Episodes

In this episode of the podcast Christopher talks with Jeff O’Neill, City Administrator of Monticello, MN, about FiberNet, which is owned by the city but operates in a public-private partnership with local telecommunications provider Arvig. Christopher and Jeff delve into the history and development of the network over the last fifteen years. They discuss how … Continue reading "How Monticello, MN’s FiberNet Weathered the Storm and Brought Community Savings — Community Broadband Bits Podcast Epis...

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed with stark clarity the impact of the digital divide across the country, and exacerbated the problem especially among the economically disadvantaged and in communities of color. With the onset of a new school year, school boards, city councils, and local governments have been distributing hotspots, equipping buses with Wi-Fi, and … Continue reading "Connecting A Neighborhood in Need in San Rafael, California – Community Broadband Bits Podcast Episode 427"

In July we wrote about West Des Moines’ announcement that it would build an open access citywide conduit system to spur broadband infrastructure investment, and how Google Fiber became the Iowa city’s first partner. In this episode of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast, Christopher is joined by Jamie Letzring, Deputy City Manager for West Des Moines, … Continue reading "West Des Moines is Building a Citywide Conduit System and Google Fiber is First in the Door – Community Broadband Bits Podcas...

This week on the podcast Christopher talks with Jill Levine, Chief of Innovation and Choice at Hamilton County Schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Evan Freeman, Director of Government Relations at the city’s municipal electric and fiber utility, EPB, and Deb Socia, President of the Enterprise Center. Together, the group discusses the recent landmark announcement by Hamilton County Schools … Continue reading "How One City Came Together to Provide Free Broadband To Those Who Needed It Most – Commun...

For communities looking to improve Internet access for their citizens but that might be wary of becoming full-fledged Internet Service Providers (ISPs) themselves, open access networks offer a practical model for the future. Like roads, open access networks serve as publicly owned byways that telecommunications providers can then lease bandwidth on and offer a wide array of … Continue reading "Is Open Access the Future? – Community Broadband Bits Podcast Episode 424"

This week on the podcast Christopher talks with Ron Barnes, President and CEO Biloxi-based Coast Electric Power, an electric cooperative in Mississippi area, and Jon Chambers, Partner at Conexon, a consulting agency working with rural electric cooperatives to bring fiber to communities around the country. In January of 2019 Mississippi state law changed to allow electric cooperatives … Continue reading "How Electric Cooperatives in Mississippi Have Taken the Lead in Broadband Expansion — Communi...

Today on the podcast we welcome Angela Siefer and Craig Settles. Angela is the founder and Executive Director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, and a tireless digital equity and inclusion advocate whose has worked to connect communities for over two decades. Craig is a nationally recognized consultant who works with public- and private-sector clients to … Continue reading "“We Can’t Build It and Just Assume People Will Come”: Digital Inclusion and Equity Today — Community Broadband Bit...

This week on the podcast we welcome Ernesto Falcon and Steve Blum. Ernesto is Senior Legislative Council at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a powerhouse nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world. Steve Blum is President of Tellus Ventures Associates, which provides management and business development guidance for companies working in telecommunications. You can … Continue reading "Golden State Update: Broadband Subsidies and the Future of Rural Broadband in Califo...

This week on the Community Broadband Bits podcast Christopher speaks with Deborah Simpier, CEO of Althea. Althea offers software and tools for communities looking to build and maintain sustainable networks. Althea works by installing custom firmware on the routers of its member-operators, connecting them all together in an ad hoc network that dynamically responds to the supply … Continue reading "Selling Bandwidth to the Block with Althea Networks — Community Broadband Bits Podcast Episode 420"

For the ninth episode of our special podcast series “Why NC Broadband Matters,” Christopher talks with Doug Dawson, President of CCG Consulting. Doug is a veteran advisor to small public and private telecommunications carriers and an experienced, thoughtful voice in the broadband space. During their discussion, Christopher and Doug give the various levels of government … Continue reading "Tackling the Digital Divide in North Carolina- Community Broadband Bits Podcast, Bonus Episode Nine"

This week on the Community Broadband Bits podcast Christopher speaks with Brad Honold, General Manager at Coon Rapids Municipal Utilities (CRMU). Coon Rapids is a small town in west-central Iowa, and CRMU started there with a cable TV system almost 40 years ago. Today, it remains one of the smallest municipal fiber networks, especially of … Continue reading "Coon Rapids Municipal Utilities Hits a Fiber-to-the-Home Run in Iowa — Community Broadband Bits Podcast Episode 419"

This week on the Community Broadband Bits podcast we flip the microphones around. Christopher gets interviewed by Isfandiyar Shaheen, also known as Asfi, an experienced thinker on all Internet-related issues around the world and longtime friend of the Community Broadband Networks initiative. Asfi and Christopher have a wide-ranging discussion, including how Christopher first got involved … Continue reading "The Man Behind the Mask: Christopher Mitchell Reflects on Twelve Years of Progress in Bro...

This week on the Community Broadband Bits podcast, Christopher talks to Deb Socia, President and CEO, and Geoff Millener, Senior Program and Operations Officer of The Enterprise Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Deb and Geoff share the breadth and depth of the work they’ve been doing recently to advance digital inclusion efforts and respond to the Covid-19 pandemic … Continue reading "Zoom Doctors and Online Church: Staying Healthy, Safe, and Connected in Chattanooga — Community Broadband Bits P...

This week on the Community Broadband Bits Podcast Christopher talks with John Bowcut, Director of Information Systems and Network Director for Spanish Fork Community Network in Spanish Fork, Utah. As John approaches the end of his career he reflects on the network’s founding, its success over the last two decades, and the missed opportunities which stemmed from a … Continue reading "Spanish Fork Network Brings a Generation of Savings and Community to Utah- Community Broadband Bits Podcast 416"

It’s been 15 years since Colorado passed SB 152, the state law intended to restrict communities from building and managing their own broadband networks. A great deal has happened since: more than 140 communities have voted to opt out of the law, and networks like Longmont’s NextLight have been success stories in municipal Fiber-to-the -Home (FTTH). … Continue reading "Colorado’s Qwest Law: A Decade and a Half Later – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 415"

This week on the Community Broadband Bits podcast, Christopher talks to Scott Rasmussen, an organizer with the nonprofit, volunteer-run community network NYC Mesh. Scott shares his experiences connecting residential New Yorkers and local businesses across the city to fixed wireless, and the creative solutions they’ve taken to build a hyperlocal network in a cityscape of tall … Continue reading "Wireless Mesh in a Concrete Jungle: How Community Networks Build Local Ties – Community Broadband Bits...

This week on the Community Broadband Bits podcast, Christopher talks to Tanna Greathouse, a Boone, North Carolina, resident operating an online business, Your Favorite Assistant, from home. Tanna shares her struggle with the lack of connectivity options in the area and what it means to have to sign up for three expensive, overlapping services — DSL, satellite, and … Continue reading "When Three Isn’t Enough: What Rural Connectivity Options Look Like in North Carolina – Community Broadband Bits P...

For the eighth episode of our special podcast series “Why NC Broadband Matters,” Christopher and his guests, Catharine Rice and Jack Cozort, continue their conversation on HB 129, North Carolina’s restrictive law that prevents local governments from investing in broadband infrastructure. The first half of their discussion focused on the years leading up to the passage of … Continue reading "How Telecom Monopolies Killed Competition in North Carolina With HB 129, Part 2 – Community Broadband Bits...

We’ve written a lot about North Carolina’s HB 129, the anti-competition law that prevents communities in the state from investing in broadband infrastructure. This week on the Community Broadband Bits podcast, Christopher dives deeper into the history of HB 129 with guests Catharine Rice, co-founder of NC Broadband Matters and project manager at the Coalition for Local Internet Choice, … Continue reading "How Telecom Monopolies Killed Competition in North Carolina With HB 129 – Community Broadba...

Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic pushed schools online, rural cooperatives and other local broadband providers have been coming up with innovative ways to connect students during this difficult time. Ozarks Electric Cooperative, with its broadband subsidiary OzarksGo, is one of the co-ops that caught our eye over the past few weeks with its creative solution. … Continue reading "Fiber-to-the-Schoolbus: Ozarks Electric Connects Students During the Pandemic – Community Broadband Bits Episode 411"

In this episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast, we get an introduction to what this week’s guest calls “the most Southern of protocols” — Wi-Fi. Here to guide us is Heather “Mo” Williams, Manager of Solutions Engineering at Ruckus Networks, Wi-Fi engineer for Black Hat conferences, and co-host on the podcast This Week in Enterprise Tech. During her … Continue reading "Why Wi-Fi is Polite and Where It’s Going Next – Community Broadband Bits Episode 410"

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has worked for many years to protect privacy and civil liberties online and to support technological innovation and widespread Internet access. Ernesto Falcon, Senior Legislative Counsel at EFF, speaks with Christopher for this episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. After explaining EFF’s mission, Ernesto shares his background and how he got … Continue reading "A New Frontier for Broadband Funding in California – Community Broadband Bits Episode...

After a bitter battle with Comcast and a successful referendumto reclaim local authority back in 2017, Fort Collins, Colorado, is moving forward with its municipal fiber network, Connexion. The city is starting to connect residents to the network, so we wanted to check back in with local activists and Connexion staff to find out how it’s going. In this … Continue reading "Checking in With Fort Collins Fiber Network, Connexion- Community Broadband Bits Episode 408"

We last spoke to Brian Skelton, president of Tullahoma Utilities Authority, in 2013 for episode 54 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. Since then, the Tennessee city’s municipal fiber network, LightTube, has continued to offer Internet access, voice, and video services, attracting new businesses to the region. For this episode of the Community Broadband Bits podcast, Christopher and … Continue reading "Tullahoma Thrives With Fiber Network, Plus Straight Talk on the Pandemic- Community Broad...