on, DavisGIG, aside from Jeff M and I. A community owned fiber optic network is an investment in our future. Not only will it provide very reliable and cheaper Internet connections to everyone now, we will help fund our city through our monthly broadband payments, and get better service without the constant worry of ever increasing Internet access bills. Furthermore, building out our own telecommunications plant gives us lots of options. Our city will be able to implement real time telemetry throughout its utility operations, and realize lots of benefits unbounded network access has to offer. See some of the exciting applications being sponsored by US-Ignite at www.us-ignite.org So good job, as has been told again and often, this is a multi year process, but our work so far is starting to bear significant results. Thank you for your continued interest and engagement. RAN _______________________________________________ Davisgig-announce mailing list Davisgig-announce at list.davisgig.org %To unsubscribe(web_page_url)slistinfo/davisgig-announce -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From christopher at newrules.org Tue Aug 30 09:18:59 2016 From: christopher at newrules.org (Christopher Mitchell) Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2016 11:18:59 -0500 Subject: [Davisgig] Recently in Community Networks... Week of 8/30 Message-ID: *Recent Stories from MuniNetworks.org - a project of the **Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Instructions for unsubscribing appear at bottom. Send feedback. Forward Widely.* Garrett County, Maryland: Access For Anchors In The Appalachians Mon, August 22, 2016 | Posted by lgonzalez Garrett County is the westernmost county in Maryland. High in the Allegheny Mountains of the Appalachian Mountain Range; winters are harsh and forest covers 90 percent of the county. Before the county deployed a fiber-optic network, high-quality connectivity was hard to come by for schools, libraries, and other community anchor institutions. By making the most of every opportunity,Garrett County has improved efficiencies for the many small communities in the region and set the stage to improve connectivity for businesses and residents. *Rural, Remote, Ready For Better Connectivity* The county is more than 650 square miles but there are no large urban centers and over time a number of sparsely populated areas have developed as home to the county's 30,000 people; since 2000, population growth has stagnated. Many of the tiny communities where businesses and residents have clustered are remote and do not have public sewer or water. These places tend to have a high number of low-income people. ... Read Our Full In-Depth Report on Garrett County Here ... SandyNet Increases Speeds, Keeps Low Prices Tue, August 23, 2016 | Posted by alexander On July 4th, Sandy, Oregon?s municipal fiber-optic network, SandyNet , permanently increased the speed of its entry-level Internet package from 100 Megabits per second (Mbps ) to 300 Mbps at no additional cost to subscribers. The city announced the speed boost for its $39.95 per month tier in a recent press release, calling it ?one of the best deals in the nation.? SandyNet customers witness blazing fast download speeds at affordable prices and benefit fromsymmetrical upload speeds, allowing them to seamlessly interact with the cloud and work from home. Sandy is still home the ?$60 Gig? (see price chart ), one of the premier gigabit Internet offers in the nation. Without an electric utility, SandyNet?s unique model can be applied to ?Anytown, USA.? ... Sandy Sets a Higher Bar with its Muni Network ... Just What is the Internet? Community Broadband Bits Podcast 216 Wed, August 24, 2016 | Posted by christopher The Internet is one of those things that is right there in front of our face but can be hard to define exactly. Community Broadband Bits Episode 216 answers that question and picks up right where episode 213 left off with Fred Goldstein, Principal of Interisle Consulting Group . Having already discussed the regulatory decisions that allowed the Internet to flourish, we now focus on what exactly the Internet is (hint, not wires or even physical things) and spend a long time talking about Fred's persuasive argument on how the FCC should have resolved the network neutrality battle. We also talk about why the Internet should properly be capitalized and why the Internet is neither fast nor slow itself. These are core concepts that anyone who cares about getting Internet policy correct should know -- but far too few do. Not because it is too technical, but because it does require some work to understand. That is why this is such a long conversation - probably our longest to date in over 200 shows. ... Listen to the Story Here ... Read the transcript of this episode here ... Dublin Residents Push for Residential Fiber, City Continues to Benefit Fri, August 26, 2016 | Posted by alexander The Columbus, Ohio suburb of Dublin is home to Dublink , a fiber-optic network that serves local businesses, schools, and community anchor institutions. Dublink brought new jobs and research opportunities to the local economy while saving local institutions hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Just recently, Dublin City School District and City of Dublin struck a deal to allow public schools to use the network . Now, residents want Dublink to deliver high-speed access to their homes. ... No Surprises as People Seek a Local Option for Internet Access ... Open Access Muni On The Way In Campbell River, B.C. Wed, August 24, 2016 | Posted by lgonzalez Located on the southern end of British Columbia?s Vancouver Island sits the coastal city of Campbell River . The community recently received a $50,000 grant from the Island Coastal Economic Trust (ICET) to pursue better connectivity through a municipal open access network initiative. *Retain and Attract* The ?Salmon Capital of the World? is also home to other industries that increasingly need access to fast, affordable, reliable connectivity. Approximately 31,000 people live in Campbell River. The island?s forestry and mining companies need to have the ability to transfer large data files, such as 3D renderings, detailed maps, and similar geographic files, to business associates. In addition to making the current situation better for existing industries, community leaders want to attract new industries. ... Get the Full Story Here ... Bel Air, Maryland, Latest To Save With HMAN Sat, August 27, 2016 | Posted by lgonzalez Time to check in at Harford County, Maryland. When we last reported on the Harford Metro Area Network (HMAN) in July 2014, it had only been lit for a few months. Now, more than 100 public facilities are connected to the network and more are expected; the latest will be Bel Air, Maryland . *Saving With County Connections For VoIP* A recent GovTech article reported that the Board of Town Commissioners voted 4-0 to invest approximately $25,000 in a new VoIP system that will use HMAN for telephone service. The new system will serve 65 new phones and will include the software for the new system. Apparently, Bel Air sought cost estimates to replace their old traditional system with VoIP with a private provider and the estimates were more than $65,000 beyond what the city had budgeted for the project. ... Exciting Savings Examined Here ... Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, UC2B issues RFP: Intent to Respond Letters Due August 29 Thu, August 25, 2016 | Posted by hannah The Urbana-Champaign Big Broadband non-profit (UC2B) owns a community network in the southern Illinois sister cities of Urbana and Champaign. In 2009, these cities partnered with the University of Illinois to create the non-profit UC2B to build a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH ) network using a federal stimulus grant. In 2014, UC2B partnered with iTV3 to operate the network, but CountryWide Broadband bought iTV3 in early 2016. Now UC2B is looking for a new partner. On August 22, 2016, UC2B issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to find a partner to operate and expand the existing UC2B fiber network. Submit letters of Intent to Respond to the RFP by *Monday, August 29, 2016* to RFP at UC2B.net < rfp at uc2b.net>. The goal is Gigabit-connectivity in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. ... UC2B Seeks Potential Partner in Expanding Network ... Hudson, Ohio, Issues RFP for FTTH Study Tue, August 23, 2016 | Posted by lgonzalez Hudson is bringing better connectivity to local businesses with Velocity Broadband , its gigabit fiber network, and is now exploring the potential of Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH ) for the rest of the community. The city recently issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a feasibility study to review the possibilities for service to residents. Proposals are *due August 26*. >From the RFP Summary: This project will result in the production of a Feasibility Study containing a residential needs assessment, deployment strategy options and construction cost estimates. The desired outcome of this planning effort is to provide a tool for the city to establish if Hudson residents want this service and determine a successful deployment strategy and the associated cost to implement fiber to the homes (FTTH) within the City of Hudson. The city wants the study completed by the end of 2016. ... More Details Here ... Community Broadband Media Roundup - August 29 Mon, August 29, 2016 | Posted by rebecca *Colorado* Voters to Decide Whether El Paso County, Colo., Will Provide High-Speed Internet to Less-Populated Areas by Matt Steiner, The Gazette *Illinois* Comcast?s $70 gigabit deal is shockingly difficult to sign up for by Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica ... Read the Full Community Networks Media Roundup Here ... -- You can always find our most recent stories and other resources at http://MuniNetworks.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Community Networks Weekly Updates" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to communitynetworks-weekly+unsubscribe at ilsr.org. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/a/ilsr.org/d/optout. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From steve at dcn.org Tue Aug 30 09:50:47 2016 From: steve at dcn.org (Steve McMahon) Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2016 09:50:47 -0700 Subject: [Davisgig] [Davisgig-announce] Moving the Project Forward In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hi Christian, The RFP is on the council agenda for 7:30 tonight. Simply saying what you said in your note would be a great contribution. For those not interested in speaking, please consider just attending. The number in the audience for a given agenda item is often taken as a proxy for popular interest. Steve On Sun, Aug 28, 2016 at 2:06 PM, Christian Renaudin wrote: > I would like to be involved during this city council meeting if possible > and share my perspective as a business owner in Davis. I also own 502 Mace > Blvd Building representing more than 8 businesses including Yolo First 5. > It is critical that we be less dependent on comcast's unreliable Internet > service. I feel that we are a decade behind countries like South Korea and > France when they get 100 MB starting effective speed for less than $40 > Euros per month. Here we pay at least $120 per month for a mere effective > 30MB best case scenario. > This is unreal for a nation that claims technology leadership in the world > and when you think that we are only 70 miles away from Silicon Valley. > I am willing to offer at least $1,000 donation provided this guarantees > access to a FAST speed and reliable internet alternative to this town ? I > know many businesses who would donate more. Indeed having an independent > alternative to reliable and fast speed internet is a smart investment in > our community's future for residents AND supporting businesses. > > Christian Renaudin > > > De : Davisgig-announce on > behalf of Robert Nickerson via Davisgig-announce davisgig.org> > R?pondre ? : > Date : Thursday, August 25, 2016 at 11:57 AM > ? : > Cc : Robert Nickerson > Objet : [Davisgig-announce] Moving the Project Forward > > Hello Davisites > > Please READ ? TLDR ? Make the City Council Meeting on Tues. > > Our City Council will take its first important step toward realizing our > goal of a community owned fiber optic network! Next Tuesday's 8/30/16 City > Council meeting will feature a report by the Broadband Advisory Task Force, > and a vote of affirmation in support of our important work in procuring a > feasibility study for fiber optic cable deployment for all the homes and > businesses in Davis. Assuming this carries, the RFP will go forward as a > request from, and funded by, City of Davis. City council members will > receive the draft RFP in their materials packets and will vote on approval > of it for publishing. > > This RFP is based on the one we DavisGIG developed some months back, with > some small changes. > > This is the important first step. DavisGIG has raised funds for the study, > and building on that success, now the City Council will be stepping in to > fully fund this study, as well as the essential conduit and infrastructure > mapping, and code changes to implement a Dig Once policy. DavisGIG and DCN > will use your generously contributed funds to support and sustain this > effort through community outreach efforts while this study, and others, > like engineering, and demand aggregation efforts, go forward. > > All of you, DavisGIG, and the BATF, are about to take the very important > step of reclaiming network access from big investor owned entities, and > managing this ourselves, locally, in our own community. Lets work together, > if you think you have a worthwhile perspective to share, come down, and > give 3 minutes to tell the council members. > > This is a milestone, and its important for citizens to come and speak at > public comment in support of this item, which will feature presentations > from Diane Parro, CIO City of Davis, and Chris Clements, BATF Chair. This > is the first meeting of the new City Council, a new group of leaders, with > an important agenda, and its imperative they know how important a fiber > optic deployment is to our residents and businesses. They want to know the > considered opinion of citizens on this matter, and not just "X Company > sucks!!" or "I need more speeds.." > > It will also be great for them to see some more people supporting and > working on, DavisGIG, aside from Jeff M and I. > > A community owned fiber optic network is an investment in our future. Not > only will it provide very reliable and cheaper Internet connections to > everyone now, we will help fund our city through our monthly broadband > payments, and get better service without the constant worry of ever > increasing Internet access bills. Furthermore, building out our own > telecommunications plant gives us lots of options. > > Our city will be able to implement real time telemetry throughout its > utility operations, and realize lots of benefits unbounded network access > has to offer. See some of the exciting applications being sponsored by > US-Ignite at www.us-ignite.org > > So good job, as has been told again and often, this is a multi year > process, but our work so far is starting to bear significant results. > > Thank you for your continued interest and engagement. > > RAN > > > _______________________________________________ Davisgig-announce mailing > list Davisgig-announce at list.davisgig.org %To unsubscribe(web_page_url)slistinfo/davisgig-announce > > > _______________________________________________ > > Please ref our wiki for details, documents and contacts: > > http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~help/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=start > > Davisgig mailing list > Davisgig at list.omsoft.com > http://list.omsoft.com/mailman/listinfo/davisgig > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jmischki at dcn.davis.ca.us Tue Aug 30 09:59:50 2016 From: jmischki at dcn.davis.ca.us (Jeff Mischkinsky) Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2016 09:59:50 -0700 Subject: [Davisgig] City Council meeting about broadband RFP tonight In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <57AFBC17-42CE-468F-9B7E-9826CF18D97C@dcn.davis.ca.us> hi Christian (and anyone else who would like to be involved in the City Council meeting), The Broadband item is scheduled for approximately 7:30 +/-. There should be an opportunity for public comment during this agenda item. There is also a generic public comment period at the beginning of the meeting (at 6:30) where anyone can make a short statement. If you can?t stay for the Broadband item, you can make a statement during this time. The agenda can be found at: http://documents.cityofdavis.org/Media/Default/Documents/PDF/CityCouncil/CouncilMeetings/Agendas/20160830/Agenda-08-30-16.pdf Please do come and share your perspective. cheers, jeff (DavisGIG rep on the BATF) > > 1. Re: [Davisgig-announce] Moving the Project Forward > (Christian Renaudin) > 2. Recently in Community Networks... Week of 8/30 > (Christopher Mitchell) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2016 14:06:59 -0700 > From: Christian Renaudin > To: davisgig at list.omsoft.com, davisgig-announce at list.davisgig.org > Subject: Re: [Davisgig] [Davisgig-announce] Moving the Project Forward > Message-ID: > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > I would like to be involved during this city council meeting if possible and > share my perspective as a business owner in Davis. I also own 502 Mace Blvd > Building representing more than 8 businesses including Yolo First 5. > It is critical that we be less dependent on comcast's unreliable Internet > service. I feel that we are a decade behind countries like South Korea and > France when they get 100 MB starting effective speed for less than $40 Euros > per month. Here we pay at least $120 per month for a mere effective 30MB > best case scenario. > This is unreal for a nation that claims technology leadership in the world > and when you think that we are only 70 miles away from Silicon Valley. > I am willing to offer at least $1,000 donation provided this guarantees > access to a FAST speed and reliable internet alternative to this town ? I > know many businesses who would donate more. Indeed having an independent > alternative to reliable and fast speed internet is a smart investment in our > community's future for residents AND supporting businesses. > > Christian Renaudin > > > > Hello Davisites > > Please READ ? TLDR ? Make the City Council Meeting on Tues. > > Our City Council will take its first important step toward realizing our > goal of a community owned fiber optic network! Next Tuesday's 8/30/16 City > Council meeting will feature a report by the Broadband Advisory Task Force, > and a vote of affirmation in support of our important work in procuring a > feasibility study for fiber optic cable deployment for all the homes and > businesses in Davis. Assuming this carries, the RFP will go forward as a > request from, and funded by, City of Davis. City council members will > receive the draft RFP in their materials packets and will vote on approval > of it for publishing. > > > This RFP is based on the one we DavisGIG developed some months back, with > some small changes. > This is the important first step. DavisGIG has raised funds for the study, > and building on that success, now the City Council will be stepping in to > fully fund this study, as well as the essential conduit and infrastructure > mapping, and code changes to implement a Dig Once policy. DavisGIG and DCN > will use your generously contributed funds to support and sustain this > effort through community outreach efforts while this study, and others, like > engineering, and demand aggregation efforts, go forward. > > > All of you, DavisGIG, and the BATF, are about to take the very important > step of reclaiming network access from big investor owned entities, and > managing this ourselves, locally, in our own community. Lets work together, > if you think you have a worthwhile perspective to share, come down, and give > 3 minutes to tell the council members. > > > This is a milestone, and its important for citizens to come and speak at > public comment in support of this item, which will feature presentations > from Diane Parro, CIO City of Davis, and Chris Clements, BATF Chair. This is > the first meeting of the new City Council, a new group of leaders, with an > important agenda, and its imperative they know how important a fiber optic > deployment is to our residents and businesses. They want to know the > considered opinion of citizens on this matter, and not just "X Company > sucks!!" or "I need more speeds.." > > > It will also be great for them to see some more people supporting and > working on, DavisGIG, aside from Jeff M and I. > > > A community owned fiber optic network is an investment in our future. Not > only will it provide very reliable and cheaper Internet connections to > everyone now, we will help fund our city through our monthly broadband > payments, and get better service without the constant worry of ever > increasing Internet access bills. Furthermore, building out our own > telecommunications plant gives us lots of options. > > Our city will be able to implement real time telemetry throughout its > utility operations, and realize lots of benefits unbounded network access > has to offer. See some of the exciting applications being sponsored by > US-Ignite at www.us-ignite.org > > So good job, as has been told again and often, this is a multi year process, > but our work so far is starting to bear significant results. > > Thank you for your continued interest and engagement. > > RAN > > > --- Jeff Mischkinsky jmischki at dcn.davis.ca.us +1 530-758-9850 From chris.nicolini at gmail.com Wed Aug 31 13:58:20 2016 From: chris.nicolini at gmail.com (Chris Nicolini) Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2016 13:58:20 -0700 Subject: [Davisgig] [Davisgig-announce] Davis city council endorses the RFP created by DavisGig and the Broadband Advisory Task Force. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Woo-hoo! Great job! On Wed, Aug 31, 2016 at 1:10 PM, rob via Davisgig-announce < davisgig-announce at list.davisgig.org> wrote: > Hi Davisites > > This is some copy from the DCN facebook page about last night's city > council action: > > > In a unanimous vote last night, the council approved a call for proposals > to evaluate the city's options for a fiber-optic network that could bring > gigabit internet connections to local homes and businesses. The feasibility > study will give the city ideas about how much various implementations of a > broadband network would cost, what risks are involved and what benefits > might be possible. That information would help the city and its Broadband > Advisory Task Force make informed choices. > > The Request For Proposals the city plans to issue is based on a draft > composed by DavisGIG and supported by the Davis Community Network. The BATF > updated the draft and unanimously advised the city to issue the RFP and > fund the study. > > Issuing an RFP for a feasibility study is the city's first concrete step > towards building a municipal broadband network. If the network is > determined feasible, the next step would be a more thorough, and expensive, > engineering study. The RFP and response process will probably last through > most of the remainder of the year, with the actual study conducted over six > months in 2017. > > Thanks > RAN > _______________________________________________ > Davisgig-announce mailing list > Davisgig-announce at list.davisgig.org > %To unsubscribe(web_page_url)slistinfo/davisgig-announce > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: