July 11, 2017

Podcast: Community Cafe:
A ‘Net Neutrality’ chat with Kitsap PUD’s community broadband manager

<i>Podcast: Community Cafe:</i> <br>A ‘Net Neutrality’ chat with Kitsap PUD’s community broadband manager

 

Many of us internet users and small independent web publishers believe that ‘net neutrality’ is a policy that helps to make the internet valuable as a democratic and level playing field of information for one and all.

Map from the Kitsap Public Utility District website showing their high-speed fiber broadband backbone for internet access

In a week when internet users across the country are taking action on July 12th to show that our current national policy of net neutrality continues to be desirable, BCB reached out to the manager who oversees Kitsap Public Utility District’s public broadband activities to get his take.

In this podcast, we meet Paul Avis, who is the superintendent of the KPUD department that has constructed and maintains our public high speed fiber optic internet backbone on Bainbridge Island and in other parts of our county. That backbone construction started over 15 years ago. KPUD makes their wholesale broadband services available to governmental, commercial and residential users through a variety of independent internet service provider (ISP) retailers.

KPUD built and maintains the free community wifi service in downtown Winslow and other town centers in Kitsap

In this podcast, Paul describes KPUD’s approach to offering high-speed broadband connectivity on a nonprofit basis to the community (including a fiber optic network branch to our new building at BARN). And he answers questions about net neutrality from BCB’s volunteer host.

BCB asked these questions this month to coincide with the national Net Neutrality Day of Action on Wednesday July 12th. On that day, internet users and web communicators as small as local bloggers, popular YouTube video makers, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation — and as large as Netflix, Amazon, Google and Facebook — are urging our national government to preserve the FCC’s existing policy of net neutrality rather than succumb to calls from big telecom and cable companies to de-regulate them.

In this podcast, BCB asks the question whether reversing ‘net neutrality’ would be good for those of us who browse the internet or offer small websites with independent media like BCB’s.

For more information about net neutrality, visit this website for the Net Neutrality Day of Action.

For more information about KPUD’s local public broadband backbone and their willingness to serve more neighborhoods and business parks in our Kitsap communities, visit KPUD’s webpage about their local communications network and broadband services.

Credits: BCB host, audio editor and social media publisher: Barry Peters.