WASHINGTON, June 21, 2017 — The White House on Thursday plans to continue its “tech week” by hosting a group of 25 technology company founders and CEOs to meet with Trump Administration officials on new technologies and promoting economic progress, Deputy Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios said on Wednesday. “Tomorrow I’m very excited for [the… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 12, 2017 — Despite myriad public events and a soundbyte-friendly title of “Infrastructure Week,” last week the White House was light on infrastructure and nearly empty of plans to build out 21st century digital infrastructure of fiber or wireless broadband. “There’s not going to be a lot of detail at this time,” a… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 7, 2017 – Two organizations supportive of municipal broadband advocacy efforts last week issued differing reports critical of a May 24 report by a University of Pennsylvania professor. The report, by Christopher Yoo and Timothy Pfenninger, was titled “Municipal Fiber in the United States: An Empirical Assessment of Financial Performance,” and it concluded… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 7, 2017 – Champions, partnerships and flexibility are necessary to bring fiber-optic networks to less-populated communities, said participants involved in launching such a network in Kent County, Maryland. Speaking at a Friday panel was hosted at the Schools Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition Annual Conference here, the executive director of the State Education… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 6, 2017 — Despite giving this week the title of “Infrastructure Week” at the White House, President Donald Trump and his staff haven’t taken any public actions to make digital infrastructure, such as high-speed broadband, a part of their plans for the much-discussed infrastructure bill. “On infrastructure, the President has said all along… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, June 3, 2017 — Infrastructure plans in President Donald Trump’s 2018 budget represent a significant break from his predecessor not only in the brick-and-mortar variety, but also in the next generation of infrastructure for the next generation of the American economy — wired and wireless broadband networks. While infrastructure investment under President Barack Obama… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: The Huntsville combination of open access and leased fiber is a model to watch! || Google Fiber launches in Huntsville, Alabama by leasing new municipal fiber network, from 9to5 Google: First announced over a year ago, Google Fiber is now live in Huntsville, Alabama. Alphabet’s internet connectivity division was able to launch its service… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Always important to get to the bottom of reports criticizing municipal networks in an incomplete fashion. Bravo to Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Next Century Cities for addressing these. || Addressing UPenn Report: Dud Data, Unsuitable Approach, from Institute for Local Self-Reliance: For the second week in row, our staff has felt… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: We’ll be looking for some alternative analysis of this material. Interesting to see that this is becoming such a focus of certain industry observers and interests. || Municipal Fiber in the U.S.: An Empirical Assessment of the Financial Performance, from Wharton’s Public Policy Initiative: Many municipalities have already built municipal-owned fiber networks… Keep Reading
DALLAS, May 5, 2017 – Open access networks are becoming more real for gigabit connectivity in the United States, according to panelists attending the Broadband Communities Summit here this week. The conference was notable in having numerous, positive discussions of the “three-tiered” model: One entity owns the fiber infrastructure, a second entity operates the gigabit… Keep Reading
DALLAS, May 1, 2017 – One of the biggest puzzles in broadband today is a financial conundrum: Our nation needs next-generation networks everywhere, but advanced internet capacity is spotty at best. One solution to the problem of financing universal broadband networks — on display in Ammon, Idaho — will be presented at the Rural Telecommunications… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: This development highlights that Google Fiber isn’t done with fiber builds — just exploring new methods and models with which to carry forward. || Google Fiber officially selects Louisville, KY to run its new gigabit play, from Tech Republic: Google Fiber has confirmed that the next city to receive its gigabit internet… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: A concerning new development from Maine. Thanks to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance for raising this issue through this alert. || Bill Introduced in Maine Legislature to Limit Local Authority over Broadband Investment, from Community Broadband Networks: Maine State Representative Nathan Wadsworth (R-Hiram) introduced a bill to revoke local authority over building… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: A new report from the Haas Institute raises the question that’s been lurking behind the important-to-significant fiber rollouts over the past decade by Verizon, Google and AT&T: Are these providers cherry-picking their neighborhoods? This report drills deeply into AT&T’s deployment. || Digital Divide in California, by the Haas Institute: Californians need high-speed… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: One of the most interesting questions in broadband infrastructure today centers around dry legalities like “dig once” and “one touch.” This conflict in Louisville shows that Google still intends to stay in the battle, at least on the policy and legal front, vis-a-vis incumbents like AT&T. || Legal bills mount as Louisville… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: By taking this action, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has likely avoided the fate of a bill that would require the agency to add conduit to infrastructure projects. See Steve Blum’s perspective below, and on the link. || Caltrans buries dig once conduit bill, from Tellus Venture Associates: Under a veto… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Open access networks, such as those proposed by SiFi Networks, are important because they allow for the next generation applications and services. This story updates how a Rhode Island community is considering the company for its fiber network. Economic Development Commission keeps SIFI high-speed Internet idea alive WESTERLY — The Economic Development… Keep Reading
RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, April 19, 2017 – At 7,200 square miles, this Southern California county is nearly the size of New Jersey. On April 3, the county put out a “Request for Participants” in an effort to jump-start a $2 billion to $4 billion initiative building a gigabit fiber network. The project is dubbed RIVCOConnect, and represents… Keep Reading
DALLAS, April 18, 2017 – The Universal Service Administrative Corporation may not grab broadband headlines, but the once-obscure federal agency is central to helping rural America and other stakeholders get Broadband Broadband, Better Lives. USAC’s programs, plus its “new look,” will be the subject of the lead panel at the Rural Telecommunications Congress happening here… Keep Reading
DALLAS, April 6, 2017 – The Rural Telecommunications Congress program at the 2017 Broadband Communities Summit here on May 1-4, 2017, will feature panelists on the Universal Service Administrative Corporation’s role in bringing broadband to underserved and unserved communities, the role of broadband mapping in today’s telecommunications ecosystem, a case study of bringing broadband to… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: This came out just over a month ago, but is well worth highlighting. Ammon, Idaho, has developed a model that helps to break apart the closed-box model of the vertically-integrated communications providers. This article on Muni Networks well encapsulates some of the ways that Ammon’s network os so revolutionary. Ammon Launches Its… Keep Reading
BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Another possible success story from Appalachia, where local utilities are stepping up to the plate and making fiber the new utility for middle America. Morristown And Newport Buddy-Up For Broadband In Rural TN, from MuniNetworks.org Morristown Utilities Commission (MUC) and Newport Utilities (NU) in Tennessee have taken the first monumental step in… Keep Reading
Broadband Breakfast Insight: Unlike the United States, the UK has a system of “structural separations” – at least in theory – where the provider of the wholesale networks (Openreach) is to be separated from its sister-provider of retail broadband services (BT). This article recounts some of the controversies that have now come to a head.… Keep Reading
Broadband Breakfast Insight: This article in the Charlotte Observer highlights the fact that, even when people want fiber, there are inevitably logistical and infrastructure challenges that need to be managed in a fiber-to-the-home build. Both Google Fiber and AT&T are impacted by the problem. Busted water mains are the biggest problem for Google and AT&T contractors,… Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, January 31, 2017 – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Tuesday announced the formation of a new federal advisory committee that would seek to accelerate deployment of high-speed broadband nationwide, and to close the digital divide, by providing a model approach to deployment for municipalities. “Access to broadband is increasingly critical for all… Keep Reading
Broadband Breakfast Insight: The need for speed is here, and is here to stay. You don’t build a next century network to accomodate the current capacity, but the capacity that people are going to be using. Here is more evidence that the future is coming sooner rather than later. AT&T says 30% of FTTH subs… Keep Reading
Broadband Breakfast Insight: We have no information on the veracity of this speculation, from last week’s Fortune, but it is clear that the broadband ecosystem is in the midst of coping with Google’s retrenchment from expansions in the fiber marketplace. -> Why Google Might Be Getting Ready to Dump Its Fiber Internet Service, Fortune.com Recent… Keep Reading
Broadband Breakfast Insight: Will the cable or the telco incumbents make the first move to the gigabit fiber future? The answer may be “none of the above.” Public-private partnerships unallied with either camp may make the next move in getting infrastructure to the smart cities of the future. -> AT&T, Verizon and other large incumbent… Keep Reading
Broadband Breakfast Insight: A great article detailing the way that a rural community, even in a sparsely-populated region of Colorado, is able to make an open-access network work for the communities and residents of the region. -> Rio Blanco County Stays Relevant With Broadband, from Broadband Communities Magazine. Colorado became a hotbed of community broadband… Keep Reading
Broadband Breakfast Insight: Fiber is prevalent in the Utah broadband marketplace, both because of Google Fiber, and because of the Utah Telecommunications Open Infrastructure Agency. This helps push the speed upward on the state’s connection speeds.-> Utah Internet Speed #2 in the Country and #3 in the World – Utah Broadband Outreach Center Utah is tied… Keep Reading
Broadband Breakfast Insight: Although this article highlights the negatives, it is a bit of a reversal that, in spite of its general withdrawl from the FiOS marketplace, Verizon is going full-scale in Boston. -> Verizon begins fiber optic rollout in Boston – The Verge Verizon is beginning its $300 million FiOS rollout in the Boston… Keep Reading
SALT LAKE CITY, October 19, 2015 - Utah has been leading the nation in many areas of broadband internet access and its proliferation, according to a report released on Wednesday by the non-profit Utah Foundation.
"Utah’s history of investing early and its collaboration among many public and private entities has helped develop an infrastructure that can support the local business climate, including Utah’s expanding tech sector which is heavily reliant on high-capacity networks," reads the report, by Shawn Teigen, Christopher Collard and Robert Jordan of the foundation.
"It is likely that future internet applications will require exceedingly high-speed internet, far beyond that which is available today. Preparing the infrastructure now may be prudent," write the authors.
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LAKE OSWEGO, Oregon, October 14, 2015 - This suburb of Portland, a potential candidate for Google Fiber's Gigabit-speed internet service, has said it isn't willing to wait around for the search engine giant.
At a city council meeting here on Tuesday night, elected officials in this city of 37,000 listened, questioned and debated between two proposed public-private partnerships that would result in the construction of Gigabit-speed fiber-optic infrastructure.
Instead of sitting and waiting for Google, the city council members appeared inclined to move forward on a public-private project with city involvement.
"There was a great buzz and excitement when Google announced" the possibility that it would come to Portland, said Councilmember Jon Gustafson during the session -- but the city hasn't wasn't seen any action since that time.
Last year, Google announced possible expansion to Portland and five suburbs, including Lake Oswego. The company has made commitment, however.
"Google is still at the vapor stage," added Chip Larouche, chief technology officer for the city. Speaking at the Tuesday meeting, he said that Google is "talking about how 'we might make you a promise.'"
Instead, City Manager Scott Lazenby said that in June Lake Oswego put out a Request for Proposals to build their own Gigabit Network. The city received two responses from private companies, and one from the City's own Public Works Department.
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Editor’s Note: This past week, Drew Clark’s column in the Deseret News of Salt Lake City, Utah, was on the "The zeitgeist of modern Provo: Jobs and a good quality of life." Click here for links to all of his Deseret News columns.
PROVO — What do you get when you cross a thriving technology and startup community with what Gallup called "the best place to live in America"?
That's the zeitgeist here in Utah County. It'll be celebrated with a new technology, business and cultural event here, dubbed Startfest, beginning on Monday, Aug. 31.
And because of the still-coalescing cultural power of information and communications technologies, Utah as a whole is sending a message to the world: Citizens of a particular city or region are no longer necessarily forced to choose between quality of life and economic opportunity.
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June 18, 2015 – Recent changes to the eligibility rules for the Federal Communication Commission’s eRate program open the door for new fiber connections for schools and libraries using agency funds. Among the rule changes were the suspension of the requirement that applicants seek funding for large up front construction costs over several years, the… Keep Reading
SALT LAKE CITY, April 28, 2015 - The Utah Breakfast Club and Broadband Breakfast Club released the video of the organizations' most recent event, "GigUtah: How Fiber Networks Are Transforming Salt Lake City, Provo and Utah."
Panelists from the event included:
Editor's Note: This is one of several wrap-up articles about the 2015 Broadband Communities Summit earlier this month in Austin, Texas. For the complete list of articles from the summit, visit http://broadbandbreakfast.com/2015/04/articles-from-the-2015-broadband-communities-summit-in-austin/
AUSTIN, April 27, 2015 - Raising funds to build high-speed internet infrastructure through municipal debt financing is finally becoming a reality, according to a panel of financiers and broadband builders speaking earlier this month here at the Broadband Communities Summit.
Members of the panel, "Municipal Debt Financing and Public-Private Partnerships," surveyed the landscape of typical municipal bond financing -- traditionally used to build transportation infrastructure -- and discussed how it applies in the broadband space.
While the financiers on the panel eagerly posed questions, some of the practitioners eagerly showcased models of bank-worthiness for building open-access fiber networks. [...]
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SALT LAKE, April 21, 2015 - Utah's Gigabit Networks -- from Google Fiber to UTOPIA to others -- will be the subject of discussion at the Utah Breakfast Club LUNCHEON event on Friday, April 24, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Utah State Capitol.
The Utah Breakfast Club LUNCHEON event, which will also be webcast live at UtahBreakfast.com, is being sponsored by BroadbandBreakfast.com: Lunch will be available FOR FREE to registered attendees. Register below or at the Utah Breakfast Club event page at http://UtahBreakfast.com/events.
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April 13, 2015 - Attention on the significance of community-based Gigabit Networks rose dramatically when President Obama included an announcement about the importance of community broadband networks in his State of the Union address in January, and in remarks in Cedar Falls, Iowa, one week before the speech.
At the same time, the White House also released a report of its own on community-based broadband solutions, which highlighted the growing demand for Gigabit Networks, and also focused on some of the laws that restrict municipalities' involvement in broadband.
Somewhat overlooked in the process, however, was an important report released on January 14 by the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
In a blog post that day, NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling recapped the investments of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program: Upgrading 113,000 miles of fiber, and connecting 25,000 community anchor institutions.
The Commerce Department also released an important 16-page report, "BroadbandUSA: An introduction to effective public-private partnerships for broadband investments," that bears re-examination. [...]
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February 10, 2015 – With all the talk — and now the action — behind building Gigabit Networks by hundreds of cities across the United States, a key question emerges: What can actually be done with all the speed? Understanding the technologies that take advantage of Gigabit Networks is a key component of fleshing out… Keep Reading