Muni Fiber in Idaho Helps 911 Dispatch and First Responders Community Broadband Bits Episode 173

Published: Oct. 20, 2015, 2:22 p.m.

b'Ammon, Idaho, continues to quietly build a future-looking open access fiber network. Though the City won\'t be providing services directly to subscribers, the network it is building and the model it has created could revolutionize public safety. \\n\\nI just spent several days with them shooting our next video on community fiber networks (look for that in January). In episode 173 of our Community Broadband [no-glossary]Bits[/no-glossary] podcast, we talk with City Technology Director Bruce Patterson and Systems Network Administrator Ty Ashcraft. \\n\\nBruce explains how they plan to finance the network as it moves from the current residential pilot phase to being available broadly to any residents that want to connect, likely using a local improvement district model. Then Ty tells us about the portal that subscribers will be able to use to instantaneously pick and change service providers offering various services.\\n\\nAdditionally, we talk about the public safety implications of their technological and collaborative approach, specifically around the horrifying prospect of an armed shooter in a public space like a school or mall. \\n\\nRead the transcript from this episode here.\\n\\nWe spoke with Bruce about Ammon\'s plans previously in episode 86. Read all our coverage of Ammon here.\\n\\nWe want your feedback and suggestions for the show - please e-mail us or leave a comment below. \\n\\nThis show is 25 minutes long and can be played below on this page or via iTunes or via the tool of your choice using this feed. \\n\\nListen to other episodes here or view all episodes in our index. You can can download this Mp3 file directly from here.\\n\\nThanks to bkfm-b-side for the music, licensed using Creative Commons. The song is "Raise Your Hands."'