This week on the podcast Christopher talks with Jill Levine, Chief of Innovation and Choice at Hamilton County Schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Evan Freeman, Director of Government Relations at the city’s municipal electric and fiber utility, EPB, and Deb Socia, President of the Enterprise Center. Together, the group discusses the recent landmark announcement by Hamilton County Schools … Continue reading "How One City Came Together to Provide Free Broadband To Those Who Needed It Most – Commun...
Sep 01, 2020•31 min•Ep. 440
For communities looking to improve Internet access for their citizens but that might be wary of becoming full-fledged Internet Service Providers (ISPs) themselves, open access networks offer a practical model for the future. Like roads, open access networks serve as publicly owned byways that telecommunications providers can then lease bandwidth on and offer a wide array of … Continue reading "Is Open Access the Future? – Community Broadband Bits Podcast Episode 424" ★ Support this podcast ★...
Aug 25, 2020•41 min•Ep. 439
This week on the podcast Christopher talks with Ron Barnes, President and CEO Biloxi-based Coast Electric Power, an electric cooperative in Mississippi area, and Jon Chambers, Partner at Conexon, a consulting agency working with rural electric cooperatives to bring fiber to communities around the country. In January of 2019 Mississippi state law changed to allow electric cooperatives … Continue reading "How Electric Cooperatives in Mississippi Have Taken the Lead in Broadband Expansion — Communi...
Aug 18, 2020•33 min•Ep. 438
Today on the podcast we welcome Angela Siefer and Craig Settles. Angela is the founder and Executive Director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, and a tireless digital equity and inclusion advocate whose has worked to connect communities for over two decades. Craig is a nationally recognized consultant who works with public- and private-sector clients to … Continue reading "“We Can’t Build It and Just Assume People Will Come”: Digital Inclusion and Equity Today — Community Broadband Bit...
Aug 11, 2020•46 min•Ep. 437
This week on the podcast we welcome Ernesto Falcon and Steve Blum. Ernesto is Senior Legislative Council at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a powerhouse nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world. Steve Blum is President of Tellus Ventures Associates, which provides management and business development guidance for companies working in telecommunications. You can … Continue reading "Golden State Update: Broadband Subsidies and the Future of Rural Broadband in Califo...
Aug 04, 2020•35 min•Ep. 436
This week on the Community Broadband Bits podcast Christopher speaks with Deborah Simpier, CEO of Althea. Althea offers software and tools for communities looking to build and maintain sustainable networks. Althea works by installing custom firmware on the routers of its member-operators, connecting them all together in an ad hoc network that dynamically responds to the supply … Continue reading "Selling Bandwidth to the Block with Althea Networks — Community Broadband Bits Podcast Episode 420" ...
Jul 21, 2020•32 min•Ep. 435
For the ninth episode of our special podcast series “Why NC Broadband Matters,” Christopher talks with Doug Dawson, President of CCG Consulting. Doug is a veteran advisor to small public and private telecommunications carriers and an experienced, thoughtful voice in the broadband space. During their discussion, Christopher and Doug give the various levels of government … Continue reading "Tackling the Digital Divide in North Carolina- Community Broadband Bits Podcast, Bonus Episode Nine" ★ Suppo...
Jul 16, 2020•37 min•Ep. 434
This week on the Community Broadband Bits podcast Christopher speaks with Brad Honold, General Manager at Coon Rapids Municipal Utilities (CRMU). Coon Rapids is a small town in west-central Iowa, and CRMU started there with a cable TV system almost 40 years ago. Today, it remains one of the smallest municipal fiber networks, especially of … Continue reading "Coon Rapids Municipal Utilities Hits a Fiber-to-the-Home Run in Iowa — Community Broadband Bits Podcast Episode 419" ★ Support this podcast...
Jul 14, 2020•24 min•Ep. 433
This week on the Community Broadband Bits podcast we flip the microphones around. Christopher gets interviewed by Isfandiyar Shaheen, also known as Asfi, an experienced thinker on all Internet-related issues around the world and longtime friend of the Community Broadband Networks initiative. Asfi and Christopher have a wide-ranging discussion, including how Christopher first got involved … Continue reading "The Man Behind the Mask: Christopher Mitchell Reflects on Twelve Years of Progress in Bro...
Jul 07, 2020•54 min•Ep. 432
This week on the Community Broadband Bits podcast, Christopher talks to Deb Socia, President and CEO, and Geoff Millener, Senior Program and Operations Officer of The Enterprise Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Deb and Geoff share the breadth and depth of the work they’ve been doing recently to advance digital inclusion efforts and respond to the Covid-19 pandemic … Continue reading "Zoom Doctors and Online Church: Staying Healthy, Safe, and Connected in Chattanooga — Community Broadband Bits P...
Jun 30, 2020•37 min•Ep. 431
This week on the Community Broadband Bits Podcast Christopher talks with John Bowcut, Director of Information Systems and Network Director for Spanish Fork Community Network in Spanish Fork, Utah. As John approaches the end of his career he reflects on the network’s founding, its success over the last two decades, and the missed opportunities which stemmed from a … Continue reading "Spanish Fork Network Brings a Generation of Savings and Community to Utah- Community Broadband Bits Podcast 416" ★...
Jun 23, 2020•30 min•Ep. 430
It’s been 15 years since Colorado passed SB 152, the state law intended to restrict communities from building and managing their own broadband networks. A great deal has happened since: more than 140 communities have voted to opt out of the law, and networks like Longmont’s NextLight have been success stories in municipal Fiber-to-the -Home (FTTH). … Continue reading "Colorado’s Qwest Law: A Decade and a Half Later – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 415" ★ Support this podcast ★...
Jun 16, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 429
This week on the Community Broadband Bits podcast, Christopher talks to Scott Rasmussen, an organizer with the nonprofit, volunteer-run community network NYC Mesh. Scott shares his experiences connecting residential New Yorkers and local businesses across the city to fixed wireless, and the creative solutions they’ve taken to build a hyperlocal network in a cityscape of tall … Continue reading "Wireless Mesh in a Concrete Jungle: How Community Networks Build Local Ties – Community Broadband Bits...
Jun 09, 2020•31 min•Ep. 428
This week on the Community Broadband Bits podcast, Christopher talks to Tanna Greathouse, a Boone, North Carolina, resident operating an online business, Your Favorite Assistant, from home. Tanna shares her struggle with the lack of connectivity options in the area and what it means to have to sign up for three expensive, overlapping services — DSL, satellite, and … Continue reading "When Three Isn’t Enough: What Rural Connectivity Options Look Like in North Carolina – Community Broadband Bits P...
Jun 02, 2020•16 min•Ep. 427
For the eighth episode of our special podcast series “Why NC Broadband Matters,” Christopher and his guests, Catharine Rice and Jack Cozort, continue their conversation on HB 129, North Carolina’s restrictive law that prevents local governments from investing in broadband infrastructure. The first half of their discussion focused on the years leading up to the passage of … Continue reading "How Telecom Monopolies Killed Competition in North Carolina With HB 129, Part 2 – Community Broadband Bits...
May 28, 2020•48 min•Ep. 426
We’ve written a lot about North Carolina’s HB 129, the anti-competition law that prevents communities in the state from investing in broadband infrastructure. This week on the Community Broadband Bits podcast, Christopher dives deeper into the history of HB 129 with guests Catharine Rice, co-founder of NC Broadband Matters and project manager at the Coalition for Local Internet Choice, … Continue reading "How Telecom Monopolies Killed Competition in North Carolina With HB 129 – Community Broadba...
May 26, 2020•56 min•Ep. 425
Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic pushed schools online, rural cooperatives and other local broadband providers have been coming up with innovative ways to connect students during this difficult time. Ozarks Electric Cooperative, with its broadband subsidiary OzarksGo, is one of the co-ops that caught our eye over the past few weeks with its creative solution. … Continue reading "Fiber-to-the-Schoolbus: Ozarks Electric Connects Students During the Pandemic – Community Broadband Bits Episode 411" ...
May 19, 2020•19 min•Ep. 424
In this episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast, we get an introduction to what this week’s guest calls “the most Southern of protocols” — Wi-Fi. Here to guide us is Heather “Mo” Williams, Manager of Solutions Engineering at Ruckus Networks, Wi-Fi engineer for Black Hat conferences, and co-host on the podcast This Week in Enterprise Tech. During her … Continue reading "Why Wi-Fi is Polite and Where It’s Going Next – Community Broadband Bits Episode 410" ★ Support this podcast ★...
May 12, 2020•51 min•Ep. 423
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has worked for many years to protect privacy and civil liberties online and to support technological innovation and widespread Internet access. Ernesto Falcon, Senior Legislative Counsel at EFF, speaks with Christopher for this episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. After explaining EFF’s mission, Ernesto shares his background and how he got … Continue reading "A New Frontier for Broadband Funding in California – Community Broadband Bits Episode...
May 07, 2020•29 min•Ep. 422
After a bitter battle with Comcast and a successful referendumto reclaim local authority back in 2017, Fort Collins, Colorado, is moving forward with its municipal fiber network, Connexion. The city is starting to connect residents to the network, so we wanted to check back in with local activists and Connexion staff to find out how it’s going. In this … Continue reading "Checking in With Fort Collins Fiber Network, Connexion- Community Broadband Bits Episode 408" ★ Support this podcast ★...
May 05, 2020•46 min•Ep. 421
We last spoke to Brian Skelton, president of Tullahoma Utilities Authority, in 2013 for episode 54 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. Since then, the Tennessee city’s municipal fiber network, LightTube, has continued to offer Internet access, voice, and video services, attracting new businesses to the region. For this episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast, Christopher and … Continue reading "Tullahoma Thrives With Fiber Network, Plus Straight Talk on the Pandemic- Community Broad...
Apr 30, 2020•25 min•Ep. 420
The breathtaking mountains of northwest Colorado have long attracted skiers and hikers, but broadband providers haven’t found the region’s rugged landscape and sparse population as appealing. Enter Project THOR, a middle mile fiber network developed out of a collaboration among local governments and private companies led by the Northwest Colorado Council of Goverments (NWCCOG). Over the last few … Continue reading "Heroic Partners Bring Middle Mile Fiber to Northwest Colorado With Project THOR- ...
Apr 28, 2020•33 min•Ep. 419
Our lives have mostly moved online as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the millions of Americans who don’t have access to home broadband have been left behind. Whether it’s unavailable or just unaffordable, these families must risk their health to access essential services, like healthcare and education. This week for the Community Broadband … Continue reading "Digital Inclusion Saves Lives During a Pandemic- Community Broadband Bits Episode 405" ★ Support this podcast ★...
Apr 21, 2020•31 min•Ep. 418
The Covid-19 pandemic is affecting communities across the country in different ways. Recently, Christopher called up Scott Mooneyham, Director of Political Communications and Coordination for the North Carolina League of Municipalities, to find out how towns and cities in the Tar Heel State are faring. Christopher and Scott discuss how the spread of the novel coronavirus … Continue reading "NC Needs Local Internet Choice to Tackle Pandemic – Community Broadband Bits Episode 404" ★ Support this p...
Apr 14, 2020•21 min•Ep. 417
With Covid-19 cases growing across the country, it’s more important now than ever that households have access to telehealth services. For the seventh episode of the “Why NC Broadband Matters” podcast series, we spoke with Dave Kirby, president of the North Carolina Telehealth Network Association, about the role of telehealth in the healthcare system, both during … Continue reading "Benefits of Telehealth Go Beyond Covid-19 in Rural NC – Community Broadband Bits Podcast, Bonus Episode Seven" ★ Su...
Apr 09, 2020•32 min•Ep. 416
This week on the Community Broadband Bits podcast, Christopher speaks with Steve Song, a fellow at Mozilla who works to connect unserved communities across the globe. Steve shares his background starting out at a nonprofit Internet service provider in 1990s South Africa, and they discuss the negative but mostly positive effects of widespread Internet access. While acknowledging … Continue reading "Think Local, Connect Global with Smart Wireless Policy – Community Broadband Bits Episode 403" ★ Su...
Apr 07, 2020•29 min•Ep. 415
For this episode, Christopher was joined by returning guest Jonathan Chambers to discuss the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), which will finance broadband deployment across rural America. Jonathan is a partner at Conexon, which works with rural electric cooperatives to plan, fund, and build fiber optic networks. The pair review the details … Continue reading "How the FCC Plans to Spend $20 Billion on Rural Broadband – Community Broadband Bits Epi...
Apr 02, 2020•39 min•Ep. 414
The Community Broadband Networks team had to say a difficult goodbye recently to longtime Senior Researcher Lisa Gonzalez, who accepted a new position with the State of Minnesota. Before she left, Lisa sat down with Christopher to reflect on the end of an era. Despite some bittersweet feelings, she expresses confidence that she’s leaving the … Continue reading "Lisa Gonzalez Leaves Us With a Sense of Hope – Community Broadband Bits Episode 401" ★ Support this podcast ★...
Mar 31, 2020•25 min•Ep. 413
Early last month, before the spread of the novel coronavirus turned staying home from a quiet night in into a moral imperative, Christopher traveled to North Carolina to attend the Institute for Emerging Issues Forum at North Carolina State University. While there, he interviewed Leslie Boney, Director of the Institute for Emerging Issues. He also spoke with … Continue reading "Bridging Divides, Building Opportunity in Rural and Urban North Carolina – Community Broadband Bits North Carolina Bonu...
Mar 26, 2020•38 min•Ep. 412
Not even a pandemic can stop this week’s guest, US Internet CEO Travis Carter, from finding ways to bring better connectivity to his company’s subscribers and the community. For the 400th episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast, Christopher interviewed Travis (from six feet away) at the US Internet office outside Minneapolis, Minnesota. The pair … Continue reading "Connecting During a Pandemic With US Internet – Community Broadband Bits Episode 400" ★ Support this podcast ★...
Mar 24, 2020•34 min•Ep. 411
