One more vote, and you’re mine.
Waving the magic federal wand and erasing state restrictions on muni broadband seems like a wonderful idea, until the wand waves the other way and muni broadband disappears. That’s why last week’s federal appeals court decision overturning the FCC’s preemption of Tennessee and North Carolina laws limiting muni broadband systems was welcome news.
The current Federal Communications Commission majority tried to preempt the state restrictions during a burst of presidential community broadband populism a year and a half ago. But majorities and popular enthusiasm shift with the political winds. It’s not hard to imagine another president and a different majority lining up with current FCC commissioner Michael O’Rielly, who wrapped up his endorsement of the court’s decision by saying…
Contrary to some beliefs, municipal networks are not panaceas to solving any lack of ubiquitous broadband, but instead unfairly distort the marketplace.
It’s no great intellectual leap to reckon a distorted marketplace to be the kind of barrier to infrastructure investment that the FCC is obligated to remove, under the interpretation of federal telecoms law that the appeals court judges rejected last week. Fortunately rejected.
Most states allow cities to operate muni broadband systems with few or no restrictions. Even Tennessee and North Carolina allow it – the beef was about cities offering broadband service beyond their borders.
The restrictions that do exist should go, but the right way to eliminate them is to take the muni broadband battle to state capitols. Telephone and cable company lobbyists are as thick on the ground in Sacramento and Nashville as they are in Washington D.C., but it’s harder for them to hide, and harder for legislators to ignore constituents. Not impossible, but difficult enough to make the fight for community broadband winnable more often than not.
In the long run, last week’s verdict will be a victory.