Community Broadband Act would overturn bans on municipal broadband

["Dave Farber" <dave () farber net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Robert J. Berger [mailto:rberger () ibd com] 
Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2007 5:13 PM
To: David Farber; Dewayne Hendricks
Subject: Community Broadband Act would overturn bans on municipal broadband

Community Broadband Act would overturn bans on municipal broadband
By Eric Bangeman | Published: August 03, 2007 - 10:59AM CT

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070803-community-broadband-act- 
would-overturn-bans-on-municipal-broadband.html

A bill introduced into the House of Representatives this week will  
attempt to spur broadband development in the US by overturning  
existing state bans on municipal broadband deployments. Titled the  
Community Broadband Act of 2007, the bill (PDF) is cosponsored by  
Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI).


Currently, laws in Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Texas, and a handful  
of other states prevent cities and towns from installing and  
operating their own broadband networks. Most of those laws were  
enacted in the wake of heavy lobbying from the telecommunications  
industry, which doesn't want to see competition coming from local  
governments.

Last year's attempted rewrite of the Telecommunications Act contained  
a similar provision but never made it to the floor of the Senate for  
a vote. With the state of broadband in the US a hot topic of  
discussion lately, both on Capitol Hill and around the country, Reps.  
Boucher and Upton may be able to find allies in Congress a bit more  
easily this time around. The congressmen are hopeful that, should it  
be passed, the Act would lead to more-and better-broadband options  
for US citizens.

"By partnering with private industry, community broadband networks  
offer the promise of increased economic development and job creation,  
nowhere is that more important than in my home state of Michigan,"  
said Rep. Upton in a statement.  "At the end of the day, we will  
foster even more competition and choices for consumers across the  
nation."

Many of the state bans that would be overturned by the Community  
Broadband Act were strongly backed by the telecoms, and they have a  
history of digging their heels in whenever cities and towns start  
taking about solving their broadband woes themselves. That said, AT&T  
is reacting cautiously to the bill. "We look forward to reading the  
bill and we commend Reps. Boucher and Upton for their efforts to  
promote broadband services for all consumers," AT&T spokesperson Brad  
Mays told Ars Technica. "AT&T is currently involved in several  
municipal broadband projects, and we are always looking for  
opportunities to bring the benefits of broadband to consumers."

One example of the telecoms' resistance to municipal broadband came  
last summer from Qwest, the number three telecom in the US. So far,  
the company has shown little to no inclination to match Verizon and  
AT&T's fiber deployments. But when Seattle-which is smack-dab in  
Qwest territory-started getting serious about building its own fiber  
network, the telecom resisted-despite CEO Dick Notabaert's admitting  
that his company had no plans of its own for a fiber deployment. The  
story has been the same in other places, including Philadelphia and  
New Orleans.

The telecoms have historically argued that municipalities that own  
and operate-or even build and lease-broadband networks could give  
themselves preferential treatment. The Act anticipates that argument  
with a section on "competition neutrality." Public providers would be  
banned from giving themselves any "regulatory preference," which  
should create a level playing field for all broadband providers.  
Municipalities interested in getting into the broadband business  
would also have to solicit feedback from the private sector on  
planned deployments.

The Community Broadband Act looks like a good bill, as it attempts to  
eliminate barriers that currently exist to meaningful competition and  
better service in many parts of the country. Should the bill pass and  
the upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction end in a way that leads to a  
viable third broadband pipe, there would be reason to think US  
broadband policy is taking a turn for the better.


------------------------------
Robert J. Berger - Internet Bandwidth Development, LLC.
Voice: 408-882-4755 eFax: +1-408-490-2868
http://www.ibd.com




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