3-5-2014
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/03/04/2955077/fcc-questions-state-laws-that.html
FCC questions state laws that block cities from building their own broadband network
Frustrated with the sluggish speed and high cost of their Internet service providers, the residents of Wilson, N.C., decided a few years ago to take matters into their own hands – they would simply build their own connection.
The city council unanimously voted in 2006 to create a fiber-to-home network that today provides affordable high-speed Internet to homes and businesses, connects schools, and even supplies downtown Wilson with free Wi-Fi.
Incumbent companies Time Warner Cable and CenturyLink were forced to lower their prices and upgrade their service to remain competitive.
Four other communities in the state also launched municipal broadband.
Such enterprises irked big-time providers enough that, after years of lobbying and a million dollars in campaign cash, North Carolina in 2011 passed a cable industry-backed law that makes it nearly impossible for any other municipality to do the same.
Two weeks ago, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it intends to take a close look at overruling such state laws, which restrict the ability of cities and towns to build their own broadband networks in 20 states across the country.
State laws resulting from Internet service provider-sponsored bills vary in severity across the country.
“These restrictions are the result of intensive lobbying by incumbent Internet companies who don’t want to see any kind of competition,” said Matt Wood, policy director for the consumer group Free Press. “They have whole armies of people representing their interests.”
The FCC’s examination of anti-municipal broadband laws is not likely to loosen the ISP giants’ grip on the market, but consumer advocates say the goal is to return control to cities and towns to make their own decisions.
“When the state is deciding on behalf of the city, you have to wonder about the true public interest here,” Wood said. “The real story is that communities are having this choice taken away from them.”
The FCC says it hopes to consider a formal set of new rules by late spring or early summer.
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/03/04/2955077/fcc-questions-state-laws-that.html
FCC questions state laws that block cities from building their own broadband network
The city council unanimously voted in 2006 to create a fiber-to-home network that today provides affordable high-speed Internet to homes and businesses, connects schools, and even supplies downtown Wilson with free Wi-Fi.
Incumbent companies Time Warner Cable and CenturyLink were forced to lower their prices and upgrade their service to remain competitive.
Four other communities in the state also launched municipal broadband.
Such enterprises irked big-time providers enough that, after years of lobbying and a million dollars in campaign cash, North Carolina in 2011 passed a cable industry-backed law that makes it nearly impossible for any other municipality to do the same.
Two weeks ago, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it intends to take a close look at overruling such state laws, which restrict the ability of cities and towns to build their own broadband networks in 20 states across the country.
State laws resulting from Internet service provider-sponsored bills vary in severity across the country.
Pennsylvania does not allow municipalities to sell broadband services at all if a “local telephone company” already provides it, no matter how high the price or how poor the service.
“These restrictions are the result of intensive lobbying by incumbent Internet companies who don’t want to see any kind of competition,” said Matt Wood, policy director for the consumer group Free Press. “They have whole armies of people representing their interests.”
The focus on possible ISP alternatives killed a Kansas bill last month that would have made it the 21st state with municipal Internet restrictions.
The Kansas bill could have hampered Google Fiber’s expansion in the region the same way North Carolina’s 2011 law stops Wilson from connecting surrounding towns east of the Raleigh-Durham area to its fiber network.
The FCC’s examination of anti-municipal broadband laws is not likely to loosen the ISP giants’ grip on the market, but consumer advocates say the goal is to return control to cities and towns to make their own decisions.
“When the state is deciding on behalf of the city, you have to wonder about the true public interest here,” Wood said. “The real story is that communities are having this choice taken away from them.”
The FCC says it hopes to consider a formal set of new rules by late spring or early summer.
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