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The Northwest Open Access Network in Washington has a long history of expanding high quality Internet access into rural areas and now reaches into every county in the state. NoaNet is a nonprofit organization originally formed by local governments and now operating over 2,000 miles of fiber.
This week we talk with Dave Spencer, NoaNet Chief Operating Officer, about the history of NoaNet, how it has impacted the state, and what the future holds for this organization.
We also discuss the NoaNet expansion enabled by the federal broadband stimulus, how their open access fiber network has led to improved wireless connections in many rural areas, and what it takes for a nonprofit organization to thrive in an industry that can be very competitive despite often having very few competitors.
Our previous stories about NoaNet are available here.
Read the transcript from our discussion here.
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This show is 20 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 bkfm-b-side for the music, licensed using Creative Commons. The song is “Raise Your Hands.”