BETTER BROADBAND BUILDS STRONGER COMMUNITIES

As we wind down the year 2021, the CBAN team will look back at some of the primary developments in community broadband this year. We'll have a conversation with Doug Dawson of CCG Consulting about what his crystal ball shows for 2022. And we'll discuss some of the exciting changes that CBAN has planned for next year.

Guest-Jim Baller, KH Law, Washington, D.C.

Jim Baller with Keller and Heckman LLP is a long-time advocate for local internet choice through public-private partnerships and municipal broadband networks. During our Lunch and Learn we discussed a broad range of topics related to the role of nation policy in broadband deployment, including:

--The new federal infrastructure bill and its broadband elements
--The new nominees at the Federal Communications Commission and where they stand on community-based broadband
--Impact of small cell rules on municipalities
--Provider choice in apartments
--And more!

The CBAN team will host a discussion with Christopher Ali, author of the upcoming book "Farm Fresh Broadband - The Politics of Rural Connectivity". Ali's book features an analysis of the failure of U.S. broadband policy to solve the rural-urban digital divide and offers proposals for a new national rural broadband plan. We look forward to visiting with Christopher and sharing his perspectives of how to bring better broadband to more Americans!

CBAN's next Lunch and Learn will feature a panel discussion with representatives of three state broadband programs, discussing the ways that states are taking the lead in bringing better broadband to unserved areas.

We'll be talking about the similarities and differences between the approaches taken by the states of Colorado, Iowa, and Maine when it comes to implementing state broadband programs.

Hosts
--Curtis Dean & Todd Kielkopf, CBAN
Panelists
--Matt Behrens, CTO, State of Iowa
--Antonio Martinez, Executive Director, Colorado Broadband
--Peggy Schaffer, Director of Connect Maine

Wisconsin's only municipal fiber network is also one of the nation's biggest community broadband success stories. Join us for a conversation with Brett Schuppner with the Reedsburg Utility Commission about how RUC's LightSpeed is bringing better broadband to their area.

Hosts: CBAN Co-Founders Curtis Dean and Todd Kielkopf

Fiber networks are the most future-proof broadband infrastructure we know of, but they are expensive to build and sometimes they aren’t feasible. That’s why businesses that rely on broadband connectivity and internet providers need to get creative.

In this Lunch and Learn we’ll talk with Chuck Pauk, IT director for Landus Cooperative, about the steps they’ve taken to connect their facilities to each other and the internet. CBAN Provider Member Ryan Malek with Router12 Networks will discuss his company’s strategy for reaching rural homes and businesses.