Municipal Broadband Bill Teed Up In Missouri
*Legislation Would Undermine Muny Broadband Efforts, Advocates Say****
**
**1/12/2015 5:00 PM Eastern**
**
**John Eggerton**
**Multichannel News*
http://www.multichannel.com/news/national-regulation/municipal-broadband-bill-teed-missouri/386857
A bill has been introduced in the Missouri state legislature that would
prevent cities and communities from overbuilding existing broadband
providers, according to the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC),
which advocates for municipal broadband.
The bill (linked here
<http://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills151/billpdf/intro/HB0437I.PDF>)
would invalidate any local laws that allowed for the provision of
competitive service unless that service met a number of criteria,
including that there was no competitive privately-offered service and
that the laws allowing for municipal broadband were adopted after
citizens voted on them in a ballot initiative and only after a study of
the financial implications of the network was made public at least 90
days before that vote.
Some cable operators have backed state preemption, arguing that cities
are overbuilding existing service and that some of those overbuilds
fail, leaving taxpayers holding the bag.
CLIC was not happy. "The state of Missouri is the latest legislature to
attempt to erect barriers to the deployment of broadband networks that
are critical to the future of its local economies and the nation," the
group said in a statement. "High-bandwidth communications networks are
the electricity of the 21st century and no community should be stymied
or hampered in its efforts to deploy new future-proof communications
infrastructure for its citizens - either by itself or with willing
private partners."
The statement came the same day that it was reported President Obama
would be in Cedar Falls, Iowa, this week -- Cedar Falls has a 1 gigabit
broadband network provided by Cedar Falls Utilities -- to promote
high-speed broadband build-outs.
The FCC is currently considering petitions
<http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/washington/cities-ask-fcc-preempt-state-broadband-laws/132691>
by Chattanooga, Tenn., and Wilson, N.C., to preempt laws in their states
that similarly limit municipal broadband buildouts.
FCC chairman Tom Wheeler has suggested the agency should use its
pre-emption powers to pre-empt state laws he attributes to private
Internet service providers' attempts to prevent competition.
ISPs argue that what they are trying to prevent is government-subsidized
services given a competitive advantage.
--
=================================================
George Antunes Voice (713) 743-3923
Associate Professor Fax (713) 743-3927
Political Science Mail: antunes at uh dot edu
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-3011
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