PC Magazine ranks NextLight fastest ISP in U.S.

City Council chambers before the open forum on May 15, 2018 (Mark Ivins / Longmont Observer)

“Who could beat Google at its own game? NextLight, that’s who.”

Congratulations Tom and LPC!

By Macie May

The following is a press release from the City of Longmont and is published by the Longmont Observer as a public service.

PC Magazine declared NextLight the fastest internet service provider in the country this morning, placing the community-owned internet provider at the top of its annual speed rankings.

The top spot had been held by Google Fiber in 2016 and 2017, which was knocked into second place this year by NextLight, Longmont’s fiber-optic network.

“Who could beat Google at its own game? NextLight, that’s who,” the magazine said in its 2018 ISP rankings. “There’s no denying small local players like this are the best hope we all have for seeing major gains in connectivity speed. … If you are choosing where to live in the U.S. based entirely on internet speed, consider buying or renting in Longmont.” Continue reading

Dave Clark: Why I voted no to Loveland broadband

By Dave Clark

On Feb. 6, the City Council voted to spend $2.5 million to get a “build ready” design for a public municipal broadband service in the city of Loveland and additional measures for this process. I voted no on each of those measures. Did I vote no because I am against broadband service in Loveland? Am I a supporter of Comcast and want to make sure they have no competition? Am I against “progress” in the future? The critics will answer yes. Well, they are wrong. Below is a list of my concerns and questions.

One of my biggest concerns is the lack of information we have received. Again, the critics will argue that the City Council has had 16 or more meetings to review this issue. While that is true, the real issue is the lack of information on all of the options available to the city, not just the option of a municipal broadband service. They say they have done their due diligence; I say the information presented has been fairly one-sided. To counter that, some of us on council (namely, Councilors Overcash, Olson, Jersvig and myself) finally requested a special meeting be held where the other side could be heard. So, on Jan 30, there were six private companies that presented to council their proposals for city broadband services — either to expand/improve existing services or provide new.

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Loveland City Council gives final OK for city to pursue municipal broadband

Stock photoCity Council Chambers in the Loveland Municipal Building on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017.(Photo by Jenny Sparks/Loveland Repdorter-Herald)

By Julia Rentsch

Loveland will amend its Electric Enterprise utility to include communications services in due course, and begin development of a detailed municipal broadband business plan after several ordinances passed by the City Council Tuesday night.

The three ordinances adopted on second reading allow city staff to direct time and resources toward fulfilling the seven recommendations delivered to council by the Loveland Broadband Task Force Dec. 12. The first ordinance, to appropriate $2.5 million from the Power General Fund for staff to follow the recommendations, passed 8-1 with Councilor Dave Clark against; the second, to add communications to the Loveland electric utility, passed 5-4 with councilors Clark, Don Overcash, Jeremy Jersvig and Steve Olson against; the third, to transition the Task Force into a new city advisory board for communications, passed 7-2, with Clark and Olson against. Continue reading

Cruzio building net neutral gigabit fiber-optic network in Santa Cruz

English: A fiber optic splice lab being used t...

English: A fiber optic splice lab being used to access underground fiber optic cables for splicing. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

January 2, 2018
By Sara K. Madden

Internet service provider Cruzio says it is beginning to build its net neutral Santa Cruz Fiber fiber-optic network to deliver gigabit broadband service to downtown homes and businesses in Santa Cruz early in 2018. The independent, high-speed fiber-optic infrastructure will advance Santa Cruz broadband, as well as increase the value of connected buildings, Cruzio asserts.

“In keeping with their history of supporting the local business community, Cruzio/Santa Cruz Fiber, has been quite thorough in reaching out and educating the community about the benefits of fiber, and more importantly has been very responsive to the needs and concerns pertaining to installation,” says the Downtown Association executive director who goes by the mono-name Chip. “We’re very much looking forward to the value that this project will bring to the business district.” Continue reading

The Debate Over Muni Broadband Expansion

By Stephanie Kanowitz

As communities across the country continue to clamor for high-speed broadband, the number of critics speaking out against municipal broadband is growing.

At the heart of the debate is whether governments or private industry should have jurisdiction over broadband. Those who favor private industry point to the historical success of capitalism, while “broadband populists,” as a new report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) calls them, favor government regulation and operation much like other city services. Continue reading

Town Loses Gigabit Connections After FCC Municipal Broadband Court Loss

English: Availability of 4 Mbps-Capable Broadb...

English: Availability of 4 Mbps-Capable Broadband Networks in the United States by County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Carl’s opinion piece is clearly in support of an industry that is very happy to sell equipment to these new customers because the incumbent telco business is not growing very fast, if at all. Allowing government to offer communications services in a particular market is not competing; it is taking it over because they can use bonds (low interest) and taxpayer money to fund these networks. State legislators have created these laws to prevent just these things from happening along with providing protection when half of these ventures go bankrupt.

Telcos are not clean on this because they are using crony capitalism to protect their monopoly or duopoly. If legislators enact such laws they should hold incumbents to the universal service agreement that AT&T adhered for decades.

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Broadband could be $125M effort for Fort Collins

Fort Collins, facing west (1875)

Fort Collins, facing west (1875) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Apparently no one properly explained how the wholesale model could be the best option for Fort Collins. Using a wholesale model, the city can attract multiple service providers from local to regional carriers that could boost their utilization well over 30%. Another benefit is that they do not have to keep up the technology arms race that Comcast and CenturyLink will be sure to start. Their consultant really should provide them better advice on the wholesale option.

, [email protected]

Fort Collins residents love their internet. And like technology consumers everywhere, they want their connection to be fast, cheap and reliable. Continue reading