Unbuffered

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Matt Schmit, Director of the Illinois Office of Broadband and Chair of Illinois Broadband Advisory Council. During the conversation, the two discuss Illinois’ $420 million investment in broadband infrastructure as part of the Connect Illinois Broadband Grant program, the challenges in and solutions to both rural … Continue reading "It’s Not a Rural Broadband Challenge, It’s a Statewide Broadband Challenge – Episode 489 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast"

★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode of the podcast, we’re back for another staff conversation about all that 2021 had to offer and serve up some predictions for the coming year. Joining Christopher on the show are Senior Reporter and Editor Sean Gonsalves, Community Broadband Outreach Team Lead DeAnne Cuellar, Senior Researcher Ry Marcattilio-McCracken, GIS and Data Visualization Specialist Christine … Continue reading "Last Year and Next Year: Predictions Evaluated and Recharged – Episode 488 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast"

★ Support this podcast ★

On this week’s episode of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, Christopher Mitchell is joined by Derek Turner, the research director for Free Press, to talk about the history of the federal government’s broadband data collection and how the Form 477 came to be.  They unpack how this data collection process has been historically flawed and how it … Continue reading "A History of Form 477 and Broadband Mapping Data – Episode 487 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast"

★ Support this podcast ★

For episode 15 of our bonus series, “Why NC Broadband Matters,” Christopher Mitchell is joined by Catharine Rice (Co-founder of NC Broadband Matters and  Project Manager at the Coalition for Local Internet Choice) and Doug Dawson (Owner and President of CCG Consulting) dig into what all these different pots of federal funding mean communities across … Continue reading "What Does All This Money Mean? – Bonus Episode 15 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast"

★ Support this podcast ★

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"

★ Support this podcast ★

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"

★ Support this podcast ★

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"

★ Support this podcast ★

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"

★ Support this podcast ★

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"

★ Support this podcast ★

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"

★ Support this podcast ★