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This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Sean Gonsalves, Senior Reporter and Editor at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. During the converstion, they talk about the value and concrete results of going small and stacking up targeted wins as a path for cities facing less of an appetite for big, bold projects, before digging into recent astroturf campaigns by monopoly Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Led by the Alliance for Quality Broadband (AQB) (really a lobbying group led by Charter Spectrum and others), municipal broadband efforts have seen recent setbacks in places like Southport, Maine. It’s a campaign being waged both in print flyers and online facebook ads, with AQB driving misinformation efforts and attempting to scare citizens away from upcoming votes on projects to improve local connectivity after years of underinvestment by incumbents (like Charter Spectrum).
Christopher and Sean fact check the Alliance for Quality Broadband’s bogus claims about the failure of muncipal efforts across the country in places like Pennsylvania, Minnesota, California, Florida, and Vermont, and unpack the deep-seated fear of competition driving such efforts.
Listen to Christopher’s in-depth interview with Harold Depriest about Chattanooga, referenced in the episode.
This show is 38 minutes long and can be played on this page or via iTunes or the tool of your choice using this feed.
Transcript coming soon.
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Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.