tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:16:45 +0000Our 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>.http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/Blog.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (FiberFolk)Blogger1731125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-4316113707265742815Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:53:00 +00002010-03-04T23:01:16.488-06:00LafayetteConstructionLocalLUSThe 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. http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/03/huval-lus-fiber-well-above-target.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-1024774770777104119Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:17:00 +00002010-03-04T22:18:14.888-06:00LafayetteInternationalFiber fightBristolThe 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 http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/03/cabling-america-fibre-in-paradise.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-7316597243573677573Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:22:00 +00002010-03-03T23:23:24.067-06:00LafayetteLocalAdvertiserThe 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 http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/03/lus-and-deconsolidation.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-7961321412779963814Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:25:00 +00002010-02-25T11:27:24.527-06:00LouisianaLafayetteCoxLUSBS/ATTAdvocateOur 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 http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/02/cox-costs-too-high-for-high-speed.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-5333312467946680932Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:08:00 +00002010-02-19T12:14:32.092-06:00Lafayettedigital divideLocalLUSLUS 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 http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/02/luslafayette-to-apply-for-more-stimulus.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-4904595197595479044Sun, 14 Feb 2010 23:53:00 +00002010-02-14T17:55:28.851-06:00LafayetteConstructionLUSAdvocateIf 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:http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/02/lus-fiber-on-right-track.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-2393165755897466090Sat, 13 Feb 2010 21:05:00 +00002010-02-13T15:19:26.984-06:00LouisianaLafayetteDreamsNationalEATELThey're beating the drum in Baton Rouge on Google's FTTH (fiber to the home) project. A facebook page, "Bring Google Fiber to Baton Rouge," was launched almost immediately and quickly became the leading Facebook page devoted to the topic. The page reports meetings within the city leadership. Baton Rouge is enthused.Lafayette's cadre of pro-fiber partisans are urged to support Baton Rouge's http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/02/regional-fiber-ultrabroadband-network.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-6755863374038432858Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:54:00 +00002010-02-12T16:00:52.378-06:00LafayetteLocalLUSIf you've got kids (or 6 grandkids) in school these days the following will catch your eye:Wi-Fi access has transformed what was often a boisterous bus ride into a rolling study hall, and behavioral problems have virtually disappeared.The story is from the New York Times and it details the tale of a school district in Arizona turned long bus rides into a productive "study hall." The problem withhttp://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/02/wi-fi-buses-and-student-productivity.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-4392662749771540552Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:51:00 +00002010-02-12T00:06:37.865-06:00LafayetteNationalLawsuits According to Marguerite Reardon, a veteran reporter on these matters now working for CNET, Google has retained Jim Baller. For reasons those of us in Lafayette can easily understand Google feels the need to hire seasoned council to defend itself against the incumbent legal onslaught that is sure to come as soon as they begin to consider actual locales. Baller was the national-level lawyer that http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/02/google-hires-baller-for-i-gig-job.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-2933739157316913032Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:45:00 +00002010-02-11T13:03:28.480-06:00LouisianaLafayetteNationalLocalLUSGoogle plans to build at least one 1 gig FTTH community network somewhere in the United States. WOW. (Respectful pause while we collectively gather our wits.)This stunning announcement is, in part, Google putting its money where its mouth is. Google has been a strong advocate of the FCC's upcoming national broadband plan showing some imagination and has been a strong advocate of fiber to the homehttp://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/02/google-to-fund-1-gig-ftth.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-8130376640888134963Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:44:00 +00002010-02-09T11:21:18.702-06:00Greater Lafayette Chamber of CommerceRichard FloridaToleranceasynchronous LafayetteLUSFiberFêteIt appears that the officially sanctioned celebration of the LUS Fiber Network and a coming out party for the project on the national level will take place in Lafayette in April FiberFête, as the event is being called, was announced via the Baller Herbst email list on February 2. The Baller Herbst firm is a consultant for the LUS Fiber system going back to the early days when BellSouth (now AThttp://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/02/fiber-fete-and-florida.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Mike Stagg)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-8942308770962286200Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:03:00 +00002010-02-08T02:10:03.180-06:00Lafayettedigital divideNADLocalAdvertiserLUSAdvocateWho DAT! You Dat! :-)If you're recovering from Saints fever I have just the antidote. A long post on the latest in Lafayette's fiber fortunes. If you're starting to think that maybe anything is possible, well, read on.Amanda McElfresh over at the Advertiser has an article up that apparently derives from following up remarks made by Joey Durel in his state of the city-parish address. In that http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/02/lus-fiber-rollout-is-ahead-of-schedule.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-2543752195141585311Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:28:00 +00002010-02-03T14:20:59.855-06:00IndependentLafayetteLocalAdvertiserLUSWiFiAdvocateWell, LUS won its rate increase...about 15% over two years, the first rise in electricity costs since 1998. If you want to see the sausage being made you can tune in to AOC or download the video off UStream.The central story tomorrow will be that increase, of course. And that is probably all you'll see in the papers. I'll leave any detailed reporting on the back and forth to them.On the other http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/02/lus-wins-rate-increase-smart-grid.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-4359098936753745351Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:55:00 +00002010-02-02T11:12:18.438-06:00LafayetteLocalLUSOk, just can't resist the Saints madness of the moment here in South Louisiana — I saw a tie-in to our local network pop up on the SaintsReport Forum. A Lafayette Saints partisan says that they're switching to LUS, links to the LUS Fiber pages on internet and TV and asks if any fellow fans are going to switch. The ensuing banter is informative and refreshingly free from the trolls that infest thehttp://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/02/lus-fiber-saintsreport-community-forums.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-3372031672274017779Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:36:00 +00002010-01-28T13:37:19.510-06:00LouisianaAdvocateEarly this morning I posted the good news that a small rural carrier in northeast Louisiana was building out a fiber to the home network for its customers using stimulus money. What made it news was that a poor rural area was getting advanced connections.Today the Advocate carries the bad news story that rural residents in St. Mary parish are complaining that they can't get a decent internet http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/01/bad-st-mary-council-demands-internet.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-7865165244934592186Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:35:00 +00002010-01-28T13:08:18.495-06:00LouisianaHey, it's true...Northeast Louisiana Telephone Company up in Morehouse Parish is going to rebuild its aging copper network and roll out FTTH in rural parts of the parish. It serves customers in Collinston, Bonita, and Jones. They are up in the NE corner of the state outside Bastrop.Read all about it in the Monroe News Star. The heart of the story:The Collinston-based company will replace its http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/01/fiber-to-homein-morehouse-parish.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-7890609253204512813Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:01:00 +00002010-01-20T23:02:08.860-06:00Lafayettedigital divideLocalEducationAdvocateIf you missed the story Je’Nelle Chargois and her computer rebuilding project then you need to take a look at the story in the Advocate. The project exemplifies all those grassroots, community-driven public/private ideals you hear about so often—and so seldom see in full-blown action. Here's the gist of the story; one that will hopefully drive you to read the whole thing—and maybe even http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/01/acadiana-program-aiming-at-tech-gap.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-1336775918904365952Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:42:00 +00002010-01-15T12:02:36.348-06:00LafayetteLocalLUSWhat's Being Said departmentLUS Fiber is serving as an example of a real community fiber network in places like Champaign-Urbana Illinois that want to start their own fiber network. Now I admit to having a soft spot for C-U for both personal and technical reasons—it was my first "real" professorial appointment and it was the original home of ideas foundational to our current tech surround— like http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/01/wbs-lus-fiber-already-running-network.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-4877017129557517506Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:06:00 +00002010-01-13T00:19:45.447-06:00IndependentLafayetteRatesAdvertiserLUSThat title might better be: "Dore commits to LUS rate hike."According to the Independent blog Sam Dore is now a committed supporter of the LUS rate hike and will both vote for it himself and work for its passage. Dore explains it as less a shift in position than a matter of timing but that commitment changes the odds on the measure's passage.In a LPUA meeting late last year Dore was sided with http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/01/dore-clarifies-position-on-lus-rate.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-8622121796562066001Fri, 08 Jan 2010 06:34:00 +00002010-01-08T00:35:41.849-06:00IndependentLocalAdvertiserLUSbroadband stimulusLUS will be going back to the City-Parish Council for another go at a rate hike on January 19th. Or so report the Independent, (not once but twice), the Advertiser and KLFY.Of the early reports the most interesting has come from the Independent's Walter Pierce who starts looking into the background politics of the matter. His speculations focus on shifts toward rate hike support from Purvis http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/01/lus-rate-hike-returns.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-3361485048394390882Fri, 08 Jan 2010 05:04:00 +00002010-01-07T23:04:14.491-06:00LouisianaLafayetteNationalOppositionLocalLUSLawsuitsChristopher Mitchell, the best researcher/commentator on municipal fiber in this country bar none (IMHO) has an outstanding essay up on Ars Technica today that you ought to read.http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/01/municipal-fiber-needs-more-fdr-localism-fewer-state-bans.arsIt holds Lafayette up as the premier example of a city that has done the right thing by its citizens. I have to http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2010/01/municipal-fiber-needs-more-fdr-localism.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-9219430554478584021Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:13:00 +00002009-12-20T11:13:21.382-06:00LouisianaLafayetteFiber fightLUSPat Ottinger is the happy new subscriber in this photo. It came with the following note:Is this a great country, or what?Can't wait to deliver my boxes to Cox.Merry Christmas, PatPat is the city's attorney and was our local lawyer in the many delaying lawsuits brought by the incumbents and their allies. (Like the one we won with a unanimous decision of the state supreme court.) He has earned his http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2009/12/getting-his-fiber.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-4409795371005191208Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:16:00 +00002009-12-18T19:14:02.753-06:00videoLouisianaCoxRatesLocalLUSCompetitionFrom the Independent blog:"If you’re paying $39.95 a month for LUS’ 83-channel expanded basic cable service, breathe a sigh of relief. You’ll watch the undefeated Saints take on the Dallas Cowboys (8-5) on Channel 38 Saturday night at 7:20 p.m. But if you’re one of Cox Communications’ approximately 100,000 Acadiana customers who subscribes to expanded basic, 72 channels for $52.99 per month, it’shttp://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2009/12/lus-sacks-cox-with-saints-vs-cowboys.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-4397518820023574298Tue, 15 Dec 2009 07:26:00 +00002009-12-15T01:31:49.930-06:00NationalLocalWiFiI continue to hear stuff like "Broadband is not a utility" and "broadband is a luxury" all of which is supposed to lead to the conclusion that we should all stand back and let the the incumbent duopoly do whatever they want. That has always seemed like a stunningly short-sighted and unimaginative position to me. Happily Glenn Fleishman over at Publicola in Seattle (where their new mayor is http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2009/12/on-broadband-is-not-utility.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7874259.post-86938790862306503Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:51:00 +00002009-12-04T00:59:07.559-06:00The Free Utopia blog out of Utah posts a note that rings familiarly in the ears of Lafayette's citizens. That complaint concerns a flyer mailed to the residents of Brigham City by their local astroturf/disinformation group, the Utah Taxpayers Association. It goes out at the last minute in advance of a city-council vote that seems destined to approve a way to allow any citizen in the city who http://lafayetteprofiber.com/Blog/2009/12/fudits-same-all-over.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (John)0