Advocates for a public, high-speed community network for Northampton Massachusetts
We spoke with the city manager of Sanford, Maine a year ago when we were looking into what cities of similar size to Northampton were doing. In Sanford’s case, they were looking for ways to attract businesses. Their municipal broadband project was centered around this need. They are making great progress (see video) and expect …
Here’s EntryPoint Network’s Jeff Christensen’s complete presentation last Thursday to members of the Northampton High-speed Network Coalition and interested members of the public. One hour and forty-seven minutes were recorded. Our thanks to Northampton Community TV for recording Jeff’s presentation. There’s plenty to dig into here if you are curious about this technology including the …
Jeff Christensen and his company, EntryPoint Networks, is helping communities create entrances to the Internet using municipal networks that are open to ALL service providers. This approach dramatically reduces costs, empowers ownership of networks by subscribers and allows multiple service providers to compete for your business over a shared community platform. Jeff has already met …
Many of us living in Northampton are outraged by the prices Comcast charges for high-speed Internet access. Not only are their most popular plans like the “up to” 15mbps (megabits per second) not really high speed anymore, they are pricey. The 15mbps service costs $49.95/month as of this writing. Still, whether paying $49.95/month to Comcast …
Last night, the Northampton City Council gave final approval to the mayor’s capital plan for FY20 – FY25. The plan includes funding for a study of a municipal network for Northampton in FY20 and FY21. City Council Chairman Ryan O’Donnell noted before the vote that approving the plan does not obligate the city council to …
This TED Talk by Jeff Christensen is good and worth thirteen minutes of your time. The idea of citizens becoming owners of their data networks instead of renters is one of this coalition’s key ideas too. It would not surprise us if in twenty years ISPs like Comcast are no longer here. ISPs like Comcast …
Note: This post was updated to note the City Council’s approval was in concept. Last night, the Northampton City Council approved in concept funding for a study of a Northampton municipal network. The issue was discussed as part of Mayor Narkewicz’s capital fund plan, which was presented to the Council last night. By approving the …
Florence resident Lee Feldscher discusses the powerful privacy advantages that a community network could bring residents of Northampton. Lee owns Northampton IT, a local information technology business.
Ryan Cheevers-Brown, a Northampton High School senior, explains why a city-owned community network has major advantages over a private network like Comcast.
Northampton High-speed Community Network Coalition founder Mark Hamill of Florence discusses why net neutrality is important. A community network can provide true net neutrality. Comcast has petitioned the FCC to end net neutrality, which it did last year. Comcast is free to give a better quality of service to sites that pay it more money, …