Freeing Municipal Broadband
Posted on April 7, 2015 by Rob Brading
Tags, Telecommunications
This article originally appeared on the MetroEast Community Media blog, and is reposted here with the author’s permission. Rob Brading is the CEO of MetroEast and a member of the CUB Board of Governors.
As you probably know by now — how could you avoid it? — the FCC acted yesterday to preserve net neutrality. Even if you’re sick of hearing about the FCC and net neutrality, it’s not going away any time soon but I wanted to draw attention to another action the FCC took yesterday that could have far-reaching consequences.
In addition to net neutrality, the FCC took action to overturn state laws that prevent municipal broadband systems from expanding outside their jurisdictions. The same court ruling that provided the basis for the FCC’s net neutrality decision also gave it the authority to preempt these laws.
For over a decade, Internet service providers (ISPs) such as Comcast, Time Warner and AT&T have pursued state legislation to prevent local governments from building their own systems. Nineteen states have laws promoted by ISPs that were designed to protect them from public-sector competition.
It’s ironic that the ruling of a FCC led by Michael Powell, a deeply free-market-oriented chair, played a major role in getting us to this point. In 2003 the Commission, relying on faulty data and a general lack of good sense, radically deregulated the cable industry, apparently believing that somehow competition would overcome the enormous obstacles in the way of a genuine competitive market.
Powell excepted, most folks aren’t surprised that deregulation didn’t release a torrent of competition. In fact, despite current Commissioner Ajit Pai’s belief that there’s a “very competitive marketplace” for broadband, deregulation created an industry dominated by near-monopolies. I don’t know what world Pai’s living in but it sure as heck isn’t Multnomah County, much less Burns or LaPine.
Communities like Nashville (Tenn.), Cedar Rapids (Iowa), Wilson (N. C.) and others saw that the private sector wasn’t going to provide the services they needed for economic success in a broadband world. Monopolistic ISPs preferred limiting or eliminating rivals instead of competing. We can hope that yesterday’s ruling is one step towards a genuinely competitive broadband world.
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04/28/17 | 0 Comments | Freeing Municipal Broadband