Help us help you: Bringing Broadband to the Sierra
As a student at UC Berkeley who suddenly found myself learning through my laptop, I know first hand how essential broadband access has become to our daily lives. Unfortunately, many of my peers struggled to access stable internet—costing them time, money, and their education. Although this problem isn’t unique, it is highly disruptive to many people’s lives. In sparsely populated communities throughout the Sierra, internet service providers (ISPs) often find it too costly to bring their service to the “last mile.”
Rural Broadband Access, or Lack Thereof: How Did We Get Here?
Rural Broadband Access, or Lack Thereof: How Did We Get Here? A great number of residents of the Sierra Nevada, like so many rural Americans, remain without adequate, reasonably priced connections to the Internet. Given the dominance of this technology in our economy and culture, and the seeming ease with which others can get connected, […]
The Net Neutrality Fight in Sacramento: Six FAQs
As the fight between California and the FCC heats up, more people are trying to wrap their heads around this complex issue. As the recent CivicSpark AmeriCorps addition to SBC’s Gold Country Broadband Consortium, I felt it my duty to dig in. Below I’ve listed a few common questions that seem to keep popping up and will do my best to give straight answers.
Net Neutrality Rollback: Will ‘The Man’ Control Your Internet Content and Costs?
Deregulation is running rampant in today’s administration. Net Neutrality, one of the safeguards of how content is delivered on the Internet, is being threatened and could potentially be rolled back on Thursday Dec. 24th. Net Neutrality was put in place by the Obama administration in 2015 to protect Internet openness.
Who’s Spinning the World Wide Web? A Look at Broadband Connectivity
I’ve always been curious about technology and how it works. Since embarking on my new position at Sierra Business Council managing the Gold Country Broadband Consortium, my curiosity around how we are connected to the World Wide Web has grown.
Rural Broadband: The New Silk Road
I’ll admit it, broadband is probably not a fascinating topic for most people. I’m willing to bet the only time people think about broadband is when they have a poor internet connection, and then they likely curse it.
Building Better Broadband: We Just Need Your Speed!
SBC is working to improve broadband infrastructure in the Sierra Nevada (something we’re extemely excited about!), but before we get into the nitty gritty, let’s back up a moment. What is broadband, anyway? The textbook answer is this: broadband is telecommunication in which a wide band of frequencies is available to transmit information.
Bright Fiber: High Speed Internet in the Mountains
SBC recently accompanied a team of community leaders from Nevada County on a visit to the California Public Utilities Commission in San Francisco to discuss an exciting local broadband project.
Bridging the Digital Divide
Can’t get on-line? Slow connection? Help is on the way!