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Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
Community Broadband Bits Podcast
Community Broadband Bits is a weekly audio show hosted by Community Broadband Networks Initiative Director Christopher Mitchell featuring interviews with people building community networks or otherwise involved with Internet policy. You can listen to episodes below or download via Apple, Google, or Spotify. Alternatively if you know what to do with it, copy the feed here.
We also produce a semi-regular video show called Connect This! that has its own site. Find other podcasts from ILSR here.
We also have an index of all episodes and links to transcripts. Keep up with new developments by subscribing to our one-email-per-week list sharing new stories and resources. We’d love to hear your feedback! Email us.
Sascha Meinrath Causes a Commotion on Community Broadband Bits #41
Sascha Meinrath, Director of the Open Technology Institute (OTI) at the New America Foundation, joined me at the National Conference for Media Reform to discuss what OTI does and to discuss the Commotion Wireless project.
Commotion is a project that is making it easier for anyone to build wireless mesh networks that allow for secure, affordable, and resilient communications.
Opelika Builds First Full Fiber Network in Alabama - Community Broadband Bits Episode 40
Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller and Jennifer McCain, partner of the Motive Group discuss why this Alabama town is the first to build its own fiber optic network in the state.
In short, Opelika had long been fed up with the services offered by Charter Cable and Charter was not amenable to meeting the community's needs. They decided to build a FTTH network that would meet Smart Grid needs as well as delivering telephone, television, and Internet access.
Moultrie City Manager Discusses Origins of CNS Network in Georgia for Community Broadband Bits Episode 39
Mike Scott, City Manager of Moultrie in Georgia, joins us for Episode #39 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast to share the origins of the Community Network Services (CNS) network that joins four towns in four counties in rural southwest Georgia.
In Washington, Mt. Vernon Attracts Businesses with Open Access Network - Community Broadband Bits Episode 38
Nearly 20 years ago, a small community between Seattle and Bellingham, Washington, began building a fiber optic network to connect key municipal facilities.
Blair Levin Discusses Gig.U and More for Community Broadband Bits Episode #37
Blair Levin is Executive Director of Gig.U. Prior to that, he was in charge of developing the National Broadband Plan and long before that was Chief of Staff for the FCC during the Clinton Presidency.
Carole Monroe Explains New Hampshire's Fast Roads Initiative - Community Broadband Bits #36
The New Hampshire Fast Roads Initiative is bringing great Internet access to rural New Hampshire. Project CEO Carole Monroe joined us for this week's Community Broadband Bits podcast.
Fast Roads is the culmination of years of local organizing and several efforts to improve access to the Internet in the region. The project is already benefiting the community and is not fully built out yet.
We discuss the project and the challenges they face -- from pole attachments to a host of hostile lobbyists in the state capital.
Morristown Explains Why it Built a Fiber Network for Itself - Community Broadband Bits #35
Morristown, Tennessee, is one of very few communities where anyone in town can immediately get a gigabit delivered to their home and business. General Manager and CEO Jody Wigington of the municipal electric utility, Morristown Utility Systems, joins me to discuss why they built their network and how it is has benefited the community.
The network has also attracted businesses that otherwise might not consider the community for an investment.
Dewayne Hendricks Explains the Forgotten National Information Infrastructure - Community Broadband Bits #34
Have you heard of the National Information Infrastructure, or the NII? Most of us either haven't, or have forgotten we once knew what it could be. Dewayne Hendricks joins us to remind us what it was and why we should care.
Billy Ray, Community Broadband Pioneer, Joins us For Community Broadband Bits #33
Glasgow was a true pioneer in community owned broadband networks, starting with its own cable plant in the 1980s. Billy Ray, CEO of Glasgow Electric Plant Board, has been an inspiration for municipal broadband networks -- one can't dig into the early history of LUS Fiber in Louisiana without running into something from Billy Ray, for instance.
The Five Fundamentals for Future Telecommunications - Community Broadband Bits Podcast #32
Harold Feld, Senior Vice President of Public Knowledge, is back on Community Broadband Bits to discuss five fundamental rules necessary to ensure we have a great telecommunications system that benefits everyone.