How big telecom smothers city-run broadband

For more than a decade, AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and CenturyLink have spent millions of dollars to lobby state legislatures, influence state elections and buy research to try to stop the spread of public Internet services that often offer faster speeds at cheaper rates.

The companies have succeeded in getting laws passed in 20 states that ban or restrict municipalities from offering Internet to residents. Now the fight has gone national. The Federal Communications Commission is considering requests from Chattanooga (TN) and Wilson (NC) to pre-empt state laws that block municipalities from building or expanding broadband networks, hindering economic growth, the cities argue. If the FCC rules in favor of the cities, and the ruling survives any legal challenges, municipalities nationwide will be free to offer high-speed Internet to residents when they aren’t satisfied with the service provided by private telecommunications companies. To better understand the municipal broadband debate, the Center for Public Integrity traveled to two southern cities. Tullahoma (TN), which has a broadband network, and Fayetteville (NC), which doesn’t.