[Davisgig] Recently in Community Networks... Week of 6/14

Tue Jun 14 08:47:10 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.*

Whip City Fiber Expanding - Community Broadband Bits Podcast Episode 205
<https://muninetworks.org/content/whip-city-fiber-expanding-community-broadband-bits-podcast-episode-205>
Tue, June 07, 2016 | Posted by christopher
<https://muninetworks.org/users/christopher>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/whip-city-fiber-expanding-community-broadband-bits-podcast-episode-205>

Last month we wrote wrote about the Whip City Fiber Pilot project
<https://muninetworks.org/content/westfield-widen-whip-city-ftth-pilot-hit> in
Westfield, Massachusetts expanding and this week we interview two people
from Westfield Gas & Electric about the effort. Aaron Bean is the
Operations Manager and Sean Fitzgerald is the Key Accounts and Customer
Service Manager.

We discuss their pilot project <https://www.whipcityfiber.com/>, how they
structured the services and pricing, and integrated the new
telecommunications services into the municipal utility.

We also discuss whether the lack of a television option is limiting
interest from potential subscribers and how they are picking the next
locations to expand the network.

... Listen to the Show Here ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/whip-city-fiber-expanding-community-broadband-bits-podcast-episode-205>

Ammon's Local Improvement District Gets City Council Blessing
<https://muninetworks.org/content/ammons-local-improvement-district-gets-city-council-blessing>
Wed, June 08, 2016 | Posted by hannah
<https://muninetworks.org/users/hannah>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/ammons-local-improvement-district-gets-city-council-blessing>

Now that a judge has legally approved it
<https://muninetworks.org/content/legal-eagles-ammon-ftth-can-fly-planned>,
Ammon is forging ahead with an innovative approach to financing Internet
infrastructure in Idaho.

On May 19th, the city council unanimously voted
<http://www.localnews8.com/news/ammon-moves-to-create-fiber-optic-district/39645338>to
create a Local Improvement District (LID). Ammon’s decision has secured a
way to finance its open access
<https://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term625> Fiber-to-the-Home
(FTTH) network.

*Local Improvement Districts: You're In or You're Out*

LIDs have been used
<https://muninetworks.org/tags/tags/local-improvement-district>for
fiber-optic infrastructure i
<https://muninetworks.org/tags/tags/local-improvement-district>n other
places, such as New Hampshire
<https://muninetworks.org/content/local-internet-improvement-districts-new-hampshire-community-broadband-bits-podcast-179>
 and Poulsbo, Washington
<https://muninetworks.org/content/washington-state-law-change-transformed-fiber-project-poulsbo>,
but the approach is still not widespread. In Ammon, the city council's
action creates a district from five subdivisions, where residents can “opt
in” or “opt out” of participation in the FTTH network. The district
includes 376 individual properties, and 188 of those property owners have
expressed a desire to "opt in" to the benefits, and costs, of the network.
Those who have chosen to "opt out" do not use the network, nor do they pay
for deployment.

... Ammon's Pioneering Network Takes Another Step Forward ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/ammons-local-improvement-district-gets-city-council-blessing>

The Tacoma Click Saga of 2015: Part 2
<https://muninetworks.org/content/tacoma-click-saga-2015-part-2>
Tue, June 07, 2016 | Posted by ternste
<https://muninetworks.org/users/ternste>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/tacoma-click-saga-2015-part-2>

*This is Part 2 in a four part series about the Click network in Tacoma,
Washington, where city leaders spent most of 2015 considering a plan to
lease out all operations of this municipal network to a private company.
Part 2 explores the major reasons why Tacoma Public Utilities has
considered the move to lease out all Click operations. Part 1, published on
May 31 <https://muninetworks.org/content/tacoma-click-saga-2015-part-1>,
examines possible plans for Click in the immediate future.*

*Part 2: TPU’s Challenges with Click*

When TPU officials proposed last March to lease the network to a private
ISP for 40 years, they cited revenue losses for Click as high as $7.6
million annually, indicated by troubling financial reports in recent years.
Some critics, however, such as those with the advocacy group “Stick with
Click,” countered that this figure is inaccurate. They say that TPU
manufactured the revenue losses through an accounting decision that
resulted in a deceptively bleak picture of Click’s financial performance.

To shed light on the disagreement, we're examining relevant facts about
Click.

... Read the Second Installment of our Four Part Series ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/tacoma-click-saga-2015-part-2>

Blue Ribbon Panel: The Public and Private Sectors Working Together
<https://muninetworks.org/content/blue-ribbon-panel-public-and-private-sectors-working-together>
Wed, June 08, 2016 | Posted by rebecca
<https://muninetworks.org/users/rebecca>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/blue-ribbon-panel-public-and-private-sectors-working-together>

Like electricity in the last century, advanced communications services and
capabilities can become the drivers and enablers of simultaneous progress
in economic development, education, government services, digital equity,
and just about everything else that matters most to our communities.

This Blue Ribbon Panel explores the challenges of establishing effective
partnerships to bring better connectivity to local communities. The video
is from the Broadband Communities Summit in Austin, Texas, on April 5 - 7,
2016.

... Watch the Video Here ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/blue-ribbon-panel-public-and-private-sectors-working-together>

Bristol's Muni A Boon for Electric Users
<https://muninetworks.org/content/bristols-muni-boon-electric-users>
Thu, June 09, 2016 | Posted by Scott <https://muninetworks.org/users/scott>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/bristols-muni-boon-electric-users>

Business and residential electric customers in Bristol, Tennessee are
experiencing shorter power outages thanks to recent upgrades to the city’s
municipal fiber-optic <https://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term10> network.
And collectively, that represents *annual savings of about **$6 million* for
electric users, according to the CEO of the Bristol Tennessee Essential
Services  <http://www.btes.net/>(BTES):

In an opinion piece for the Bristol Herald Courier
<http://www.heraldcourier.com/opinion/columnists/btes-upgrades-have-improved-service-lowered-costs/article_99743fa8-fad2-532c-b8c4-27a802dde8dd.html>
newspaper,
BTES CEO Mike Browder, said a recent upgrade to the electric system, which
uses the city’s fiber-optic network, has helped cut power outage time by 35
percent:

“Our goal is less than 60 minutes average outage time per year per
customer. In 2015, we exceeded that goal, reducing our outage time to 34
minutes per customer.”

... Read Some of the Many Benefits the Muni Fiber Network has Created ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/bristols-muni-boon-electric-users>

Mount Washington Voters Ready To Fund Muni
<https://muninetworks.org/content/mount-washington-voters-ready-fund-muni>
Fri, June 10, 2016 | Posted by lgonzalez
<https://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/mount-washington-voters-ready-fund-muni>

With only about 150 full-time residents, it’s hard to get the big ISPs to
pay attention to you, especially when you are situated in forest-covered
mountains. The people of Mount Washington, Massachusetts
<http://townofmtwashington.com/index.php>, realize that if they want
high-quality connectivity, they have to do it themselves. At a special town
meeting in May, voters unanimously approved funding
<https://theberkshireedge.com/tiny-town-mt-washington-jumps-broadband-bandwagon/>
for
a municipal Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH
<https://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term13>) network.

*Flying Solo In Western Mass*

Earlier this year, the small community obtained legal authority
<https://muninetworks.org/content/mount-washington-muni-permission-move-ahead-granted>
to
move forward on the project without establishing a Municipal Light Plant
(MLP). State law requires municipalities to establish an MLP as the public
entity to administer a city’s publicly owned network. Mount Washington
considered it an unnecessary and burdensome requirement for such a small
community; the legislature agreed. Since they decided not to join the Wired
West Cooperative, which requires member towns to establish MLPs
<https://muninetworks.org/reports/wiredwest-cooperative-municipalities-forms-build-fiber-optic-network>,
they don't need one.

... We Publish More Words on this Story Than They Have Households ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/mount-washington-voters-ready-fund-muni>

WiredWest: New Website
<https://muninetworks.org/content/wiredwest-new-website>
Mon, June 06, 2016 | Posted by hannah
<https://muninetworks.org/users/hannah>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/wiredwest-new-website>

In western Massachusetts, 44 small towns continue the push for high-speed,
high-quality Internet access. WiredWest (a cooperative of these town’s
municipal light plants) has been ramping up the pressure on the state. They
need funding to build a regional network, but a state agency has been
reluctant to distribute money.

To update everyone on the ever-changing situation, WiredWest has launched a
revamped website, focusing on the latest news and most relevant
information. Bookmark WiredWest.net <http://wiredwest.net/> to keep
informed.

... More Background on Wired West Here ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/wiredwest-new-website>

BBC World Service Visits Chattanooga
<https://muninetworks.org/content/bbc-world-service-visits-chattanooga>
Sat, June 11, 2016 | Posted by lgonzalez
<https://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/bbc-world-service-visits-chattanooga>

Over the past few years, a number of media outlets have spotlighted
Chattanooga’s rebirth from “dirtiest city in America” to a high-tech
economic development engine. Recently, the BBC World Service produced
“*Chattanooga
- the High Speed City*” an episode in its Global Business Podcast series.

Peter Day presents the 27-minute story, described by the BBC as:

Chattanooga has been re-inventing itself for decades. In the late 1960s
Walter Cronkite referred to the city as "the dirtiest in America." Since
then heavy industry has declined and, to take its place, civic leaders have
been on a mission to bring high-tech innovation and enterprise to
Chattanooga. In 2010 the city became the first in America to enjoy gig
speed internet following an investment of a couple of hundred million
dollars from its publicly-owned electricity company, EPB. What economic and
psychological benefits have super-fast internet brought to this mid-sized
city in Tennessee? Has the investment in speed paid off?

... This is a Good Story With New Anecdotes ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/bbc-world-service-visits-chattanooga>

Another RFP: Egremont, Massachusetts
<https://muninetworks.org/content/another-rfp-egremont-massachusetts>
Fri, June 10, 2016 | Posted by lgonzalez
<https://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/another-rfp-egremont-massachusetts>

Egremont, Massachusetts <http://www.egremont-ma.gov/>, population
approximately 1,000, is seeking a firm for design, engineering, and
consulting services for a Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network. They released
a Request or Proposals
<http://www.egremont-ma.gov/brdbnddesignRFP1605.pdf> (RFP)
in mid-May and proposal submissions are *due on June 15th*.

*Small Town Seeks Big Connectivity*

The community is one of the many rural towns located in the far western
part of the state where high-quality connectivity is rare. Like Leverett
<https://muninetworks.org/content/leverettnet-meets-demand-better-connectivity-ma>
, Mount Washington <https://muninetworks.org/tags/tags/mt-washington>, and
the Wired West communities, Egremont has decided the time to wait for the
big providers is over.

... A Few More Details Here ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/another-rfp-egremont-massachusetts>

Community Broadband Media Roundup - June 13
<https://muninetworks.org/content/community-broadband-media-roundup-june-13>
Mon, June 13, 2016 | Posted by Nick <https://muninetworks.org/users/nick>
<https://muninetworks.org/content/community-broadband-media-roundup-june-13>

*Colorado*

A lesson in broadband projects
<http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/a-lesson-in-broadband-projects> by
Dennis Webb, Grand Junction Sentinel

*Idaho*

Idaho Falls mulls expanding fiber-optic Internet connections
<http://idahostatejournal.com/pocatello/idaho-falls-mulls-expanding-fiber-optic-internet-connections/article_b611fe90-9964-501d-9ed5-c0ac1e830b7f.html>
by
Sarah Glenn, Idaho State Journal

... Read the Full Community Broadband Network Media Roundup Here ...
<https://muninetworks.org/content/community-broadband-media-roundup-june-13>

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