tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78742592010-04-29T00:16:51.700-05:00Our rambunctious take on the play by play, day by day, events of the Lafayette Fiber to the Home fight. Supporting <a href="http://www.lafayetteprofiber.com/"> LafayetteProFiber.com</a>.FiberFolkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931024146374854439noreply@blogger.comBlogger1750125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-53598086641219006962010-04-29T00:16:00.001-05:002010-04-29T00:16:51.715-05:00

This blog is now located at http://blog.lafayetteprofiber.com/. You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here. For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to http://blog.lafayetteprofiber.com/feeds/posts/default.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-19661577982589464432010-04-22T09:12:00.002-05:002010-04-26T16:18:14.385-05:00

The third largest telephone company in the United States will be located in Monroe, La...Bastrop really.Really. Honestly. No kidding...The New York Times reports that CenturyTel will buy Qwest, the western Bell company for 10.6 in a stock swap deal announced today.Bits-And-Pieces:The combination would have about 18 million phone lines serving customers in 37 states, but would still be dwarfed by

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-91165314080770052692010-04-20T14:41:00.002-05:002010-04-20T14:50:01.080-05:00

From the Mayor's staff blog in Portland Oregon:Saturday, Mayor Sam Adams, Hopworks Brew Master Christian Ettinger, city staff and local Google fiber initiative supporters were present to send the gift of five kegs of special organic Portland Gigabit IPA to Parish President Joey Durel of Lafayette, Louisiana -- the first American city to establish a fiber-to-home infrastructure. Layfayette has

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-9011168697676846882010-04-20T11:17:00.003-05:002010-04-20T11:27:12.638-05:00

WBS dept.Broadband Breakfast has a short story up lauding today's launch of Fiber Fête.Lafayette gets good press:The city floated $110 million in municipal bonds in 2005, fought telecommunications companies that cried foul over the move, and proceeded to build the network in addition to a sophisticated 3D imaging center used by Hollywood movie companies to render their animated films into 3D

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-28175524349215648882010-04-19T13:16:00.001-05:002010-04-19T13:18:17.182-05:00

Fiber Fete issued a press release this morning and posted it to their website...exciting stuff!I am jazzed about this event. If you go browse through the agenda you'll see some of the of the most exciting names in their fields nationally and internationally. To name off a few: Jim Baller (US), Benoit Felten (France), Joaquin Alvarado (US), Herman Wagter (Netherlands), Minnie Ingersoll (US), Bas

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-11732789183803318032010-04-18T22:57:00.001-05:002010-04-18T23:06:40.962-05:00

Fiber Fête is going to be streamed live. So if you can't attend in person hie yourself to the nearest computer screen in your favorite screening venue. If you've got a special interest on the agenda it'd be worthwhile to pull together some of your friends with a similar fixation and view it together. Happily, you can even set up a late-night viewing. By the miracle of time-shifting Livestream

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-88459789588003038902010-04-18T07:39:00.003-05:002010-04-18T16:58:50.752-05:00

"Fiber network looks to bolster local economy" appears on the front page of this morning's Advertiser and focuses on the value of big bandwidth and Lafayette's upcoming fiber fête conference. Tom Cox and Golfballs.com are featured as a business which is already using LUS fiber to real advantage and that plans to use the speed even more in the future. Cox, not surprisingly, will be on

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-58117488975137269472010-04-17T23:38:00.000-05:002010-04-17T23:38:55.505-05:00

LPF noted LUS' application to the "Google Fiber for Communities" project several weeks ago as a bit of lagniappe to an article about the city's tech efforts more generally. Both the Independent and the Advocate caught the story late this week, in advance of Fiber Fête. Google's Minnie Ingersoll, a product manager for alternative access and one of the people shepherding the project will be a

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-43357004202636918922010-04-11T18:59:00.001-05:002010-04-11T19:00:36.537-05:00

In this Sunday morning's Advertiser the two "local" editorials both focus on the recently released baseline survey of internet use and attitudes. Three things struck me about the essays...two were similarities and one was a contrast.ContrastsThe contrast lay in how much the two pieces evidenced a familiarity with, and a sympathy for, Lafayette.This has become a familiar topic as the Advertiser's

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-25422350177597335902010-04-07T01:03:00.001-05:002010-04-07T01:09:28.273-05:00

It must be spring...a survey that's been hibernating over the winter has been spotted a couple of time recently and emerged into the full light Tuesday.LUS posted a press release touting the survey of Lafayette's internet habits and attitudes today and the Advertiser has jumped in with the first quick digest. The official report is available on Lafayette Pro Fiber with the survey form and

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-50060234006562586392010-04-06T11:17:00.003-05:002010-04-06T13:17:02.446-05:00

Marsha Sills of the Advocate has an analysis piece up today that coversthe Fiber Kids program at Carencro High’s Academy of Information Technology (AOIT). The lead:Technology has changed the way classrooms look, how educators teach and how students learn. And one group of students, at Carencro High, is shaping the next generation of changes in the classroom, using fiber-optic technology.Fiber

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-69812299025277540722010-04-05T21:33:00.005-05:002010-04-05T22:45:15.011-05:00

Not exactly exciting news but interesting to some of us nonetheless...Both of Lafayette's latest applications for stimulus money are now appearing on the Broadband.gov's database of Louisiana projects. They are listed as "application received."What's new is that you can now get a look at the "executive summary" of both the Lafayette Parish Public Computer Centers and the Lafayette Students

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-11598912654409570182010-04-02T16:51:00.005-05:002010-04-02T17:11:43.886-05:00

An update on today's Advertiser website says that Pixel Magic has committed to hiring a 100 artists to work at its new Lafayette location. They will work at rendering "old" 2-D films into new 3-D formats. That type of boost to the digital arts community plants the sort of seed that every community is looking for these days. It is the potential beginning of a hothouse economy built around the

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-47063142225823174562010-04-01T15:23:00.003-05:002010-04-04T20:26:23.345-05:00

(Please note: this was first published on April 1st. It's also worth noting that a lot of the following is simply true and more is actually planned; what isn't true is credible IMHO...the fun is in figuring out just what the status of each claim is. Might be worth coming back next year.)LUS has revealed its long-term plans!! Sorta. A daylight savings glitch apparently caused a timed press release

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-46584409169919072972010-03-29T13:20:00.003-05:002010-04-06T14:58:39.882-05:00

Sunday's Advertiser carried a story that —as my father might have said—"Does Lafayette proud." I recommend locals and fans give the full story a read. The article hangs its hook on Kit Becnel's Academy of Information Technology (AOIT). A school within a school at Carencro High, AOIT prepares students for careers in the broad field of information technology and is affiliated with the national

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-47484670944494753172010-03-24T01:33:00.002-05:002010-03-24T01:43:18.776-05:00

But if you write a good one you could win $100,000A digital inclusion App that is...The FCC and the Knight Foundation are teaming up to offer an "Apps for Inclusion Challenge" that asks:technology innovators to review government and community services and develop tools that will improve lives by making it easier for citizens to receive these services through mobile and online

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-41862488989275132192010-03-23T21:22:00.002-05:002010-03-23T21:28:15.132-05:00

The response to the National Broadband Plan has been muted nationwide, at least in part because it was released at the climax of the health care debate. The response has been even more muted, if possible in Lafayette...after all, we've got ours Jack...real 3 way competition even if AT&T is an also-ran. (Caveat: Economists say a 3-way is not enough. The fact that we've got a public option will

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-86003288888020722492010-03-16T19:22:00.002-05:002010-03-16T19:32:03.680-05:00

The Independent blog reports that LUS and LCG have submitted a pair of stimulus funding grant applications worth 9.2 million dollars that are directed at reducing Lafayette's digital divide. This has been a central issue in Lafayette for a long time and this is the first attempt to move beyond lower prices for better services as a way to close that divide. (See LPF digital divide coverage—LPF

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-44965494244243709472010-03-16T11:34:00.002-05:002010-03-16T11:36:33.029-05:00

Ok fellas, it's happening....Video is joining text in laying down an accessible version of history's first draft. The NYTimes reports that C-Span is in the process of finishing uploading its entire video record going back to 1987—and all that it has archived going back to 1979.Now before you yawn and switch channels: this is a big deal. Really.You want "transparency" in government? All

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-43161137072657428152010-03-04T22:53:00.001-06:002010-03-04T23:01:16.488-06:00

The Indpendent blog checks in with Terry Huval, director of LUS, and gets a nice chunk of good news for supporters of the system. The system will be complete in "around July," 9 months ahead of schedule. Even more heartening is:LUS Director Terry Huval writes in an e-mail. "Early in the planning of the project in 2004, we estimated that our breakeven for the project would be about 23 percent.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-10247747707771041192010-03-04T22:17:00.001-06:002010-03-04T22:18:14.888-06:00

The Economist, Britian's venerable and well-respected newsmagazine, reports on Bristol Virginia's BVU and its FTTH project. Long-time readers will recall Bristol, Virginia: claims that BVU was a failure were a regular and regularly ugly feature of the fiber fight here (summary). The truth was that Bristol was very successful, the first municipal utility to offer the triple play, and has done

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-73165972435736775732010-03-03T23:22:00.001-06:002010-03-03T23:23:24.067-06:00

The Advertiser runs an article this morning focusing on the City-Parish councilmen's attitudes toward LUS governance. What makes their positions on so technical an issue a story on this fine Wednesday morning is the burgeoning question of deconsolidation.It's good to get this issue on the table early. As far as I can tell the issue of who controls LUS is the nub of the practical (as opposed to

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-79613214127799638142010-02-25T11:25:00.001-06:002010-02-25T11:27:24.527-06:00

Our neighbors in Franklin are being told that it'd be too expensive for Cox or AT&T to serve them all with real broadband. It's not that the incumbents wouldn't earn money...they just wouldn't earn it as easily or as quickly as they want.A story in the Advocate shows that the nub of the matter is well-understood by Franklin's Councilmen:“I think everyone should have it and you all should bend a

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-53333124679466809322010-02-19T12:08:00.002-06:002010-02-19T12:14:32.092-06:00

LUS received permission from the City-Parish Council to apply for "BTOP" stimulus funding in a special meeting held after Wednesday's Council session. You can take a gander at the meeting minutes or view it on at UStream online (@ 1:54)The Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) is part of the ongoing federal recovery stimulus funding. BTOP provides grants to fund

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-49045951975954790442010-02-14T17:53:00.001-06:002010-02-14T17:55:28.851-06:00

If you follow Lafayette's LUS Fiber but don't get the Baton Rouge Advocate you'll want to check out Richard Burgess' latest story, "LUS: Fiber on right track." The heart of the story is found in the first paragraph:Lafayette’s publicly owned fiber-optic based Internet, television and telephone service appears to be moving toward sound financial footing a year after its launch.and the kicker:

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577901049540355311noreply@blogger.com0