House Vote Threatens Local Broadband Initiatives

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has a lot on its plate right now. While we at the Open Technology Institute differ with the FCC’s approach to certain issues, we also see eye-to-eye on a number of things — for example, as we highlighted a few weeks ago, we wholeheartedly agree with Chairman Wheeler’s recognition of the important role that local public broadband networks can play in improving Internet access for communities and the need to remove state-level barriers that limit them. Unfortunately, the Chairman’s pragmatic statements in support of local broadband choice have recently come under attack.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed an amendment to the 2015 Financial Services appropriations bill introduced by Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) that would prevent the FCC from taking any action to remove these harmful state barriers to local broadband networks. Despite a last minute push by supporters of local broadband, the amendment passed on a largely party-line vote of 223-200.

Rep. Blackburn claimed the amendment was needed in order to protect states rights and that the FCC’s actions would force communities in these states to build networks. But in reality the FCC is working to restore of the rights of local communities to make their own decisions about broadband infrastructure — rights that have been taken away by state legislation in at least 19 states. Removing state barriers does not mean mandating that communities build networks. Rather, it allows communities to decide for themselves what is the best course of action to take for improving broadband access in their areas.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to local broadband networks. Each community has different needs and resources. The critical issue is that they have the ability to decide for themselves what they want and can feasibly achieve. Earlier this year OTI published a report that describes approaches communities can take to local broadband networks, from public-private partnerships to building their own broadband infrastructure. We highlight the “benefits beyond the balance sheet” of these investments and how improved broadband access can have a wider impact on the local economy. In conjunction with the release of the report, we hosted a public event to discuss local broadband networks. The manager of Wilson, North Carolina’s Greenlight, one of the leading local public networks in the U.S., gave examples of such benefits for local schools, public safety and small businesses. His city determined that broadband was an important resource and chose to make investments to ensure that local broadband options met the needs of the community.

This kind of local decision-making is what made Chattanooga, TN another leading example of a local broadband network. Ironically, Representative Blackburn is from Tennessee as well. Her amendment undermines the work of other state residents, like communities seeking to partner with Chattanooga to expand the public network into new areas.

We will be working to educate members of the U.S. Senate about the importance of local choice in broadband infrastructure and why the FCC should be allowed to review and remove harmful state laws that limit local decisionmaking. Local broadband networks offer some of the fastest broadband service in the world and can provide some much needed competition in the domestic market. We are hopeful that this harmful amendment will not be in the final version of the legislation — and its passage serves as a stark reminder that many in Congress would rather find ways to limit, instead of promote, local decision-making and broadband competition.