On this week’s episode of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, Christopher Mitchell invites the Community Broadband Networks Initiative staff onto the show to talk about what they believe were some of the biggest broadband stories of 2021. The group reminisce about what has been one of the most pivotal years for broadband infrastructure investment and … Continue reading "A Look Back on the Biggest Broadband Stories of 2021 – Episode 486 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast"

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On this week’s episode of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, Christopher Mitchell welcomes Willie Painter, the public affairs manager for the Lewis County’s Public Utility District (PUD), to talk about what the county has been doing to address the lack of connectivity. We reported on Lewis County PUD’s plan to connect its 33,000 members through an open access fiber-to-the-home … Continue reading "A Washington PUD Prioritizes Open Access Fiber After Pandemic – Episode 485 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast"

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This week, we are releasing a bonus episode of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, featuring a recent National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) webinar on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) that recently passed in Congress.  In this webinar, NDIA Policy Director, Amy Huffman breaks down the programs created by the more than $65 billion that’s been allocated to … Continue reading "NDIA Webinar: Digital Inclusion Funding in the Infrastructure Act – Bonus Episode of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast"

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On this week’s episode of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, Christopher Mitchell brings back a longtime favorite guest, Jon Chambers, Partner at Conexon, to talk about what is next for municipal and cooperative broadband efforts given the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The two discuss the importance of rural cooperatives when connecting some of the most underserved … Continue reading "What States, Communities, and Activists Need to Do to Make the Most of the Infrastructure Act – Episode 484 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast"

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On this week’s episode of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, host Christopher Mitchell is joined by Russ Elliot, the CEO of Siskiyou Telephone in Northern California.  The two discuss the importance of small incumbent providers, which often get lumped in with bigger telecommunications companies that leave rural communities behind when building broadband infrastructure. Small incumbent providers are … Continue reading "Local Solutions for Expanding Broadband Accessibility – Episode 483 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast"

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On this week’s episode of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, Sean Gonsalves joins regular host Christopher Mitchell in a conversation with Michael Maloney, a public finance banker and the Managing Director at D.A. Davidson based in Iowa. Maloney has spent his career working on public financing projects to hope to spur economic development, including broadband. The three … Continue reading "Fort Dodge Brings FTTH to Fruition – Episode 482 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast"

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On this week’s episode of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, host Christopher Mitchell travels to Des Moines, Iowa for the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities Telecom Conference. He speaks with Kurt Ripperger, the Fiber Superintendent for the Indianola Municipal Utilities in Iowa.  The two talk about the journey of Indianola’s citywide fiber-to-the-home municipal network. While initially … Continue reading "A Success Story in Indianola, Iowa- Episode 481 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast"

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On this week’s episode of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, host Christopher Mitchell is joined by Danny Peralta, the Executive Managing Director of The Point in the Bronx, New York which has. The Point has been at the forefront of revitalizing the South Bronx’s Hunts Point neighborhood working to address  environmental issues, increase access to the arts, … Continue reading "Broadband and Beyond in the Bronx – Episode 480 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast"

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On this episode of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, host Christopher Mitchell is joined by Deanne Cuellar, the State Program Director for Older Adult Technology Services (OATS). They explore the history of the digital divide in San Antonio and Cuellar’s role in making the city one of the nation’s leaders in digital inclusion efforts.  The two also … Continue reading "The Fight for Digital Inclusion and Equity in San Antonio – Episode 479 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast"

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On this episode of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, host Christopher Mitchell talks fiber with Gary Bolton, CEO and President of the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) at the Broadband Communities Summit in Houston, TX.  The two discuss a recent fiber optic technician training program that FBA is rolling out, not only to fill expertise gaps and the labor shortage, but also … Continue reading "Let’s Talk Fiber – Episode 478 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast"

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