[Davisgig] Recently in Community Networks... Week of 5/24

Tue May 24 08:59:42 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.*

Highlands, North Carolina, Learns To Fish With Altitude Community Broadband
<http://muninetworks.org/content/highlands-north-carolina-learns-fish-altitude-community-broadband>
Fri, May 20, 2016 | Posted by lgonzalez
<http://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/highlands-north-carolina-learns-fish-altitude-community-broadband>

Highlands <http://highlandsnc.org/> is a small community of less than 1,000
residents located in the Nantahala National Forest in the Appalachian
Mountains. Along the western tip of the state, Highlands faces the same
problem as many other rural communities - poor connectivity. In order to
bring high-quality Internet access to residents and businesses, Highlands
has implemented a plan to deploy city-owned Internet network infrastructure.

*A Connected Escape Up In The Mountains*

Highland entertains a large number of summer tourists who flock to its high
altitude to escape summer heat and humidity. Summer visitors can fill the
city’s six square miles and surrounding area with up to 20,000 people. The
city operates a municipal electric utility along with water, sewer, and
garbage pick up.

... Another NC Community Seeking to Solve Its Problems Locally ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/highlands-north-carolina-learns-fish-altitude-community-broadband>

Emmett, Idaho Sees Opportunity in New Fiber Network
<http://muninetworks.org/content/emmett-idaho-sees-opportunity-new-fiber-network>
Sat, May 21, 2016 | Posted by ternste
<http://muninetworks.org/users/ternste>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/emmett-idaho-sees-opportunity-new-fiber-network>

“Business in the 21st century is driven by broadband.”

Those are the words of Gordon Petrie, the Mayor of the small west central City
of Emmett, Idaho <http://www.cityofemmett.org/> that is in the process
of constructing
its own fiber network
<http://idahobusinessreview.com/2016/05/11/to-draw-business-emmett-hooks-up-to-fiber-optic-broadband/#ixzz48wRt0bS2>.
The Mayor and other city leaders have high hopes that the network will
create economic opportunities in their city within this sparsely populated
part of the country:

“Idaho is one of the least connected states in the union." Petrie said. “We
intend to change that by making Emmett one of the most connected
communities in Idaho. We’ll have the infrastructure to support high-tech
business.”

... Read the Rest of the Story on Another Idaho Community Moving Forward ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/emmett-idaho-sees-opportunity-new-fiber-network>

Meeting the American Cable Association - Community Broadband Bits Podcast
Episode 202
<http://muninetworks.org/content/meeting-american-cable-association-community-broadband-bits-podcast-episode-202>
Tue, May 17, 2016 | Posted by christopher
<http://muninetworks.org/users/christopher>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/meeting-american-cable-association-community-broadband-bits-podcast-episode-202>

The American Cable Association (ACA) <http://www.americancable.org/> represents
over 800 small and medium-sized cable companies around the United States,
including many municipal cable and fiber-optic
<http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term10> networks. This week, we talk
with ACA President and CEO Matt Polka about what they do and how small
cable companies are vastly different from the big companies like Comcast
and Charter.

We spoke after it was clear Charter's merger with Time Warner Cable would
be approved, but before this article in Ars Technica
<http://arstechnica.com/business/2016/05/cable-lobby-group-broadband-competition-is-bad-for-customers/>
effectively
missed the point of Matt Polka's objection to the competition requirement
in the merger. In our interview, we discuss the larger problem - that the
federal government consistently puts its thumb on the scale to benefit the
biggest cable companies at the expense of smaller ones. Forcing Charter to
compete with Comcast would be a far bigger benefit to communities than
having it take over small cable networks.

We wrap up with a discussion about how smaller companies, which includes
all municipal networks, are disproportionately impacted by regulations that
do not distinguish between the biggest providers (that tend to cause the
majority of problems) and the smaller providers (that bear the brunt of
regulations designed for reigning in the problems caused by the big
carriers).

... Listen to the Show Here
<http://muninetworks.org/content/meeting-american-cable-association-community-broadband-bits-podcast-episode-202>
 ... Read the transcript from this show here
<http://muninetworks.org/content/transcript-community-broadband-bits-episode-202>
 ...

Ozarks Electric To Bring Gig to Arkansas and Oklahoma
<http://muninetworks.org/content/ozarks-electric-bring-gig-arkansas-and-oklahoma>
Mon, May 16, 2016 | Posted by hannah <http://muninetworks.org/users/hannah>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/ozarks-electric-bring-gig-arkansas-and-oklahoma>

Ozarks Electric Cooperative <https://www.ozarksecc.com/> has a plan to
bring fast, affordable, reliable connectivity to northwest Arkansas and
northeast Oklahoma.

*Fast, Affordable, Reliable Connectivity At Last*

OzarksGo <https://www.ozarksgo.net/>, a wholly owned subsidiary of the
electric co-op, will provide Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH
<http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term13>) Internet service with
symmetrical <http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term24> speeds of up to a
Gigabit (1,000 Megabits) per second. The fiber network will cost $150
million to build over the next six years.

ArkansasOnline
<http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2016/apr/27/ozarks-electric-to-install-fiber-line-2/?f=latest>
 and local news station KSFM
<http://5newsonline.com/2016/04/22/ozarks-electric-to-start-providing-internet-tv-telephone-services/>
reported
on the future network. The residential FTTH service will have no data caps
and OzarksGo will offer additional services, such as telephone and video.
At the end of the project, all co-op members will have access to the
network's services.

... Read More on the Ozarks Solution for Expanding Rural Fiber ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/ozarks-electric-bring-gig-arkansas-and-oklahoma>

Palo Alto, CA, and Pikeville, KY, Release RFIs
<http://muninetworks.org/content/palo-alto-ca-and-pikeville-ky-release-rfis>
Wed, May 18, 2016 | Posted by lgonzalez
<http://muninetworks.org/users/lgonzalez>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/palo-alto-ca-and-pikeville-ky-release-rfis>

Two new Requests for Information (RFI) were recently released in Palo Alto,
California, and Pikeville, Kentucky.

*Pikeville, Kentucky*

Pikeville is open to both public ownership and Gigabit service via
privately owned infrastructure. This community of approximately 7,000
residents wants Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) for businesses, community
anchor institutions, municipal facilities, and residents. The regional
Appalachian Mountain community, with many jobs lost due to the shrinking
coal industry, is turning to connectivity as a way to spur economic
development.

Pikeville’s RFI describes how service from existing providers is expensive
and "sporadic." This RFI calls for a partner that will help the community
develop an open access <http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term625>,
affordable, financially sustainable network. In drafting the RFI,
Pikeville’s officials made sure to note that low-income residents will not
be left behind; bringing this asset to disadvantaged residents is a
priority.

... More Details on the RFIs Here ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/palo-alto-ca-and-pikeville-ky-release-rfis>

Greenfield, MA, Humming With Hybrid Fiber-Wireless
<http://muninetworks.org/content/greenfield-ma-humming-hybrid-fiber-wireless>
Thu, May 19, 2016 | Posted by ternste
<http://muninetworks.org/users/ternste>
<http://muninetworks.org/content/greenfield-ma-humming-hybrid-fiber-wireless>

Residents and businesses in the rural Massachusetts Town of Greenfield
<http://muninetworks.org/glossary/1#term270> are in the process of gaining
faster and more affordable Internet service thanks a newmunicipally-owned
hybrid fiber-wireless network
<http://www.recorder.com/Greenfield-to-begin-offering-cheaper-town-owned-Internet-service-after-July-1-1829727>.
In November, more than 80% of voters
<http://muninetworks.org/tags/tags/greenfield-ma>passed a ballot referendum
<http://muninetworks.org/tags/tags/greenfield-ma> to authorize the city to
create a nonprofit entity to construct and operate the network.

While scheduled completion is not until spring 2017, some customers will be
able to start service during the network’s construction period starting in
July. Thanks to the Greenlight pilot program
<http://greenlightinternet.com/>, customers and network operators are
already experiencing the new service. Upon completion of an engineering
study to iron out the precise plans for the network, the city will start
construction of the 80- to 100- mile fiber network. There will be as many
as 1,000 wireless access points.

... Read More About Greenfield's Approach Here ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/greenfield-ma-humming-hybrid-fiber-wireless>

Inside the Border-to-Border Grant Program with Christopher Mitchell and
Danna MacKenzie
<http://muninetworks.org/content/inside-border-border-grant-program-christopher-mitchell-and-danna-mackenzie>
Wed, May 18, 2016 | Posted by rebecca
<http://muninetworks.org/users/rebecca>

On Wednesday, November 18, 2015, Christopher Mitchell sat down with Danna
MacKenzie, Executive Director of the Office of Broadband Development for
the State of Minnesota to talk about the implementation of the
Border-to-Border Grant program, and one project, RS Fiber. This interview
is being released in conjunction with ILSR's report, *Minnesota’s Broadband
Grant Program: Getting the Rules Right*
<https://ilsr.org/mn-border-to-border-grant-program/>.

The policy brief covers what the program is, how it works, and why funding
must be expanded in order to serve more greater Minnesota communities. In
its first two years of implementation, the Minnesota Border-to-Border
program distributed $30 million to 31 rural Minnesota communities. But
Minnesota's need is much greater and the Legislature should allocate more
to the grant program.

... Watch the Video Here ...
<http://muninetworks.org/content/inside-border-border-grant-program-christopher-mitchell-and-danna-mackenzie>

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