Broadband
States, Feds Poised to Write New Chapter in Public Safety Communications
iStockphoto A running joke about public safety communication is that first responders are only trying to catch up to the average teenager with a smartphone. But the issue really isn’t funny at all: The performance of the nation’s aging web of public safety networks, which often can’t communicate with each other, is a matter of […]
In North Carolina, a Reversal on Municipal Broadband
istockphoto A state that once was known for aggressive government involvement in rolling out high-speed Internet services has dismantled a key state agency and passed a law making it nearly impossible for cities to operate their own networks. Several years ago, the city of Wilson, North Carolina, decided to take its digital destiny into its […]
States Ride Broadband Wave
Colorado is one of a number of states where state and local governments are prohibited by law from directly providing broadband service, for example, free municipal wireless connections. So a recommendation in the Federal Communication Commission’s National Broadband Plan has state officials scrambling. Released in March, the plan calls for Congress to ensure that state and local […]
Telecom vs. Cable Battle Moves to States
A multimillion-dollar fight over who gets to deliver movies, sports and news to TV screens in homes across America is spilling into state capitols. The nation’s biggest telephone companies, such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., already sell voice lines and Internet connections. Now, in some cities, they’re using newly updated fiber-optic networks […]