FCC Chair Tom Wheeler recently stated that he wants to remove the current blockades to municipal broadband, but considering the bottlenecked, red-tape logjam that is the federal government, that could take some time, especially with the amount of money the cable industry pumps into Congress every election cycle. And tomorrow, Wheeler will apparently tell Congress that the private sector is doing a much better job than the feds at bringing about broadband expansion. [More]
municipal broadband
Will FCC Overturn State Laws Blocking Municipal Broadband?
By 5.1.14
Because heaven forbid someone other than cable and phone companies offer quality Internet access, some 20 states have laws that either ban or heavily restrict municipal broadband, and recent attempts to ban muni broadband in Kansas, and Georgia have only failed following public outcry. Yesterday, FCC Chair Tom Wheeler gave some hope that his agency would stop new bans from being put in place, but didn’t mention the fate of the existing laws. [More]
Proposed Kansas Bill Banning Municipal Fiber Expansion Has Met Its Doom
By 2.21.14
A proposed law in Kansas that would have prevented the expansion of publicly-owned fiber broadband networks in the state is very thoroughly dead, according to one of the bill’s biggest opponents. [More]
Cable Lobby Continues To Work Hard To Make Sure You’re Stuck With Their Crappy Broadband
By 2.12.14
Tired of your broadband internet service options? Join the club. Millions of us live in areas where there is little to no competition among broadband ISPs. You take the provider you’ve got and put up with it, no matter how slow and unresponsive that service might be. Locally owned public broadband–managed by the city or county–could shake up the scene fairly dramatically, but good luck getting it. Despite grand plans from cities like Los Angeles and Seattle, public broadband options are few and far between. [More]
Utah Lawmaker Apparently Tired Of Residents Having Fast, Competitive Internet Access, Proposes Law To Stop Expansion
By 2.6.14
Municipal fiber networks might just be the wave of the future when it comes to speedy internet access. The cable companies already providing internet access, though, aren’t always so keen on the competition–and those companies have deep pockets and access to lawmakers’ ears. And so now Utah becomes the latest state to try legislative measures to bar its cities, towns, and counties from diving into the ISP market. [More]
Kansas Legislature Wants To Stop Any Other Kansas Cities From Getting Google Fiber
By 1.30.14
The Kansas state legislature is currently considering a bill that would prohibit municipalities in that state from building out their own municipal broadband networks. Completely coincidentally of course we’re sure, Kansas City is home to the country’s first Google Fiber municipal network. [More]
