Broadband

From IVP Wiki

Links to go along with June 10, 2015 "broadband" community roundtable at Williamstown, Mass.

Bio: Teresa Martin

  • Municipal Broadband Services in Concord, Mass.

      • "New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to have state wired for ... minimum speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps)" / graphic from Capital Magazine

        "The municipal network, which took on its first residential customers in 2009 and now offers 1-gigabit-per-second service for as little as $70 a month, has also given the city a tech-forward sheen . . . At least 500 communities have community-owned broadband networks, according to data from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, an organization that promotes the idea."

        "Vince Jordan and the Colorado city of Longmont took on the major Internet-providing telecommunciations companies -- and won. But it was only round one. Now he's working to prove that Longmont Power & Communications -- the city owned utility -- can use 144-strand fiber-optic cabling installed in the 1990s to deliver exceptionally fast Internet to city's businesses and residents."

        "Monica Webb . . . chairs the board of directors of WiredWest — a group trying to bring broadband Internet to Western Massachusetts . . . In about 30 communities up and down the hilly spine of Western Massachusetts, voters this year will decide whether to spend tax dollars to build out the “final mile” of broadband."

        "Frustrated with slow Internet and spotty telephone service, residents approved a $3.6 million bond in 2012 to build its own fiber-to-home network. The 39-mile aerial fiber-optic cable system is being constructed by Millennium Communications of New Jersey. Holyoke Gas and Electric has been contracted to run it and another firm will be hired to maintain it . . . 'Leverett will be on par with the fastest networks in the world and will have the fastest residential network in Massachusetts,' according to the statement from Crocker."


        Here at MASS MoCA I use Time Warner Business Class coax cable connection (50x5) for internet with a Verizon DSL (15x1) connection as backup. Needless to say I’ve been let down by both Time Warner and Verizon over the last 8 years. I’m in negotiations with TWC for a 20 Mbps fiber connection right now, but it hasn’t been easy. The price has come down but still not where I need it to be...which is why I am indeed interested in this very topic.