Asheville lost a community broadband leader Tuesday when Wally Bowen succumbed to Lou Gehrig’s disease. Wally was the founder and Executive Director of the Mountain Area Information Network (MAIN). Wally founded MAIN in 1996 and worked for many years to grow our Internet opportunities in the mountains of WNC. Moreover, Wally worked nationally to keep the Internet open and accessible. Asheville has lost a community leader.
EPB Turns Up the Speed to 10 Gigs
“Chattanooga’s EPB Fiber Optics now offers 10 gigabit Internet service to all households and businesses in its service area. The ultra-fast service is available for $299 per month with free installation, no contracts, and no cancellation fees, announced community leaders at a press conference on October 15th.”
http://www.cnet.com/news/how-blazing-internet-speeds-helped-chattanooga-shed-its-smokestack-past/
How does gigabit Internet drive innovation?
“While ‘the Gig’ is often credited with Chattanooga’s most recent renaissance, there are a number of other factors that help make Chattanooga an attractive hub for tech entrepreneurs. The city boasts investors, such as Lamp Post, which are willing to bet on early-stage startups. There is also the nonprofit, The Company Lab, or CoLab for short, which in 2012 launched “GigTank,” an annual 14-week summer entrepreneur program focused on making the best uses of the gigabit broadband. And there is the INCubator program sponsored by the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce and the Hamilton County Business Development Center, which offers office space, advice and mentoring opportunities for startups.”
Google Fiber causes disruption (in Charlotte)
To anyone who deals with implementing infrastructure (be it roads, power, phones, or fiber optic cable), it is understood that the process is sometimes frustrating for those impacted during construction. Apparently, Charlotte is no different. The good news is that Google Fiber is coming to them, and further good news is that “More times than not, the process seems to go off without a hitch.”
The ERC is pleased to announce that Tanya Riddle has been promoted to Operations Manager. Tanya is a long-term employee, having spent 9 and a half years performing different roles for the ERC. Over the past few years, she has been managing much of the daily operations. Please join all of us in congratulating Tanya on this promotion.