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This episode streamed live on October 25, 2021.

Join us live on Monday, October 25th at 5pm ET for Episode 23 of the Connect This! Show, where co-hosts Christopher and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by Neil Mylet and Deb Simpier (Althea Networks) to talk about grassroots networking. They’ll dive into into the hardware and software considerations made in building hyperlocal networks, and bringing together people passionate about returning knowledge and control to build more resilient communities.

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Email us broadband@muninetworks.org with feedback, ideas for the show, or your pictures of weird wireless infrastructure to stump Travis.

Watch here or below on YouTube Live, or via Facebook Live here.

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This show streamed live on October 14, 2021.

Join us live this Thursday, October 14th at 5pm ET for Episode 22 of the Connect This! Show, where co-hosts Christopher and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by Dennis Pappas (Longmont, Colorado) and Christy Batts (Clarksville, Tennessee) to talk about large municipalities successfully deploying broadband infrastructure for an array of community benefits. 

Longmont, Colorado’s Nextlight has been wildly successful during its first five years of life in uncommon ways. Clarksville, Tennessee’s CDE Lightband has overcome early challenges to bring significant savings to the public, especially to members of the municipal electric utility. Christopher, Travis, Dennis, and Christy come together to unpack how they got there and what it means for the future.

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Email us broadband@muninetworks.org with feedback, ideas for the show, or your pictures of weird wireless infrastructure to stump Travis.

Watch here or below on YouTube Live, or via Facebook Live here.

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This show streamed live on October 7, 2021.

This week, don’t miss a very special episode of the Connect This! Show, streaming live from the Minneapolis headquarters of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance for the very first time! 

Co-hosts Christopher and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be broadcasting with most of the Community Broadband Networks initiative team watching from the peanut gallery. They will be joined virtually by Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) to dive into the nitty gritty of broadband infrastructure and talk about permitting, rights of way (ROW), and all the day-to-day minutae of turning a network design into physical reality. 

They’ll talk about building good relationships with local government, planning ahead, overcoming unanticipated challenges, and finding creative solutions to permitting and right of way issues. We’ll see some entities that have done it well, and others that have done it poorly. 

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Email us broadband@muninetworks.org with feedback, ideas for the show, or your pictures of weird wireless infrastructure to stump Travis.

Watch here or below on YouTube Live, or via Facebook Live here.

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This show streamed lived on September 30th, 2021

On Episode 20 of the Connect This! Show, co-hosts Christopher and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) will be joined by Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) live on both YouTube and Facebook to talk about a grab-bag of issues including the new Treasury rules for the $10 billion in broadband infrastructure funding, digital redlining, and microtrenching. 

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Email us broadband@muninetworks.org with feedback, ideas for the show, or your pictures of weird wireless infrastructure to stump Travis.

Watch here on YouTube (or below), or here on Facebook Live.

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This show streamed live on September 23rd

On Episode 19 of the Connect This! Show, co-hosts Christopher and (a partly there) Travis Carter (USI Fiber) are joined by Keith Hanson (Shreveport, Louisiana Chief Technology Officer) and Angelina Panettieri (National League of Cities) to talk about how some cities place themselves at the vanguard of innovation by undertaking projects designed to improve local conditions using existing infrastructure and know-how. Keith shares Shreveport’s efforts to map the digital divide by connecting low-power computing devices to GPS sensors and cell phone batteries on garbage trucks to map broadband access across the city. He also talks about other edge computing initiatives, like video for public safety. 

The group also discusses the newly released Treasury rules on the $10 billion in infrastructure funding coming down the pipeline, and how cities can position themselves to take advantage.

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Email us broadband@muninetworks.org with feedback, ideas for the show, or your pictures of weird wireless infrastructure to stump Travis.

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This episode streamed live on September 9.

On Episode 18 of the Connect This! Show, co-hosts Christopher and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) are joined by Doug Dawson (CCG Consulting) and Kim McKinley (UTOPIA Fiber) to catch up after a frenzied summer. With all of the federal, state, and local broadband infrastructure funding programs and projects announced over the last three months, the panel breaks down what they’ve been seeing across the country. 

During the course of the conversation, they cover what’s been going on with the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (including ISPs turning funds back in and LTD failing to get its ETC status), more supply chain constraints, how communities can plan for current and future funding, and incumbents continuing to lock up MDUs.

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Email us broadband@muninetworks.org with feedback, ideas for the show, or your pictures of weird wireless infrastructure to stump Travis.

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In this episode of the Connect This! Show, co-hosts Christopher and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) are joined by Jessica Engle (IT Director for the Yurok Tribe) and Matthew Rantanen (Director of Technology, Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association) to talk about broadband in Indian Country. 

The panel discusses the realities of deploying wired and wireless broadband infrastructure on tribal lands, and what the Yurok tribe has learned along the way in overcoming challenges and working with partners and vendors to expand access in efficient but sustainable ways.

During the hour, Matt, Jess, Travis, and Christopher also talk about the $1 billion Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program to be administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the long history of underinvestment by incumbent providers in Indian County, and how communities can position themselves to succeed in the context of local conditions in pursuing long-term solutions.

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Email us broadband@muninetworks.org with feedback and ideas for the show.

Watch here, or below.

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On Episode 16 of the Connect This! show, co-hosts Christopher and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) are joined by Sascha Segan (lead mobile analyst at PCMag.com) and Virgilio Fiorese (formerly of Ericsson, currently Senior Sales Director, Mavenir) to dig into 5G and the next generation of cellular networks to try and divorce the hype from the current and coming reality. 

Chris, Travis, Sascha, and Virgilio talk about whether ordinary Americans should care about 5G today (for either their home or mobile connection), the regulatory and deployment components of a 5G rollout, how T-Mobile’s 5G Home Internet service is working for users right now, 5G marketing, and the difference between an intelligently designed Fiber-to-the-Premises build with Wi-Fi 6 for fixed-place users.

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Email us broadband@muninetworks.org with feedback, ideas for the show, or your pictures of weird wireless infrastructure to stump Travis.

Watch here, or below.

Join us on Thursday, June 17th at 5pm ET/4pm CT for a new episode of the Connect This! show, with co-hosts Christopher and Travis Carter (USI Fiber) joined by Sascha Segan (lead mobile analyst at PCMag.com) and Virgilio Fiorese (formerly of Ericsson, currently Senior Sales Director, Mavenir). Together, they’ll dig into 5G and the next generation of cellular networks to try and divorce the hype from the current and coming reality. 

Chris, Travis, Sascha, and Virgilio will talk about whether ordinary Americans should care about 5G today (for either their home or mobile connection) as well as the regulatory and deployment components of a 5G rollout. In addition, the group will talk about the Open RAN (Radio Access Network) interface standard. 

The show will begin on Thursday, June 17 at 5pm ET/4pm CT.

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Email us broadband@muninetworks.org with feedback and ideas for the show.

Watch here, or below.