All Things Information

ILSR Releases New Report: Learning from Burlington Telecom

admin — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 15:40:10 -0500

Burlington Telecom, a publicly owned broadband network in Vermont, transitioned from a hopeful star of the community broadband movement to the first example used by those opposed to government investing in the infrastructure of the 21st century.

Our new report investigates the mistakes made by Burlington Telecom, extracts lessons for community networks to avoid similar pitfalls, and discusses the ways Burlington Telecom has benefitted the community even as it was mismanaged.

Learning from Burlington Telecom: Some Lessons for Community Networks

admin — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:55:58 -0500

In little more than a year, Burlington Telecom went from being a hopeful star of the community fiber network movement to an albatross around its neck. The controversies surrounding it have encouraged cable and telephone companies to use it as Exhibit A in their case against communities going into the telecommunications business. However, most of those criticizing Burlington Telecom have very little understanding of what went wrong and how it happened. Examining what actually happened helps to explain how these problems may be avoided, as the vast majority of existing community networks have already done.

New Video: Community Fiber Networks Better than DSL, Cable Networks

admin — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:59:50 -0500

With the vast majority of Americans greatly overpaying for slow and unreliable broadband compared to connections in Europe and Asia, hundreds of communities have started building their own networks.

These networks have been incredibly successful, but massive corporations have smeared them with lies and accusations of failure. We created this video to demonstrate their stunning, if underreported, successes. Watch the video on Huffington Post or on YouTube.

Why Is Mighty Time Warner Cable Scared Of Tiny Salisbury, NC?

admin — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 13:26:49 -0500

People hate their telecommunications companies. The poster child for poor customer service in the public sector may be the Department of Motor Vehicle Bureau, but its unresponsiveness and arrogance pales into insignificance to those of Time Warner Cable, Comcast, and AT&T.

In this article, David Morris and Christopher Mitchell discuss why public ownership beats private in broadband -- which is why the big companies are trying to outlaw it.

ILSR Joins Debate over Public Ownership of Broadband

admin — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 09:32:24 -0500

On June 1, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation held an oxford-style debate over the proposition: "Governments should neither subsidize nor operate broadband networks to compete with commercial ones."

Christopher Mitchell, Director of the Telecommunications as Commons Initiative, argued that local governments must always have the option of building and operating their own networks if the community so desires. Watch the video on YouTube.

New Rule Added: Ammon Idaho Fiber Optic Network

admin — Fri, 13 May 2011 15:47:26 -0500

Ammon, Idaho, is a community of approximately 15,000 outside Idaho Falls in eastern Idaho. Ammon has struggled to boost economic development in part because providers in Ammon offer slower, more expensive services than are available in Idaho Falls. For years, Ammon has sought to expand access to next generation networks, including an application to the broadband stimulus program in 2010.

However, it became clear that the City would have to move ahead without assistance from the federal government. Having studying their options and existing technology for years, they were well equipped to begin building their own network and have embraced an incremental approach to building the network they need.

Ammon is currently building the core of a network that will eventually connect all residents and businesses if the vision succeeds. In the meantime, they are expanding the open access network opportunistically to keep costs low.

Read the new rule here

Fiber Optic Network Ordinance - Ammon, Idaho

admin — Fri, 13 May 2011 15:40:03 -0500

WMMT Covers Rural Broadband and Importance of Expanding Access

christopher — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 11:02:17 -0500

Christopher Mitchell is one of several voices discussing the importance of funding rural broadband throughout the U.S. WMMT is a radio station in Kentucky, frequently covering rural issues in the Appalachians.

Also featured are Dee Davis of Rural Strategies and Lisa Fannin of the Mountain Telephone Cooperative in NE Kentucky, the first entity in Kentucky to receive a broadband stimulus award.

ILSR Defends Local Authority to Build Broadband Networks

christopher — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 08:54:09 -0500

ILSR has continued working to preserve local authority to build broadband networks in both North Carolina and South Carolina. Massive companies like AT&T and Time Warner Cable are lobbying heavily to strip communities of deciding locally whether to build and own essential infrastructure -- networks that these companies are often not willing to build.

We recently published an op-ed in North Carolina and have written about South Carolina as well.

Chelan Public Utility District - Fiber-Optic Line Extension Policy

christopher — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:53:03 -0500

Chelan is in a rural region of Washington state and was a pioneer in rural fiber networks, investing high-speed connections for citizens and businesses long before private companies saw any reason to do so. They have adopted an interesting line-extension policy that may lower the cost of the network to the PUD and allow households to take greater responsibility for connecting.

In short, the new policy is that the PUD will connect subscribers if the cost of doing so is less than $1500 (or average cost for a group of subscribers). If the cost exceeds $1500 per subscriber, the subscribers will have to pay the difference or make alternate arrangements to lower the cost. This alternate arrangement is where we think the rule is interesting. A homeowner, or group of homeowners that want to trench their own property and backfill can lower the costs, benefiting everyone.