[Davisgig] Recently in Community Networks... Week of 8/2

Tue Aug 2 09:44:30 PDT 2016

*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
<https://muninetworks.org/content/tn-study-suggests-stamping-out-state-barriers>
Mon, July 25, 2016 | Posted by lgonzalez
<https://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/tn-study-suggests-stamping-out-state-barriers>

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
<https://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term18>) download
<https://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term8> and 3 Mbps upload
<https://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term28>, 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 ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/tn-study-suggests-stamping-out-state-barriers>

Tiny Mt Washington Builds Fiber-to-the-Home - Community Broadband Bits
Podcast 212
<https://muninetworks.org/content/tiny-mt-washington-builds-fiber-home-community-broadband-bits-podcast-212>
Wed, July 27, 2016 | Posted by christopher
<https://muninetworks.org/users/christopher>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/tiny-mt-washington-builds-fiber-home-community-broadband-bits-podcast-212>

Overlooked by the incumbent telephone company, Mount Washington
<http://townofmtwashington.com/index.php> in the southwest corner of
Massachusetts is becoming one of the smallest FTTH
<https://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term13>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
<https://muninetworks.org/content/tiny-mt-washington-builds-fiber-home-community-broadband-bits-podcast-212>
... Read the transcript of this episode here
<https://muninetworks.org/transcript-community-broadband-bits-episode-212>
 ...

Greenlight Upgrades Pinetops, North Carolina, With FTTH
<https://muninetworks.org/content/greenlight-upgrades-pinetops-north-carolina-ftth>
Thu, July 28, 2016 | Posted by Catharine Rice
<https://muninetworks.org/users/catharine-rice>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/greenlight-upgrades-pinetops-north-carolina-ftth>

In April, Wilson’s, municipal fiber network, Greenlight, expanded to pass
every home in neighboring rural Pinetops
<https://muninetworks.org/content/wilson-moves-expand-greenlight-network-neighboring-town>.
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
<https://muninetworks.org/content/cable-companies-lose-big-fcc-barriers-community-broadband-struck-down>
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 ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/greenlight-upgrades-pinetops-north-carolina-ftth>

Community Connections - Joey Durel: Lafayette, Louisiana
<https://muninetworks.org/content/community-connections-joey-durel-lafayette-louisiana>
Wed, July 27, 2016 | Posted by rebecca
<https://muninetworks.org/users/rebecca>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/community-connections-joey-durel-lafayette-louisiana>

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 <http://lusfiber.com/>. 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 ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/community-connections-joey-durel-lafayette-louisiana>

Tullahoma’s LighTUBe Connects 3,500th Customer
<https://muninetworks.org/content/tullahoma%E2%80%99s-lightube-connects-3500th-customer>
Fri, July 29, 2016 | Posted by alexander
<https://muninetworks.org/users/alexander>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/tullahoma%E2%80%99s-lightube-connects-3500th-customer>

Tullahoma Utilities Board (TUB) recently celebrated its 3,500th Internet
customer
<http://www.tub.net/about-us/latest-news/lighttube-installs-3500th-customer>,
rewarding the lucky LightTUBe
<http://www.tub.net/internet/fiber-optics-faqs> subscriber with a $350 bill
credit. TUB has offered Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH
<https://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term13>) triple-play
<https://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term27> 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
<https://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term24> gigabit connectivity (1,000
Megabits per second), so upload <https://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term28>
 and download <https://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term8> speeds are
equally fast. LightTUBe also offers other affordable options
<http://www.tub.net/internet> and has repeatedly lowered prices and
increased speeds
<https://muninetworks.org/content/lighttube-lowers-price-gig-increases-speeds-free-again>
.

... Hard to Avoid Writing "Totally Tubular" Here - More Details ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/tullahoma%E2%80%99s-lightube-connects-3500th-customer>

Rewriting the Rules, Santa Cruz County Encourages Competition
<https://muninetworks.org/content/rewriting-rules-santa-cruz-county-encourages-competition>
Mon, July 25, 2016 | Posted by hannah
<https://muninetworks.org/users/hannah>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/rewriting-rules-santa-cruz-county-encourages-competition>

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
<http://www.santacruztechbeat.com/2014/01/24/broadband-what-exactly-is-the-board-considering-to-adopt/>.
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 ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/rewriting-rules-santa-cruz-county-encourages-competition>

Kandiyohi County And CTC Co-op Team Up For Connected Future
<https://muninetworks.org/content/kandiyohi-county-and-ctc-co-op-team-connected-future>
Tue, July 26, 2016 | Posted by lgonzalez
<https://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/kandiyohi-county-and-ctc-co-op-team-connected-future>

In an effort to improve local connectivity, Kandiyohi County will
collaborate with a local cooperative, Consolidated Telecommunications
Company of Brainerd <http://www.connectctc.com/> (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
<http://www.wctrib.com/news/local/4068053-kandiyohi-county-signs-letter-intent-broadband-partner>
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
<https://mn.gov/deed/programs-services/broadband/grant-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 ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/kandiyohi-county-and-ctc-co-op-team-connected-future>

Port of Ridgefield, Washington: Dark Fiber Network On Deck
<https://muninetworks.org/content/port-ridgefield-washington-dark-fiber-network-deck>
Sat, July 30, 2016 | Posted by Scott <https://muninetworks.org/users/scott>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/port-ridgefield-washington-dark-fiber-network-deck>

The Port of Ridgefield <http://portridgefield.org/> is planning to build a
municipal open access <https://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term625> dark
fiber-optic <https://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term10> 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
<http://www.thereflector.com/news/article_b8dd7736-3d69-11e6-a6b9-5f3f376f92c7.html>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 ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/port-ridgefield-washington-dark-fiber-network-deck>

Community Broadband Media Roundup - August 1
<https://muninetworks.org/content/community-broadband-media-roundup-august-1>
Mon, August 01, 2016 | Posted by Nick <https://muninetworks.org/users/nick>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/community-broadband-media-roundup-august-1>

*Minnesota*

City studies $50 million broadband plan
<http://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/should-city-offer-faster-internet-for-m/article_1ded6706-4606-564b-81a4-b9e5431de271.html>
by
Andrew Setterholm, Rochester Post Bulletin & GovTech
<http://www.govtech.com/dc/articles/Rochester-Minn-Considers-50-Million-Broadband-Plan.html>

*Tennessee*

Broadband service is vital for Tennessee businesses, new study shows
<http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/business/aroundregion/story/2016/jul/21/broadband-service-vital-tennessee-businesses/377001/>
by
Dave Flessner, Times Free Press

*Vermont*

ECFiber Awards Design and Engineering Contract
<http://bbpmag.com/wordpress2/2016/07/ecfiber-awards-design-and-engineering-contract-to-fail-engineering/>
by
BBC Wires

... Read the Full Community Network Media Roundup Here ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/community-broadband-media-roundup-august-1>

-- 
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: <http://list.omsoft.com/pipermail/davisgig/attachments/20160802/b5603739/attachment.html>