Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
On February 3rd, voters in Estes Park voted 92 percent to reclaim local authority to establish a telecommunications utility. The result follows a greater trend in Colorado where eight communities made similar decisions last fall.
In 2014, Broward County completed its transition from an expensive leased data, video, and voice communications system to its own fiber network. The southern Florida county is now saving $780,000 per year with plenty of room to grow.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler released a statement yesterday supporting the concept of local authority for community broadband infrastructure.
For the facts on all things UTOPIA, we turn to Jesse Harris at FreeUTOPIA.org. In his latest post, he provides an excellent bullet list of the key factors in Macquarie's Milestone 2 proposal. An excerpt From his post:
We are well into the new year; a look back at 2014 can be instructive if we strive to learn from our mistakes.
Spring is the time for the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities (IAMU) Broadband Conference in Des Moines. This year is it scheduled for March 18th and 19th at the Ramada Tropics and Resort Center downtown. Don't forget your swimsuit!
Seattleites tired of waiting for incumbents to provide better services, have decided to launch a campaign to establish Internet access as a public utility.
Yet another major news outlet has endorsed the President's position in support of local telecommunications authority.
Last fall, nonprofit ISP OneCommunity created the "Big Gig Challenge" to jump start expansion and promote gigabit applications in northeast Ohio.
The 2015 Broadband Communities Summit is scheduled for April 14 - 16 in Austin, Texas. When you book your flight and reserve your room, plan on coming a day early so you can take advantage of the is year's special pre-conference event.
Eleven Select boards in Franklin County are ready to take the next step with WiredWest Cooperative.
We continue to see reverberations from President Obama's speaking out in favor of municipal networks. The presidential nod sparked state lawmakers to propose bills, news organizations to write editorials, and to give communities a better sense of how they can take action locally.
President Obama's recent appearance in Cedar Falls infused adrenaline into the debate about local authority for telecommunications decisions. As a result, some of the media outlets from large cities are now coming out in support of local authority.
Maine continues to be a hot spot in the drive to improve connectivity as the 2015 state legislative session opens. According to the Bangor Daily News, 35 bills have been introduced that deal with broadband issues.
The Madison Cap Times recently ran an editorial focusing on the surprising nature of mayoral races. We were also surprised - pleasantly so - to read the intention of the editorial board (emphasis ours):
