If you weren’t able to attend the Transforming Communities: Broadband Goals for 2017 and Beyond event in DC on Nov. 29 - 30, or were not able to watch the live stream, you can still be there in spirit. The November 30th panel discussions are now available to view on YouTube.

The entire video runs for 4:53 and includes discussion and comments from:

• Senator John Boozman (R-AR)
• Mayor Berke, Chattanooga, TN
• Susan Crawford, John A. Reilly Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and co-director of the Berkman Center
• Blair Levin, Senior Fellow with the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings
• Gigi Sohn, Counselor to the Chairman at the Federal Communications Commission

A number of other leaders in the field of telecommunications participated in the panels and discussions, including our own Christopher Mitchell who led the panel discussion on "Leveraging High-Speed Internet for Success." The event was sponsored by Next Century Cities; the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB), and US Ignite.

As 2016 comes to a close, we face a new connectivity landscape. Next Century Cities, SHLB, and US Ignite are coming together to help community leaders prepare for the future with smart policies and keys to expanding local broadband efforts. The organizations are presenting Transforming Communities: Broadband Goals for 2017 and Beyond, bringing together connectivity leaders from the world of federal, state, and local agencies, as well as policy advisors, mayors, and leaders from anchor institutions.

The entire event will be in Washington, DC, at the Google offices - 25 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 900. Participants will gather with a networking reception tonight at 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m. The main event will be tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. EST.

Christopher, as Policy Director of Next Century Cities, will moderate the first panel tomorrow, titled "Leveraging High-Speed Internet for Success." 

If you can’t make it to DC, the panel discussions will be live streamed YouTube. If you'll be in DC, you can register online through Eventbrite.

The Full Agenda:

• Welcome: John Burchett, State Policy Counsel at Google
• Welcome: Deb Socia, Next Century Cities, John Windhausen, SHLB, Bill Wallace, US Ignite
• Opening Remarks: Larry Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and Administrator, NTIA
• Keynote: Senator John Boozman (R-AR)

Leveraging High-Speed Internet for Success (First Panel)

• Mayor Berke, Chattanooga, TN
• Mayor Kirkham, Ammon, ID
• Ed Bostick, CEO, Colorado Telehealth Network
• S. Dallas Dance, Superintendent, Baltimore County Public Schools
• Crosby, Kemper, Head of Kansas City Public Library

Moderated by Chris Mitchell, Policy Director, Next Century Cities and Director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative, Institute for Local Self Reliance

Broadband Policy Priorities for a New Administration (Second Panel)

A few of us from the Community Broadband Networks Initiative recently attended the BBC Community Toolkit Program & Economic Development conference in downtown Minneapolis. On the first day, Gigi Sohn, Special Counselor for External Affairs for Chairman Wheeler at the FCC received the award from the Coalition for Local Internet Choice for the Local Internet Choice National Champion. The Obama administration’s FCC, under the guidance of Chairman Wheeler and the sage advice of Gigi, has become enlightened to the positive potential of community networks. 

Pressing On

To their credit, the agency has dealt with a number of issues, including network neutrality and a number of other consumer centric matters. We have reported on some of them, but the most central to our work has been the issue of state laws that restrict the deployment and expansion of municipal Internet networks. Gigi, as one of Chairman Wheeler’s top advisors on this matter, played a pivotal role in helping the agency pursue municipal networks as a critical aid to local control, competition, and the ultimate national goal of ubiquitous Internet access.

Gigi reflected on the court battle that reversed the FCC ruling from 2015 preempting state barriers that prevent North Carolina and Tennessee municipal utility Internet networks from serving nearby communities. She noted that advocates shared truths about community networks with data about economic development, competition, and quality of life. The benefits of local authority became clear but, unfortunately, the courts showed us that this is not a battle to be fought on the federal level. The court may have agreed with the fact that municipal networks are beneficial, but they did not believe the FCC had the authority to preempt state laws, even if they are counter-productive.

In other words, in order to obtain local Internet choice, the fight has to also be local:

At a recent WRAL TechWire event, former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chief of staff Blair Levin urged North Carolina communities to seek a repeal of a state law that restricts local telecommunications authority, reports WRAL TechWire.

“When the new General Assembly returns to Raleigh, tell the assembly to tear down the law that prevents faster, cheaper broadband,” Levin said in a keynote address at the WRAL TechWire Executive Exchange in Wilson, N.C. Wilson's municipal Greenlight network is among the first in the nation to offer high-quality Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Internet access.  

Currently, North Carolina law HB 129 prevents Wilson from expanding its Internet access service area beyond Wilson County and discourages other communities from investing in similar infrastructure. HB 129 was the subject of a legal battle when the city of Wilson (pop. 50,000) wanted to provide Internet access to neighboring Pinetops (pop. 1,400) and other communities beyond the limitations of the state law. They challenged the law, as did Chattanooga, which faced slightly different restrictions in Tennessee.

In February of 2015, the FCC ordered that Wilson could serve communities beyond the county borders, but both states appealed, challenging the agency's authority. The federal appeals court reversed that ruling in August 2016.

Under the provisions of the North Carolina law, Wilson could lose it's exemption to offer service at all, but by temporarily providing free telephone and Internet access to Pinetops, they protect their exemption. Two state legislators have vowed to take action and try to get the state law changed during the next legislative session.

Throughout the October Broadband Communities Magazine conference, folks kept repeating this sentiment: some partnerships are smooth and others have rough patches. At the conference, we heard from several electric cooperatives who had partnered with other cooperatives to provide next-generation connectivity to their communities.

We specifically want to highlight the work of two North Carolina electric cooperatives: Lumbee River EMC and Blue Ridge Mountain EMC. They were both included in our report North Carolina Connectivity: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Each co-op took the bold step of building a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network throughout sparsely populated regions. At the conference, we were able to learn first-hand about their experiences.

Despite the Distance: Lumbee River EMC & HTC

HTC Chief Executive of Marketing Brent Groome described how the two cooperatives collaborated despite being nearly an hour away from each other. Their work together has involved a commitment to similar values and dedication to improving rural communities. (Lumbee River EMC’s representative was unable to attend the conference as much of the service territory had suffered flooding from the recent hurricane.)

Lumbee River EMC’s entry into Internet service brought fiber connectivity to southeastern North Carolina. The co-op provides electricity to more than 50,000 members. In 2010, the USDA provided Lumbee River EMC with nearly $20 million in funding to install fiber. A state law, however, imposes certain restrictions on electric co-ops and USDA funding. The electric co-op had to find another company with the drive and expertise to provide Internet service.

In October in Minneapolis, Broadband Communities Magazine hosted the “Fiber for the New Economy” conference. The first day featured a set of four panels on the role of rural electric cooperatives in providing much-needed connectivity to far-flung communities.

We want to provide the highlights and give further context to some of the most fascinating stories. In this post, we’ll cover some of the latest research coming out of Ball State University’s Center for Information and Communication Sciences.

Indiana’s Electric Cooperatives 

Researcher Emma Green from Ball State University kicked off the track. Her presentation, “Rural Broadband: Technical and Economic Feasibility,” outlined the potential role of rural electric cooperatives in facilitating last mile (connectivity to homes and business) and middle mile (regional connectivity) deployment. 

Green's research centered on Indiana, where 14 percent of the population does not have broadband access (speeds of at least 25 Megabits (Mbps) download and 3 Mbps upload). In rural areas of the state, however, more than half of the population does not have access to those speeds. Green's research underscored how rural electric cooperatives can use their assets (such as Smart Grids, Right-of-Way access, and pole ownership) to facilitate middle mile connectivity. 

We previously noted some of this research from Ball State University in our post BBC Mag Spotlights Rural Electric Co-ops. Focusing on the middle mile is not always a pathway to long-term last mile solutions, and our Christopher Mitchell has often pointed out those pitfalls. Unless a provider is willing to invest in the critical last mile connections, middle mile networks have only a minimal impact.

A North Carolina regional tech news publication will host a program on Greenlight, the publicly owned and built fiber optic network of Wilson, North Carolina (pop. 50,000) whose gigabit Internet service has helped transform the community’s economy. 

WRAL TechWire’s next Executive Exchange event titled “Building a gigabit ecosystem” will look at how Wilson built its fiber optic system, "turning the one-time tobacco town into North Carolina’s first Internet ecosystem." The event begins at 8 a.m. Friday, Nov. 4 at the Edna Boykin Cultural Center; broadband expert Blair Levin is scheduled to give the keynote address. Levin is former chief of staff at the Federal Communications Commission.

Levin has also been a guest on the Community Broadband Bits podcast, visiting us for episode #132 to discuss private vs. public ownership and episode #37 to talk about GigU.

Besides Levin’s keynote speech, the TechWire program also will include a live "fireside chat" about Greenlight with Wilson City Manager Grant Goings and panel discussions.

You can find out more about the program and reserve a spot online.

As you say good-bye to September, consider making your way to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to attend the 2016 Broadband Communities Mag Annual Conference at the downtown Radisson Blu. The event is scheduled for October 18 - 20 and you can still register online.

The Economic Development Conference Series brings Fiber For The New Economy to the "City of Lakes" as part of its Community Toolkit Program. The conference is full of information you can use if your community is looking for ways to improve local connectivity through fiber. There will be presentations on economic development, financing, and smart policies that help lay the groundwork for future fiber investment. There are also some special sessions that deal specifically with rural issues and a number of other specialized presentations and panel discussions.

Christopher will be presenting twice on Wednesday, October 19th at 10:00 a.m. and again at 11:15 a.m. with several other community broadband leaders on the Blue Ribbon panel. They will address questions and discuss important updates, review helpful resources, and describe where we need to go next.

Next Century Cities will present a special Mayor’s Panel on October 20th and the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC) will arrive on October 18th for a special day-long program.

Check out the full agenda online.

Key facts on the Broadband Communities’ Conference

What: “Fiber for The New Economy”

Where: Radisson Blu Downtown Hotel, 35 S. Seventh St., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402.

When: Oct. 18-20, 2016

Photo of Lake Harriet and the Minneapolis skyline courtesy of Baseball Bugs

The National Telecommunications and information Administration (NTIA) will be hosting the "Big Sky Broadband Workshop" on August 31st and September 1st in Missoula, Montana. If you happen to be in the area and keen to learn more about connectivity in the region, plan to attend this free event. Our own Christopher Mitchell will be participating in one of the panel discussions.

From the NTIA announcement:

Broadband is a critical driver of economic growth and prosperity across the country. The “Big Sky Broadband Workshop” will bring together state, local and federal officials, industry representatives, community leaders and other key stakeholders to share real-world broadband success stories and lessons learned from across the region. The summit will also examine the gaps that remain and strategize on what still needs to be done to expand access to and adoption of high-speed Internet services for the benefit of all citizens. 

The event will begin at noon on August 31st in Missoula’s Hilton Garden Inn; there will also be a reception later that evening. Panel discussions will continue the next morning at 9 a.m.

For more details contact Barbara Brown at NTIA, telephone: (202) 280–8260; email: bbrown(at)ntia.doc.gov.

Thousands of delegates, politicians, and media personnel flocked to northeast Ohio in July to attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. A lucky few stayed in the bedroom community of Fairlawn at one of two hotels now featuring gigabit Internet connections (1,000 Megabits per second). 

FairlawnGig, the town’s new municipal network, hooked up Hilton Akron-Fairlawn and DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Akron-Fairlawn in time for the convention. Guests could seamlessly stream video, upload content, and communicate with coworkers and family, despite the hotels’ full occupancy. The fiber-optic network will soon be available to residents and businesses across the community. 

More than just the RNC

Fairlawn has a lot to gain from a faster, more reliable network. On a typical workday, the community swells from an overnight population of 7,500 to 40,000, putting a sizeable bandwidth burden on slow-moving incumbent network providers. According to Ernie Staten, Deputy Director of Fairlawn’s Public Service Department in Community Broadband Bits Podcast Episode 201, a typical connection in Fairlawn measured in at 15 Mbps (Megabit per second) download and 1 Mbps upload before the municipal network.

Incumbent Internet service providers clearly weren’t doing enough for families or businesses in today’s connected economy. As we wrote earlier this year, FairlawnGig will be delivering symmetrical gigabit speeds (download and upload speeds up to 1 gigabit per second) at affordable prices. The ability to send data at high-speed is increasingly becoming a critical feature, especially for business subscribers.

Municipal networks have a profound effect on customer-ISP relationship. The hotels will feature the fastest connection within the Hilton hotel network. Tim Winter, Vice President/Regional Manager of the Hilton Akron-Fairlawn and DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Akron-Fairlawn, was quoted by FairlawnGig: