Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Connect This!

Technology EN ↓ 126 episodes

Connect This! offers an irreverent and inside look at broadband tech and policy. Each week features people with direct experience building networks or working on policy to improve broadband access. We talk about current events and focus on a big topic for half of each episode.

Author

Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Episodes

The Only History of LTE You’ll Ever Need | Episode 79 of the Connect This! Show 18.09.2023 1:15:48

Join us Thursday, September 7th at 2pm ET for a very special episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guest Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guest  Spencer Sevilla (University of Washington, ICDT Lab)  to talk about how the  Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standard  for wireless networks ca...

The One Where We’re Supposed to Be Nice to the FCC | Episode 77 of the Connect This! Show 28.07.2023 1:14:46

Join us Tuesday, August 8th at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and special guest Robert Wack (Carroll County, Maryland Health Department) to talk about all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print, inclu...

Gaming the FCC’s 10-day Rule, Competition on Open Access Networks, and Letters of Credit | Episode 76 of the Connect This! Show 20.07.2023 1:14:36

Join us Tuesday, July 25th at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) to talk about all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print.  Email us at  broadband@communitynets.org  with feedback and ideas...

Astroturf Campaigns in Utah and Fixed Wireless, Mapping, and Maine – Episode 75 of the Connect This! Show 05.07.2023 1:14:47

Join us Wednesday, July 12th at 4pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) to talk about all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print.  Email us at  broadband@communitynets.org  with feedback and ide...

The Promise of BEAD, FCC Investigates Data Caps, and Capacity | Episode 74 of the Connect This! Show 05.07.2023 1:17:47

Join us Thursday, June 22nd at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and regular guest Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) will be joined by Drew Clark (Broadband Breakfast) and Angela Bennink (Kitsap PUD) to talk about all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print. Stay tuned for more! Email us at  broadband@communitynets.org &n...

Recent Broadband News | Episode 71 of the Connect This! Show 12.05.2023 1:05:30

Join us Friday, May 12, at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guest Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and special guests from the city of Longmont, Colorado to talk about all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print. Email us at  broadband@communitynets.org  with feedba...

Live From the Broadband Communities Summit | Episode 70 of the Connect This! Show 28.04.2023 1:03:46

Join us Monday, May 1st at 8pm ET for another special live episode of the Connect This! Show, from Broadband Communities Summit in The Woodlands, Texas. Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) will be joined by Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber), Heather Gold (HBG Strategies) and Bob Knight (Harrison Edwards) at the conference’s welcome reception. They’ll tackle the question of how we can actually get af...

Ookla Speed Test Report and Data Privacy | Episode 69 of the Connect This! Show 20.04.2023 1:21:12

Join us Thursday, April 20th at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) to catch up on all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print. Email us at  broadband@communitynets.org  with feedback and ideas fo...

Longmont, Baltimore, OpEx on Fiber Deployments | Episode 68 of the Connect This! Show 28.03.2023 1:16:09

Join us Tuesday, April 4th at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) to catch up on all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print. Email us at  broadband@communitynets.org  with feedback and ideas for...

When Fixed Wireless Makes Sense, Supply Chain Woes, and the FCC’s Bad Data Practices | Episode 67 of the Connect This! Show 28.03.2023 1:24:22

Join us Thursday, March 23rd at 4pm ET, for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) to catch up on all the recent broadband news that’s fit to print. Email us at  broadband@communitynets.org  with feedback and ideas f...

Gigi Sohn, the Future of the FCC, and Federal Reserve Banks | Episode 66 of the Connect This! Show 06.03.2023 1:14:01

Join us Thursday, March 9th at 2pm ET, for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber), to catch up on all things  Net Inclusion 2023 , as well as all the other broadband news that’s fit to print. Email us at  broadband@c...

A Very Special Connect This! Show | Episode 65 of the Connect This! Show 23.02.2023 1:05:26

Join us on Wednesday, March 1st at 7:30pm ET for a very special episode of the show, live from Net Inclusion 2023 in San Antonio, Texas. Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) will be joined by Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber), Angela Siefer (National Digital Inclusion Alliance), Autumn Evans (City of Detroit), and ILSR’s DeAnne Cuellar, and in front of a live audience at The Friendly Spot Icehouse. They&#8...

Grant Tax Relief, Misreporting Coverage, and Line Extension Programs | Episode 64 of the Connect This! Show 21.02.2023 1:18:28

Join us live on Thursday, February 16th, at 3:30pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about recent efforts to remove the tax burden on broadband grants, the litany of ISPs that have abused the new reporting proces...

Charter Spectrum’s Lawsuit, Railroads and Crossings, and Covid-19 | Episode 63 of the Connect This! Show 21.02.2023 1:12:15

Join us live on Thursday, February 2nd, at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about the resolution to Charter Spectrum’s contractor lawsuit, the location challenge process, railroads and other crossings,...

Mapping Deadlines, LA County, and Stuck in the Middle | Episode 62 of the Connect This! Show 20.01.2023 1:23:42

Join us live on Friday, January 19th, at 2:00pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and special guests Shayna Englin (California Community Foundation) and Geoff Wiggin to talk about the January 13th location challenge...

Location Challenges Won’t Impact BEAD, Gigi Sohn Renominated, AT&T’s “Open Access” Fiber Deal, and What’s New From CES | Episode 61 of the Connect This! Show 09.01.2023 1:18:49

It’s a new year, which means there’s plenty to talk about in the broadband space. Join us live on Friday, January 6th, at 2:00pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about the recent renomination of Gigi...

A Look Back at 2022 | Episode 60 of the Connect This! Show 09.12.2022 1:25:12

On the latest episode of the Connect This! Show, co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) are joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to step back and remember the ups and downs as well as twists and turns in 2022. Did the supply chain fears that dominated news cycles ever really materialize? Will we ever have a func...

The Mapping Challenge Process, PON vs. Active Ethernet, and Market Pricing| Episode 59 of the Connect This! Show 28.11.2022 1:09:00

Join us live on Friday, December 2nd, at 2:00pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting).  They start the show by talking about early sticking points in the FCC’s new mapping fabric, and what kinds of troubles provid...

One Map to Rule Them All, Challenge Abuses, and the End of the Fiber Boom | Episode 58 of the Connect This! Show 15.11.2022 1:15:14

Join us live on Tuesday, November 22nd, at 1:30pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting). They’ll talk about the first version of the brand-new FCC broadband maps, released last Friday, internal  Cable One ema...

Comcast Pricing, Starlink Data Caps, Starry’s Future, and ACP Usage| Episode 57 of the Connect This! Show 04.11.2022 1:13:46

Join us live on Tuesday, November 8th, at 2pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) to talk about the new pricing moves announced by Comcast, the institution of data caps in off-hours by Starlink, the future of Starry Fixed...

Pricing Disparities by Monopolies, CostQuest, and Starry Abandoning RDOF Bids | Episode 56 of the Connect This! Show 19.10.2022 1:22:45

Join us live on Thursday, October 20, at 11am ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting). They’ll dig into the chase for gigabit Tarana by Travis, a new LA County report which finds significant pricing disparities by Charte...

Infrastructure Economics | Episode 55 of the Connect This! Show 04.10.2022 1:16:17

Join us live on Thursday, October 6, at 5pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guest Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and industry veteran Heather (HBG Strategies). They talk about the economics of broadband deployment, from the effect of taxes, to rural fixed wireless, to whether fiber is ev...

New York Public Housing Solutions, Cable Speed Increases, and the Effects of Inflation | Episode 54 of the Connect This! Show 21.09.2022 1:14:47

Join us live on Thursday, September 22, at 4pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting). They’ll dig into the recent New York City announcement that it would subsidize connection costs for hundreds of thousands in public...

The Future of Community Networks and Fixed Wireless | Episode 53 of the Connect This! Show 12.09.2022 1:12:28

Join us live on Friday, September 16, at 1pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by Deborah Simpier (Co-founder at  Althea Networks ,  Sommelier Finance , and  Gravity Bridge ) and Sascha Meinrath ( Palmer Chair in Telecommunications at Penn State University , Founder of  X-Lab )....

Grant Challenges in Louisiana, 25 Gbps service in Chattanooga, and the Future of Video | Episode 51 of the Connect This! Show 25.08.2022 1:15:43

Join us live on Thursday, August 25th, at 5pm ET for the latest episode of the Connect This! Show. Co-hosts Christopher Mitchell (ILSR) and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by regular guests Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) and Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting. They’ll dig into recent news – from big cable companies and telcos going after BEAD grants, to the announcement of 25 Gigabit pe...