Unbuffered

This week’s podcast comes from the Fiber Connect 2022 conference held in Nashville, Tennessee last month where Christopher caught up with Heather Mills, Vice President for Grants and Funding Strategies at CTC Technology & Energy. During the conversation, Heather challenges Christopher’s assessment of the BEAD program in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and what he … Continue readi...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Seth Wainer, the former CIO of the city of Newark, New Jersey. During the conversation, Seth shares his time with the city from 2013-2018. He talks about the progress the city made in improving local connectivity across different arenas, from cataloging existing assets, to pursuing both … Continue reading "Frameworks for the Future in Newark – Epi...

This week on the podcast Christopher is joined by Scott Rasmussen, Acting Director of the New York State ConnectALL Office. During the show, the two dive into how New York will spend its broadband funds to support municipal networks and partnerships, the challenges of public-public partnerships between local governments working together on deployments, and what we … Continue reading "Empowering Mu...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by senior staff on the broadband initiative to dig into recent topics, including Senior Reporter, Editor and Communications Team Lead Sean Gonsalves, Community Broadband Outreach Team Lead DeAnne Cuellar, and Senior Researcher and Research Team Lead Ry Marcattilio-McCracken. The group talks about the value of overlapping networks and … Continue readi...

This week on the podcast Christopher is joined by Ken Demlow, Planning Services Group Manager with HR Green, a leading employee-owned civil engineering and technical management firm with offices in nine states. The pair dive into the world of consulting firms and how they help cities and towns across the United States figure out how … Continue reading "How Consulting Firms Can Help Communities Pla...

This week on the podcast, while attending the 2022 Broadband Communities Summit in Houston earlier this month, Christopher was joined by Angie Kronenberg, Chief Advocate and General Counsel for INCOMPAS, a leading trade association advocating on behalf of telecommunication policies that encourage competition. The pair kick-off the podcast with a fun nod to Angie’s involvement … Continue reading "H...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by John Lester, General Manager of Clarksville Connected. The two discuss how Clarksville, a small rural community of about 10,000 in northwest Arkansas at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, became the Natural State’s first 2 gig city. Chris and John cover how Clarksville became the first city … Continue reading "How Clarksville became Arkansas’ F...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Benoit Felton (Independent Consultant, Diffraction Analysis).  During the conversation, the two discuss the transformational potential of broadband,  international developments in fiber deployment and lessons on wholesale broadband networks.  They talk about the state of European broadband service, what keeps customers from changing providers with...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined live from Broadband Communities by Bob Knight (CEO, Harrison Edwards) and Kim McKinley (Chief Marketing Officer, UTOPIA Fiber).  During the conversation, the three discuss the newly announced American Association of Public Broadband (AAPB). They talk answer what the group is, why it’s needed and how people can … Continue reading "Introducing the Amer...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Jeff Gavlinski, CEO of Mountain Connect to preview this year’s event. During the conversation, the two talk about what makes Mountain Connect different from other broadband conferences, what’s on deck for this year, and Jeff’s perspective on larger trends in the broadband industry. They also discuss … Continue reading "Previewing Mountain Connect...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Shayna Englin, Director of the Digital Equity Initiative at the California Community Foundation. During the conversation, the two talk about Shayna’s work with the Digital Equity Initiative, how their coalition brought about recent wins for community broadband in LA County, and what’s next in the fight … Continue reading "Los Angeles County and Ca...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by three colleagues from the Community Broadband Networks Initiative at ILSR including Sean Gonsalves (Communications Team Lead), Ry Marcattilio-McCracken (Research Team Lead) and DeAnne Cuellar (Outreach Team Lead). During the conversation, the four talk about Sean’s writing that highlights improvements to New York’s new budget bill, and … Continue...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Margaret Kaufer, President of the New York-based STEM Alliance, and Bob Cacase, Commissioner of Information Technology for the City of Yonkers. During the conversation, the three talk about Y-ZONE, a partnership between several community groups working to connect households in Yonkers. They discuss origins of the … Continue reading "Y-ZONE is Conn...

This week on the show, Christopher is joined by Angela Thi Bennett, Director of Advocacy & Impact at DigitalC, a community-based Cleveland nonprofit which operates a fixed wireless network in the city’s unserved and underserved neighborhoods. Before she leaves to become the first Digital Equity Director for National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Angela sits down wit...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Nancy Werner, General Counsel of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA).  During the conversation, the two talk about NATOA and it’s role in supporting community broadband projects, how the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Act is structured, and how exactly BEAD grant … Continue reading "Breaking...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by ILSR Community Broadband Networks Research Team Lead Ry Marcattilio-McCracken and Communications Team Lead Sean Gonsalves. During the conversation, the three discuss stories from the big list of American Rescue Plan Community Broadband Projects, Sean’s Broadband Breakfast Telehealth Op-Ed with Craig Settles, and why healthcare providers aren’t … C...

This week on the podcast, radio producer Matt Purdy reports a story on Baltimore’s efforts to build a municipal broadband network that prioritizes equity for historically marginalized communities. This show is 13 minutes long and can be played on this page or via iTunes or the tool of your choice using this feed. Transcript coming soon.  We want … Continue reading "Special Report: Baltimore Builds...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Bill Coleman, Founder of Community Technology Advisors in St. Paul, Minnesota. During the conversation, the two discuss the origins of the Blandin Foundation’s Accelerate! Program, how facilitating team dynamics helped to breath new life into pre-recorded webinars, and why Bill believes that approach, along with an … Continue reading "Accelerate!...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Will Anderson, Program Coordinator at Vermont Communications Union Districts Association (VCUDA) and Evan Carlson, Board Chair at NEK Broadband (Northeast Kingdom, VT). During the conversation, the three discuss the origins and progress of Vermont’s Communications Union District (CUD) model, how the Department of Public Service has … Continue read...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Jeff Magsamen, Telecom Director at Waverly Utilities in Waverly, Iowa. During the conversation, the two discuss Waverly’s journey building a municipal network, how triple play take rates have changed in the last few years, and the benefits of partnering with neighboring municipal networks to reduce startup costs. Christopher … Continue reading "Wa...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Joe Poire, Director of Petrichor Broadband in Whitman County, Washington. During the conversation, the two discuss the unique role of Ports in Washington State, which for years have been building robust broadband infrastructure that could be used for increasing competition or extending access into unserved areas. … Continue reading "Public Open Ac...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by PJ Armstrong, Interim General Manager at Monmouth Independence Networks (MINET) operating in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. During the conversation, the two discuss how MINET came into existence over fifteen years ago, unique perspectives from an older municipal network, progress on MINET’s recent investor-backed expansion into Dallas, Oregon, … Cont...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Bob Marshall, General Manager of the Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative and the Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications Company. During the conversation, the two discuss Bob’s love for the cooperative movement, how Plumas-Sierra relies on fixed wireless, cable and fiber to service their rural terrain, and how they are using … Continue reading "Geog...

This week on the podcast, Christopher is joined by Matt Schmit, Director of the Illinois Office of Broadband and Chair of Illinois Broadband Advisory Council. During the conversation, the two discuss Illinois’ $420 million investment in broadband infrastructure as part of the Connect Illinois Broadband Grant program, the challenges in and solutions to both rural … Continue reading "It’s Not a Rura...

In this episode of the podcast, we’re back for another staff conversation about all that 2021 had to offer and serve up some predictions for the coming year. Joining Christopher on the show are Senior Reporter and Editor Sean Gonsalves, Community Broadband Outreach Team Lead DeAnne Cuellar, Senior Researcher Ry Marcattilio-McCracken, GIS and Data Visualization Specialist Christine … Continue readi...