March 2015

Santa Cruz Mayor Don Lane announced earlier this week that the City of Santa Cruz has joined Next Century Cities, a bipartisan, city-to-city initiative dedicated to ensuring the availability of next-generation broadband Internet for all communities…

When Comcast announced plans last year to invest hundreds of millions in theme parks in Florida and California, its customers may have wondered why the cable giant wasn’t using those funds to deliver a faster or more reliable Internet connection. While Comcast’s Universal Studios faces competition from Walt Disney World, most people don’t have a

The city of Monticello will join Next Century Cities, an organization that supports the importance of broadband access and its role in promoting future growth. Council members approved the no-cost membership Feb. 23 on a 4-1 vote after Councilmember Tom Perrault asked the telecommunications membership request made by staff be pulled from the consent agenda

Across the country, a trend has emerged in the 21st century – those communities able to deliver fast, affordable, and reliable Internet to their constituents are in the best position to grow and thrive. The critical importance of infrastructure to healthy localities may be a constant throughout American history, but in 2015, it is broadband

Between the Federal Communications Commission’s recent redefinition of broadband, Obama’s BroadbandUSA announcement, and the FCC’s vote supporting net neutrality, issues of Internet quality and accessibility have been thrust in the spotlight. As these federal policies are debated in the Beltway, a new public interest coalition is betting that effective, innovative local leadership can also move

Last week’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruling codifying the principles of net neutrality is a victory for grassroots organizing. But in 20 years, we might be talking more about another FCC decision made last Thursday…

New rules approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Thursday will result in the Internet being treated like a utility under federal law and allow local governments to develop public high-speed online service. The FCC provision receiving the most media attention was that establishing “net neutrality,” which will forbid Internet service providers from creating faster

The City of Sandy started its municipal internet service provider, known as SandyNet, in 2003 and is now in the middle of upgrading to a fiber optic network. But while Sandy’s residents have enjoyed the successful venture into internet service, some states have laws that prohibit municipalities from even offering it. Now Sandy has added