FTC Member To Oppose State Limits On Municipal Broadband Networks

Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Jonathan Leibowitz will champion the ability of municipalities to offer high-speed Internet services in a speech later this week -- and will argue that the agency can and should oppose state legislation that would limit broadband competition on the part of cities. Speaking to the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors today, he plans to build upon a theme articulated by two Republican colleagues: FTC Chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras as well as former Chairman Timothy Muris. Majoras and Muris took actions against state government restrictions on legal services, foreign exchange and Internet wine sales. Leibowitz's speech also could interject another federal agency besides the FCC into a rising telecommunications policy issue. In the past several years, the FCC has not addressed municipal broadband issues. However, in 1997, the FCC sustained the state of Texas' ability to restrict municipal phone service -- even as it raised policy objections to the action. That decision was sustained by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. In 2004, the Supreme Court upheld the ability of states to limit municipal broadband.
[SOURCE: Technology Daily, AUTHOR: Drew Clark]