I was pleased to be selected to speak at the FTTH Council conference in Tampa.   My topic was “Mobilizing Community Collaboration to Spur Demand.”  There was a good crowd of providers and community people.  I was able to talk about some of my work with the Blandin Foundation, such as Intelligent Community, MIRC, BBC and the efforts that Minnesota communities are making to increase their vitality.

I am now listening to Jim Baller and representatives from Danville VA and College Station TX. Sounds like an Intelligent Community presentation – Broadband, Innovation, Knowledge Workers and Marketing.  Nothing on Digital Inclusion …yet!  Broadband is the essential infrastructure especially for multinational entities.

Danville is an open access fiber network.  The city provides service to the public sector; private sector providers serve business customers.

College Station is more focused on using the private sector to make through significant public incentives – Tax Increment Financing, regulatory speeding and cost-reduction.