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This is a Berkman Klein alum page. The information below may be out of date.

David Talbot joined the Berkman Klein Center as a fellow in early 2015 to lead a project researching municipal fiber networks, and later served a broader role producing editorial projects for the Center.  He is now a senior researcher and analyst at CTC Technology & Energy, which serves public sector and nonprofit clients on a variety of communications and engineering projects in the public interest. A journalist for most of his career, David spent nine years as chief correspondent at MIT Technology Review, where he frequently covered Internet policy and communications technology topics. David was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT during the 1999-2000 academic year.

His Berkman Klein Center research outputs can be found here and here.  

His works of journalism include:

The Unacceptable Persistence of the Digital Divide

Facebook's Internet.org Hits Global Flak

Engineers Plan a Fully Encrypted Internet

When Will the Rest of Us Get Google Fiber?

How Remote Places Can Get Internet Coverage by Doing it Themselves

The Great German Energy Experiment

Kenya’s Mobile Startup Boom

Moore’s Outlaws

How Obama Really Did It 

Una Laptop por Nino

Dissent Made Safer

The Fading Memory of the State

The Internet is Broken

China's Internet Paradox

Projects & Tools

Municipal Fiber Initiative

Fiber optic networks are essential infrastructure for businesses, schools, government offices, and homes. But should your town, city, or municipal electric utility directly build…


Publications

Publication
Jan 10, 2018

Community-Owned Fiber Networks: Value Leaders in America

Pricing Review Shows They Provide Least-Expensive Local "Broadband"

Our examination of advertised prices shows that community-owned fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networks in the United States generally charge less for entry-level broadband service than…

Publication
Oct 5, 2017

Enabling Competition & Innovation on a City Fiber Network

The municipally owned fiber-optic network of Ammon, Idaho provides one model for U.S. public entities and policymakers seeking to increase service competition and innovation.

Publication
Feb 6, 2017

Smart Grid Paybacks: The Chattanooga Example

After building a fiber optic network throughout its service territory, the city-owned electric utility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2010 became the first U.S. company to offer…

Publication
Apr 20, 2016

WiredWest: a Cooperative of Municipalities Forms to Build a Fiber Optic Network

Western Massachusetts Towns Create a New Model for Last-Mile Connectivity, but a State Agency Delays Approval and Funding

A new case study from the Berkman Center's Municipal Fiber Initiative profiles a group of Western Massachusetts towns who have created a new model for last-mile connectivity.

Publication
Apr 14, 2016

Maximizing K-12 Fiber Connectivity Through E-Rate: An Overview

An evaluation of self-construction, dark fiber, and lit fiber options for school districts following recent enhancements to E-rate

This new toolkit provides school system leaders the guidance to understand and leverage the federal E-rate program, which provides up to $3.9 billion annually to subsidize the…

Publication
Jul 8, 2015

Holyoke: A Massachusetts Municipal Light Plant Seizes Internet Access Business Opportunities

Holyoke Gas & Electric’s telecom division provides high-speed Internet access to local businesses and public agencies, bringing in revenue and profits while aiding in local…


News

News
Oct 19, 2017

How Facebook Tries to Regulate Postings Made by Two Billion People

Berkman Klein Center hosts a day of conversation about reducing harmful speech online and hears from the Facebook executive in charge of platform moderation policies

The Berkman Klein Center community explores broader research questions and topics related to the challenges of keeping tabs on the daily social media interactions of hundreds of…