Where is the Gig?

It seems that there are announcements about Gigabit broadband weekly now. Gigaom and Gig.U have the latest report about Gigabit Broadband in the US - HERE.

The study notes - as I have said previously - Google was the seed for this. And usually if one provider announces it, like Google Fiber did in Kansas City and Austin, one or both of the Duopoly jump on the bandwagon.

The other thing Google did was make it a public-private deal. In other words, Google got great deals from the municipalities to make it happen. Then, so too, did the Duopoly and that became the framework for future projects.

Meanwhile, Rural American can't even have reliable phone service, according to this Journal Times editorial: Time to speak up about poor rural phone service.

Meanwhile at the FCC:

Keep up with Rural Broadband Experiments here. Also, FCC establishes application procedures for Rural Broadband Experiments

from NECA: "NTCA said both Petitions should be denied because State legislatures are more properly suited to evaluate and resolve certain of the difficult policy issues associated with municipal provision of broadband, and the FCC lacks the legal authority to preempt the laws of the States of Tennessee or North Carolina insofar as they govern municipality administration and operation. AT&T does not oppose the use of government owned networks in areas where advanced infrastructure has not been, and is not likely to be, reasonably and timely deployed, but said there are more effective ways of spurring broadband deployment in these areas, including through the Connect America Fund. The FTTH Council Americas supported the Petitions, and said municipal utility and other municipal network providers tend to build all-fiber networks, and have had a disproportionate effect in spurring such deployments across the nation, resulting in substantial economic and social benefits in the communities they serve. WISPA asserted the FCC lacks authority to preempt the Tennessee and North Carolina laws that are the subject of the Petitions."

A coalition of governors is warning the Federal Communications Commission not to interfere with state laws preventing cities from building out their own Internet services. [source]

It is USTelecom that wants to block muni fiber expansion. What's funny is that the Guardian thinks USTelecom is cable. UST is ILECs.

Connect America Phase II map HERE.

"The Open Technology Institute said the clearest path forward for strong open Internet protections is through reclassification of broadband as a Title II service. Nokia opposes reclassifying broadband under Title II." Nokia is a Microsoft company, that has fallen on hard times.