Broadband Communities

MAY-JUN 2013

BROADBAND COMMUNITIES is the leading source of information on digital and broadband technologies for buildings and communities. Our editorial aims to accelerate the deployment of Fiber-To-The-Home and Fiber-To-The-Premises.

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Editor's notE The Community Broadband Issue CEO & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Scott DeGarmo / scott@bbcmag.com PRESIDEnT Jeffrey M. Reiman / jeff@bbcmag.com PUBLISHER nancy McCain / nancym@bbcmag.com CORPOR ATE EDITOR, BBP LLC Steven S. Ross / steve@bbcmag.com EDITOR Masha Zager / masha@bbcmag.com ADVERTISInG SALES Scott DeGarmo / scott@bbcmag.com MARkE TInG SPECIALIST Meredith Terrall / meredith@bbcmag.com OnLInE nEwS EDITOR Marianne Cotter / marianne@bbcmag.com DESIGn & PRODUCTIOn karry Thomas COnTRIBUTORS Joe Bousquin David Daugherty, korcett Holdings Inc. Joan Engebretson Richard Holtz, InfiniSys w. James Macnaughton, Esq. Henry Pye, RealPage Bryan Rader, Bandwidth Consulting LLC Robert L. Vogelsang, Broadband Communities Magazine BROADBAND PROPERTIES LLC CEO Scott DeGarmo PRESIDEnT Jeffrey M. Reiman VICE PRESIDEnT, BUSInESS & OPERATIOnS nancy McCain AUDIEnCE DE VELOPMEnT/DIGITAL STR ATEGIES norman E. Dolph CHAIRMAn OF THE BOARD Robert L. Vogelsang VICE CHAIRMEn The Hon. Hilda Gay Legg kyle Hollifield BUSInESS & EDITORIAL OFFICE BROADBAnD PROPERTIES LLC 1909 Avenue G • Rosenberg, Tx 77471 281.342.9655 • Fax 281.342.1158 www.broadbandcommunities.com Broadband Communities (ISSN 0745-8711) (USPS 679-050) (Publication Mail Agreement #1271091) is published 7 times a year at a rate of $24 per year by Broadband Properties LLC, 1909 Avenue G, Rosenberg, TX 77471. Periodical postage paid at Rosenberg, TX, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Broadband Communities, PO Box 303, Congers, NY 10920-9852. CANADA POST: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. Canada Returns to be sent to Bleuchip International, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Copyright © 2013 Broadband Properties LLC. All rights reserved. 2 Communities are vying to become "gigabit cities." Building their own fber networks is only one way to do it. E ach year, this magazine devotes a spring issue to community broadband eforts – which, I'm happy to report, continue to bloom nationwide. Many communities have recently made the decision to build their own fber-to-the-premises networks; still more are actively exploring the possibility. Tat's not the only sign of progress. Public-private broadband partnerships, which in the past were often talked about but rarely executed, are becoming increasingly common. Spurred by the Gig.U initiative and the excitement about gigabit communities, cities – even large cities such as Seattle and Chicago – are devising creative arrangements with private network builders. Even cities that, for legal, fnancial or political reasons, choose not to invest in networks are trying to leverage existing assets to improve broadband connectivity. Be sure to read the 2013 Summit coverage, which, though outside the Community Broadband section of the magazine, provides a wealth of information about what communities can do – often at little cost – to encourage broadband and make sure their communities beneft from broadband networks once they are built. Google's Milo Medin (whose keynote address is reprinted here), Kansas City leaders and representatives of many other communities all ofered insight on this subject at the Summit. Success stories are the most enjoyable to write about (and to read), and this issue presents two studies of stimulus-funded community broadband projects that anticipate successful completion this fall. | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com To avoid repeating mistakes, however, understanding the challenges community broadband faces is also important. Two other articles address those: An interview with the mayor of Provo, Utah, explains why he expects the sale of the iProvo network to provide a happy ending to a less-thanhappy tale. Second, an article about the ongoing saga of Palo Alto, Calif., explains why that city never proceeded beyond a pilot program for FTTH – and thus either avoided a costly mistake or missed a great opportunity (or both), depending on one's point of view. ThE PERSONAl ANglE Tis focus on communities shouldn't obscure how transformative broadband can be for individuals. Tis issue introduces a new column, Te Last Page, which ofers frst-person accounts of broadband's efects on people's lives. Te frst installment, "Broadband, Bucko and the B-29," was recounted to the BroadBand Communities team at the Summit by a South Dakota state ofcial who happens to be in the business of broadband planning. It's a loving reminiscence of his late fatherin-law, a World War II veteran who, despite having no interest in broadband, was surprised to fnd it helped enrich the fnal months of his long life. Do you have a personal broadband story you would like to share with BroadBand Communities readers? Write and let me know about it. v masha@bbcmag.com | May/June 2013

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