Unbuffered

When it comes to building a community owned wireless network, few have more experience than Matthew Rantanen, our guest for the Community Broadband [no-glossary]Bits[/no-glossary] podcast this week. Rantanen has an impressive list of titles, two of which are Director of Technology for the Southern California Tribal Chairmen's Association (SCTCA) and Director of the Tribal Digital … Continue reading "Solar Powered Wireless on the Reservation – Community Broadband Bits Episode #76"

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Cedar Falls Utilities operates one of the oldest community owned networks in the nation. It started as a cable network in the 90's, upgraded to FTTH recently, and this year began offering the first citywide gigabit service in Iowa. CFU Communication Sales Manager Kent Halder and Network Services Manager Rob Houlihan join me for Community … Continue reading "Cedar Falls Shows Long Term Muni Network Success: Community Broadband Bits Episode #75"

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Last month, we unveiled a video teaser of our interviews in Glasgow, Kentucky over the summer regarding its municipal broadband network. This week our podcast features a few clips from those interviews with Billy Ray, the Superintendent of Glasgow's Electric Plant Board. He offers more context on the history of their network, including how they … Continue reading "Billy Ray on the Origins of the First Muni Broadband Network: Community Broadband Bits Episode #74"

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We welcome Todd O'Boyle of the good government group Common Cause to our Community Broadband [no-glossary]Bits[/no-glossary] podcast this week. He is the Director of the Media and Democracy program there, which recently released an explanation of network neutrality in comic form, which we discuss in our discussion. We also talk about the impression of municipal … Continue reading "Common Cause, Network Neutrality, and the FCC Come Together in Episode 73 of Community Broadband Bits Podcast"

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We are back with the fourth volume of our responding to “Crazy Talk” theme on the Community Broadband [no-glossary]Bits[/no-glossary] podcast. The source of this week's crazy talk is a public relations executive for Time Warner Cable, following an interview I did on WUNC in North Carolina. Lisa Gonzalez, myself, and our colleague John Farrell react … Continue reading "Responding to “Crazy Talk” Volume 4 – Community Broadband Bits Episode #72"

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This week's podcast features an interview with Education SuperHighway CEO Evan Marwell to discuss how we can make sure all schools have the Internet access they need to succeed. Education SuperHighway has a plan for connecting all schools with a fiber connection while also decreasing the need for long term federal funding of school connectivity. … Continue reading "Education SuperHighway Wants Better Broadband for Schools – Community Broadband Bits Episode #71"

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Greenlight, a muni FTTH network in eastern North Carolina's city of Wilson, is proving to be a powerful tool in attracting new residents and businesses. We spoke with General Manager Will Aycock about the network and how it has benefited the community. Our interview covers a number of subjects, including how the network is attracting … Continue reading "Wilson's Greenlight Leads North Carolina in Connectivity: Community Broadband Bits Episode #70"

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Earlier this year, Mark Creekmore transitioned from a frustrated DSL customer to a champion for better Internet access in Georgia. A concerned citizen and tech consultant, Mark joins us for the latest Community Broadband [no-glossary]Bits[/no-glossary] podcast. He discusses his history with Windstream and the steps he went through to improve his Internet access. Along with … Continue reading "Mark Creekmore Takes on Windstream – Community Broadband Bits Podcast #69"

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As Longmont prepares to vote on November 5, we are paying special attention to question 2B, which will authorize the city utility to issue revenue bonds to finance the FTTH network already being built. The successful referendum from 2011 gave the City authority to build the network and this referendum, if successful, will finance a … Continue reading "Longmont Prepares to Vote on Fiber Bonds – Community Broadband Bits Episode #68"

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We are excited to continue our history series with Jim Baller of the Baller Herbst Law Firm. This is Jim's third time on the program, having joined us for Episode 57 and Episode 63. We continue our discussion with a recap of the events of 2004, including Jim's work with Lafayette to find a compromise … Continue reading "Jim Baller Returns for Vol 3 of Muni Network History – Community Broadband Bits Episode #67"

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