Press Release: Kirton McConkie Presents Webinar for Municipalities on Building Gigabit Networks
SALT LAKE CITY, January 15, 2015 – President Obama’s vigorous support of a growing national movement to build Gigabit Networks highlights the need for municipalities to prepare wisely for their high-speed Internet future, said Kirton McConkie attorneys Drew Clark and David Shaw. Kirton McConkie anno
SALT LAKE CITY, January 15, 2015 – President Obama’s vigorous support of a growing national movement to build Gigabit Networks highlights the need for municipalities to prepare wisely for their high-speed Internet future, said Kirton McConkie attorneys Drew Clark and David Shaw.Kirton McConkie announced a practical four-part webinar series on “How to Build Your Gigabit Network,” beginning on Tuesday, January 27, 2015, from 2 p.m. ET to 3 p.m. Subsequent webinars will take place on following Tuesdays: February 3, February 10 and February 17.Registration for the webinars, which are available for free to the public, is at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6437609058631730178President Obama was set on Wednesday to travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa, the White House said, to “announce steps he will discuss in the State of the Union to help more Americans, in more communities around the country, get access to fast and affordable broadband.”Among those steps include the creation of a national Broadband Opportunity Council charged with “speeding up broadband deployment,” a Community Broadband Summit of mayors and county commissioners in June 2015, the launch of BroadbandUSA by the U.S. Department of Commerce, and urging the Federal Communications Commission to support local broadband competition.“There are many ways that cities can build Gigabit Networks, and President Obama is smart to highlight this bi-partisan issue in the State of the Union Address,” said Drew Clark, Of Counsel at Kirton McConkie. “Whether municipalities choose to support traditional telecom companies or new entrants, local governments play a central role in facilitating next-generation networks. A municipality that isn’t thinking about Gigabit Networks isn’t being a good guardian of its rights-of-ways.”“Municipalities know they need to plan for deploying fiber-optic infrastructure, but many are daunted by perceived financial and legal obstacles to constructing such networks,” said David Shaw, Shareholder at Kirton McConkie. “Hundreds of cities have constructed or operate high-speed broadband networks by themselves or through public-private partnerships. We expect that number to grow to thousands of cities – if they follow best practices for building Gigabit Networks.”The agenda for the “How to Build Your Gigabit Network” webinar series is below. All four events will be hosted and moderated by David Shaw and Drew Clark:Webinar 1, January 27 – “How to Build Your Gigabit Network: Avoiding Mistakes Before You Begin”
Addresses the nuts and bolts of cities’ efforts to build next-generation infrastructure. How many municipal networks are there? What key things do municipalities need to know before they begin?
Guests:
David Evertsen, CEO, Municipal Solutions Zane Logan, City Manager, Powell, Wyoming Masha Zager, Editor, Broadband Communities
Webinar 2, February 3 – “How to Build Your Gigabit Network: Lessons from Municipal Success Stories”
Brings together some of the lessons learned by municipalities in building their Gigabit networks. Officials from cities that have designed and built networks discuss their goals and expected outcomes. How can we measure the success of these networks?
Guests: Andrew Cohill, Danville, Virginia Bruce Patterson, Ammon, Idaho Deb Socia, Executive Director, Next Century Cities
Webinar 3, February 10 – “How to Build Your Gigabit Network: Resources for Municipalities”
What resources are available to cities as they approach Gigabit Networks, alone or in public-private partnerships? Interest in Gigabit Networks is growing and municipalities that go down that path are not alone.
Webinar 4, February 17 – “How to Build Your Gigabit Network: Selling the Benefits to Users”
What are the benefits to cities, citizens and businesses from building Gigabit Networks? Emerging high-bandwidth apps require greater connectivity speeds, made easier by fiber networks. Who is experiencing such benefits today, and how we can use their stories?
To Register, go to: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6437609058631730178Kirton McConkie is a leader in legal issues surrounding building, financing and operating municipal broadband networks. We enhance state and local governments’ ability to deploy broadband infrastructure in their economic development activities. We represent municipalities, inter-local entities and cooperatives from an exploratory phase, through bid processes and beyond.Additionally, we assist clients as they construct and operate their high-speed broadband networks by negotiating with public-private partnerships. We know the players in the broadband community, the financial options available to cities and local governments and the best practices for building Gigabit Networks.For further information, please contact:
