Kit Carson Fibers up New Mexico – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 277

The Kit Carson Electric Cooperative serves rural north central New Mexico and has been an early investor in a fiber-optic network that has brought high quality Internet service to a state largely stuck with 90's era DSL from incumbent CenturyLink. Luis Reyes, CEO of Kit Carson, joins us for episode 277 to discuss how the utility is ensuring its members all have high-quality Internet access available and some of the lessons they have learned in building the network. They have seen population growth and a rise in small businesses, especially people who can work from home. One of they key lessons is how to manage sign-ups. They have a significant waiting list, from a combination of greater demand than expected and the challenges of managing the home install process. Finally, we talk about how Kit Carson is working with another local cooperative to expand that high-quality access in New Mexico.Read the transcript for this episode here.We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.This show is 28 minutes long and can be played on this page or via iTunes or the tool of your choice using this feed.You can download this mp3 file directly from here. Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index.Thanks to Arne Huseby for the music. The song is Warm Duck Shuffle and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

CityLink Telecommunications in Albuquerque Prefers Open Access – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 208

A small telecommunications company in Albuquerque embodies much of the philosophy that has powered the Internet. And CityLink Telecommunications President John Brown credits Vint Cerf for some of that inspiration.

John Brown joins us for episode 208 of the Community Broadband [no-glossary]Bits[/no-glossary] podcast, where we talk not just about how enthusiastic he is for open access, but how he writes open access requirements into contracts to ensure CityLink would continue to operate on an open access basis even if he were struck down by an errant backhoe.

We also discuss the Internet of Things and security before finishing with a discussion of how he thinks the city of Albuquerque should move forward with his firm to save money and improve Internet access across the community. We also touch on Santa Fe's decision to work with a different company in building their short spur to bypass a CenturyLink bottleneck.

Read the transcript from this show here.

We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.

This show is 36 minutes long and can be played below on this page or via iTunes or via the tool of your choice using this feed.

You can download this mp3 file directly from here. Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index.

Thanks to Forget the Whale for the music, licensed using Creative Commons. The song is “I Know Where You've Been.”

Santa Fe's Targeted Fiber Investment – Community Broadband Bits Podcast 152

After Santa Fe found its residents and businesses were often paying the same rates for connections at half the speed of peers in Albuquerque, the City began investigating the local broadband market. This week on Community Broadband [no-glossary]Bits[/no-glossary], Sean Moody joins us to discuss the situation and what Santa Fe is doing to spur more investment.

Sean works in the Economic Development Division of the City as a Special Projects Administrator. He explains the bottleneck in middle mile access that allowed CenturyLink to charge higher rates for backhaul than are common in similar communities.

The City decided to invest $1 million in a new fiber link that would bypass the choke point and allow various independent companies to have a better choice for access to the wider Internet. Along the way, the City partnered with the state for additional benefits.

Read the transcript from our discussion here.

We want your feedback and suggestions for the show – please e-mail us or leave a comment below.

This show is 25 minutes long and can be played below on this page or via iTunes or via the tool of your choice using this feed.

Listen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index. You can can download this Mp3 file directly from here.

Thanks to Persson for the music, licensed using Creative Commons. The song is “Blues walk.”