Many people would think that a blog about a small rural town becoming a Gigabit city would be about the miracles of speed. But the real story is much deeper. It is about what it feels like to finally have internet choice, to have reliable internet service in an information dependent economy, to be treated with respect by customer service agents, and to finally feel hope - actual excitement -…
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Madison, WI Tests Public-Private Partnerships to Reduce its Digital Divide
“For them, it’s the Internet or food.” That’s the way Richard Beadles, Technical Services Manager in Madison, Wisconsin, described the dire broadband circumstances of residents in four low income multiple dwelling units now targeted by the City to benefit from its new digital divide effort. Over the next two years, the City will invest $500,000 in general obligation capital funds t…
read moreThanks to Wilson, Tiny Rural Pinetops is A Gigabit City
“We just love it!” That was the response of Pinetops Acting Town Manager, Brenda Harrell, when asked what it is like for her rural residents to now have access to Gigabit internet speeds. In April, Wilson, North Carolina’s community-owned fiber network reached out, passed every home and turned on its fiber to the home service in neighboring rural Pinetops. Pinetops is located about a…
read moreFree CLIC Webinar July 20 on Federal Funding Options for Community Broadband
We invite you to register for CLIC's free webinar this Wednesday, July 20 at noon (eastern time): Federal Funding Options for Community Broadband Deployments. Although the federal broadband stimulus programs have ended, many other sources of federal funding for broadband projects are available. In this webinar, our speakers will discuss the key federal programs that support broadband projects,…
read moreHillary Clinton Recognizes the Power of Local Innovation and Local Internet Choice
On the same day that she toured Galvanize Denver, a working hub and learning center for technology startups and entrepreneurs, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton unleashed a technology and innovation initiative that draws attention to the power of local innovation and local Internet choice for developing government driven broadband access and solutions. Her “Technology & Innovation Ag…
read moreAmmon Idaho Offers a Whole New Kind of Local Internet Choice
“We’re not just building a Gigabit Fiber Network. We’re trying to change the paradigm,” described Bruce Patterson, Technology Director of the City of Ammon, Idaho in a recent video by ILSR and Next Century Cities. Ammon is a town reaching seven square miles and covering about 4,500 households. Although it is located in a very conservative area of the United States, Ammon built a fiber …
read moreMO Anti-Community Broadband Bill Stopped Again
CLIC is pleased to report that the latest battle over new restrictions on public broadband initiatives and public-private partnerships in Missouri has ended, and we have won again. As CLIC’s president Jim Baller stated, “This was one of the most challenging fights that we’ve faced in several years.” Last year, with CLIC’s assistance, the communities of Missouri derailed HB 437, wh…
read moreCLIC Webinar Features Public Fiber with Private Operations
On May 12, CLIC presented its latest webinar on the hot topic of Public Fiber with Private Operations -- Can the Huntsville/Google Fiber Partnerships & Similar Projects be Replicated? Huntsville, AL is the latest of a series of cities that have developed a public-private partnership that will bring Gigabit fiber to their communities. In each of these deployments, the local community builds and…
read moreCLIC Opposes Colorado SB 136 as a Virtual Ban on Local Internet Choice
On March 15, CLIC joined a coalition of eleven nationally prominent private sector companies and associations in delivering a strongly worded letter denouncing Colorado's Senate Bill 136 as "a virtual ban" on local Internet choice. If passed into law, SB 136 could significantly impair community broadband deployments or public-private broadband partnerships in Colorado. "Communities in Colorad…
read moreCLIC Looks Forward to CLIC Day on April 4 @BBC Austin
CLIC is looking forward to its full day event on April 4 at the BBC Conference in Austin. Come meet and hear from both communities and companies who have facilitated public-private partnerships to bring Gigabit fiber to their residents and businesses. Our roster of nationally renowned experts includes CLIC's luncheon speaker, Yiaway Yeh, Strategic Initiatives Lead for Google Fiber's natio…
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