CBAN is a big supporter of community-owned broadband networks, as well as private providers with strong community roots. So we were excited to read a recent report by our friends at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance which outlined just how much the municipal broadband community has grown in recent years and just how far we’ve gone since the early days of maverick municipal networks like Glasgow, Kentucky, which was the first publicly owned network to offer internet service. Our guests on this edition of Broadband Bytes were both involved with putting together the ILSR’s report. Welcome Sea ..read more

Dwight Burdette, CC BY 3.0 The Fiber Broadband Association has partnered with consulting firm Cartesian to release a new report about fiber deployment costs. The figures takes into account input from providers and contractors across 35 states. Not surpsingly, the report finds that the cost to build underground fiber networks is more than twice for aerial networks. The median cost for buried fiber was $16.25 per foot while aerial was just $6.49 per foot. The big difference, of course, is labor costs. Labor made up around 73% of the project costs for underground networks and 67% of aerial constr ..read more

The FCC says Tone Communications, a Texas based ISP, used fake accounts and other falsified records to accept just over $14 million in fraudument ACP reimbursements from March 2022 to the present. The fraud occurred during the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) and it's replacement, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). , the FCC said Tone enrolled subscribers with fake or false indentifying information by either using an fake address or using the same address to enroll multiple subscribers.  "The Bureau also found that Tone apparently willfully and repeatedly made misrepresentations ..read more

A report released by the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society explored the positive economic impact of broadband in rural areas. The report focused on the impact in 15 agricultural counties in Illinois. It found that faster internet speeds could boost corn and soybean production by over $100 million annually. The additional revenue would be realilzed through precision agriculture methods, which require a reliable broadband connection in order to maximize impact.  that compares crop production data and internet speeds from 2007, 2012 and 2017, to see if better internet leads to incre ..read more

The latest edition of CBAN's Member Spotlight focuses on provider member Liberty Communications of Iowa. Curtis Dean chatted with Liberty CEO Justin Stinson about the community-focused broadband provider's philosophy and recent developments. Last month, Liberty announced the completion of its fiber rebuild project. Several years in the making, the company has replaced all of it's copper network with fiber, while focusing on growth in new areas without good broadband service. The company also acquired another provider in southeast Iowa, NATEL, and Stinson discusses how they are integrating NATE ..read more

With so many Americans moving away from a traditional linear cable provider and toward streaming services (which has fueled accelerated broadband usage), it's no surprise that some of the biggest names in live sports are working to offer a direct-to-consumer service of their own. As outlined in this article at CNBC , ESPN, Fox, Disney, and Warner Brothers are teaming up for the as yet unnamed service. It's expected to be available via a new app and possibly be bundled with the companies' other streaming platforms Disney+, Hulu, and MAX. Sports programming has always been one of the key drivers ..read more

Spring Summit Speaker Spotlight - Gigi Sohn is just two months away! Here at CBAN we are busy making all the arrangements and getting ready for what promises to be our biggest and best event yet!  We are especially excited to have Gigi Sohn, Executive Director of the American Association for Public Broadband, joining us as our keynote speaker! Gigi was kind enough to record a "preview" of her session for us. You won't want to miss the 2024 CBAN Spring Summit! We'd love to have you join us in person on April 9th from 2pm-5pm at Stoney Creek Hotel in Johnston, but we'll also be streaming th ..read more

The city of Willmar, Minnesota is entering into a public-private partnership with Hometown Fiber to build and operate an open access fiber network in the central Minnesota community of 21,000. Under the open access model, the city will own the network and retain Hometown Fiber to operate and maintain it. Multiple ISP's will be allowed to access the network to offer connectivity to end users. The open access model has been successfully deployed at Utopia Fiber, Ammon, Idaho, and several other communities. The Willmar City Council will hold a work session on the project on January 22nd where the ..read more

Boulder is the latest city in Colorado to take action to improve broadband services for its 100,000 residents through a public-private partnership. The city already owns a dark fiber backbone network, and is looking for providers that could lease capacity on that network and build out to homes and businesses. "Since 2018, the city has been working to build the necessary ‘fiber-backbone’ infrastructure needed to deliver high-quality fiber-based internet service. With the backbone construction nearing completion, this solicitation moves the city into its final band of work to ensure that all mem ..read more

Public broadband count swells to nearly 450 new report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance , at least 47 new municipal networks have come online since the beginning of 2021, increasing the overall count to nearly 450 nationwide. The new wave of projects range from large to small, from full public operation to the open conduit network in the city of West Des Moines, Iowa. Regardless of size and business model, these public projects are bringing better broadband - and consumer choice - to many Americans. “Dozens of cities, ranging from five thousand and a hundred thousand residents alike ..read more