Community Broadband Bits Podcast

Communities who want the best for their citizens typically recognize the importance of digital equity and often take steps to develop digital inclusion programs. Last year on the podcast, we invited folks from the ISP Monkeybrains to explain how they were working with the city of San Francisco to develop a way to provide high-speed connectivity to residents living in several public housing facilities. We decided it was time to share the details of their model so other communities could consider their approach as a workable plan. Our summer Public Policy Intern Hannah Rank took on the task of writing a detailed report about the project. This week, she sat down with Christopher to offer a preview of what she’s learned.

In the most recent report from the Blandin Foundation, Researcher Bill Coleman from Community Technology Advisors and his crew put boots to the ground to examine the results of Connect America Fund (CAF II) investments. Bill recently visited our office in Minneapolis to discuss the report with Christopher for episode 318 of the  podcast.

They say the “finger of fate” is fickle, but this week it was our recording equipment that turned on us. Unfortunately, time constraints and prior commitments didn’t allow Christopher the opportunity to make a useable recording of his interview with Bill Coleman from Community Technology Advisors Bill was going to be our guest for episode 318. As a result, we’ve had to shuffle schedules and episode 318 will be available later this week. Thanks for your patience!

If you haven’t already taken a look at our most recent report, now is your chance to get some insight before you download it and dive in. Profiles of Monopoly: Big Cable and Telecom, written by our Hannah Trostle, recently left ILSR to attend grad school, and Christopher Mitchell, transforms FCC Form 477 data into a series of maps that reveal a sad state of competition in the U.S. broadband market. For episode 317 of the podcast, Hannah and Christopher discuss the report and the main findings.

When we spoke with Justin Holzgrove, Mason PUD 3 Telecommunications & Community Relations Manager, back in October 2017, we discussed how the public utility district in Washington was about to embark on expanding its services. This week, Justin is back and he’s joined by Isak Finer, who works as Chief Marketing Officer for COS Systems. The company is helping Mason PUD 3 develop strategic deployment plan with COS Service Zones, their demand aggregation tool.

When you hear founder and CEO Matt Larson talk about his company Vistabeam Internet, you’ll understand he and his team received the 2018 Provider of the Year Award at Mountain Connect. At the conference in June, Matt sat down with Christopher to discuss what it’s like to be in his shoes — starting up and operating a wireless Internet service company primarily in the rural areas in some of the most rural areas of the country.

An increasing number of local communities in Colorado are finding ways to improve rural connectivity. The Delta Montrose Electric Association (DMEA), a cooperative bringing electricity to approximately 28,000 members in southwest Colorado is in the midst of Elevate, their Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network that will, when complete, connect all co-op members. We’ve brought co-op Board Members John Gavin and Brad Harding on the show this week to talk about the project and DMEA.

We’ve been following the community of Lafayette, Louisiana, and their LUS Fiber community network from the early days. Director of Utilities Terry Huval was one of the people responsible for bringing high-quality Internet access to the community back in 2009. Terry is about to retire so we wanted to have one more conversation with him before he pursues a life of leisure.

The State of Colorado has made some changes in the past few years that are improving broadband deployment, especially in rural areas. In this episode of the podcast, Christopher talks about some of those changes with Tony Neal-Graves, Executive Director of the Colorado Broadband Office. While Christopher was in Vail at the Mountain Connect event, he and Tony sat down to have a conversation about broadband and deployment in Colorado.

Late last year, Larimer County, Colorado, commissioned a broadband feasibility study to examine the possible solutions toward better connectivity across its more than 2,600 square miles. This week, three guests from Larimer County are here to discuss the community’s plan as it’s taking shape, Broadband Program Manager Drew Davis, Director of Economic and Workforce Development Jacob Castillo, and CIO Mark Pfaffinger. The interview was one of several Christopher conducted while at the Mountain Connect conference in Vail.