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Scott DeGarmo

Broadband's Impact

Fiber Optics Now Seen as Default Technology Even for Deployment of Rural Broadband, Says FCC Official

LEXINGTON, Kentucky, September 16, 2015 - Fiber-optics is now the default mode for deploying high-speed internet throughout the country, even including rural areas, said the head of the Federal Communications Commission's office of strategic planning. "Everywhere the country [that] has been able to get an electric line, it ought to be able to get a fiber cable," said Jonathan Chambers, chief of the office, widely regarded as the FCC "think tank" for technological advancement. Chambers, in the kick-off presentation at the Broadband Communities economic development conference here, highlighted the widespread acceptance that everyone deserved broadband deployment at speeds significantly higher than even those put forward in the National Broadband Plan five years ago. This expectation for broadband at speeds upward of 25 megabits per second (Mbps), 100 Mbps, or 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps), Chambers said, extended even to rural areas. Hilda Legg interviews Jonathan Chambers at Kentucky conference. [More...] Keep Reading

Broadband's Impact

Giants of Broadband: A Personal Remembrance of Scott DeGarmo

Editor's Note: The broadband world has lost three visionary giants over the past several months: Scott DeGarmo, Charles Benton and Don Samuelson. Each of these men had a significant impact on the world of advancing high-speed communications. Personally, each of them also had a significant impact on my professional career in broadband. I have had countless interactions with each of them over the course of many years. SALT LAKE CITY, August 31, 2015 - I learned of the passing of Broadband Communities CEO Scott DeGarmo from pancreatic cancer two weeks ago this morning. One of my colleagues on the board of the non-profit Rural Telecommunications Congress had shared the news. His death came just one month prior to his company's next conference, "Fiber for the New Economy" in Lexington, Kentucky. I immediately sent off my condolences -- now joined with dozens of others on the Broadband Communities web site -- to those in his company whom I have known and with whom I have interacted on my levels. [more...] Keep Reading

FCC/Infrastructure

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Pokes Finger in Eye of Telecom Incumbents at Broadband Communities in Austin

AUSTIN, April 14, 2015 - The Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission came to Broadband Communities Summit here to metaphorically poke his finger in the eye of the biggest incumbent communications companies. He cited this city as Exhibit A for his mantra of "competition, competition, competition." And one day after the first of multiple legal challenges to the agency's network neutrality rules, Wheeler delivered a full-throated defense of those regulations. Wheeler also defended -- to repeated applause from the crowd -- a vigorous defense of municipalities and to communities' rights to offer broadband internet services. Chairman Tom Wheeler at the Broadband Communities Summit. Keep Reading

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