I thought you said you had Internet...

Thursday October 21, 2010

The next time you hear someone claiming that the reason US Internet is slower than international peers is because of our vast landmass with low population density, encourage them to listen to "America the Slow" on American Public Media's Marketplace Tech Report. The title of this post comes from an anecdote in the middle of the story in which a person in NYC (the most dense area of our country) is hosting friends from France and they turn to him and say "I thought you said you had Internet?" in response for what passes as broadband there. I'm sure they laughed for hours if they found out what the host was paying for it. Our sad state of broadband is not an inevitability of geography but a failure of policy that puts private companies first and community needs second. And for the record, the population distribution in France is not so different from the US.

Documentary: The Municipal Broadband Wave and Monopoly Response

Ry Marcattilio

on Feb 13, 2024

In January, we released our new census of municipal networks in the United States for 2024, and the significant growth that we've seen over the last two years as more and more cities commit to building Internet infrastructure to add new tools for their local government, incentivize new economic development, and improve connectivity for households. The trend has not gone unnoticed by the monopoly players and their allies, and a new short documentary by Light Reading does a great job of outlining the stakes for local governments, residents stuck on poor connections, and the incumbents as the wave of municipal networks grows.

Hudson, Ohio Decides Time Has Come to Build Citywide Fiber Network

Sean Gonsalves

on Nov 2, 2022

Hudson, Ohio, 15 miles north of Akron, looks to form public-private partnership to expand the city-owned municipal fiber network to reach all 22,000 residents who call Hudson home.

Hudson, Ohio Decides Time Has Come to Build Citywide Fiber Network

Sean Gonsalves

on Nov 2, 2022

In northeast Ohio, 15 miles north of Akron, the City of Hudson looks to modernize its telecommunications infrastructure through a public-private partnership that would expand the city-owned municipal fiber network, which now only serves part of the city, to reach all 22,000 residents who call Hudson home. The city wants every resident and business to have access to gig fiber service for the same afforable rate now being offered by its geographically-limited Velocity Broadband network. Proposals from prospective Internet service providers are due by Dec. 2.

Anti-Municipal Broadband Campaigns and Lessons from Maine | Episode 48 of the Connect This! Show

Ry Marcattilio

on Jul 26, 2022

Join us live on Thursday, July 28th, at 4pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show.

The United State(s) of Broadband

Christine Parker

on May 3, 2022

Tens of billions of dollars in federal funding are poised for new broadband infrastructure deployment over the next five years. But a crucial step in allocating funds from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program lies in knowing where fast, affordable, reliable broadband access currently is, so that they know where to drive new investment. A new federal broadband map is currently under construction, but many states aren't waiting around and have begun to develop their own broadband maps. In classifying the various state-led efforts, we've developed a new resource we're releasing today to serve as an easy reference guide. It shows how states are going about mapping Internet access, and which ones we think are doing it better than others. We’re calling it our United State(s) of Broadband Maps.

Attacks on Gigi Sohn Reinforce Her Fitness for the FCC

Christopher Mitchell

on Apr 27, 2022

Gigi Sohn is still up for confirmation by the Senate to complete the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - an independent agency in the executive branch of the federal government that has been stuck at a 2-2 split of Democrats and Republicans since President Biden took office.

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