Daily Yonder

Legislation proposed in Virginia and Missouri would tighten the noose that restricts local governments from creating broadband options.

In Virginia, the bill comes from a state delegate with strong ties to the telecommunications industry and with ALEC, the national advocacy group that wrote similar laws for other states. Virginia’s State House Bill 2108 effectively stops cold all of the efforts the state has taken to get broadband in communities through seemingly benign definition. The bill allows municipal networks only in areas that don’t already have broadband – defined as 10 Mbps download speed and 1 Mbps upload.

In Missouri, meanwhile, the state’s current anti-municipal network law, written in 1997, bans public entities from owning and providing telecom services. But it’s always been an implied or assumed ban, even though an exception for broadband was written into the bill. One Missouri city built a network without challenge, and Columbia two years ago planned to play the same “Get Out of Jail Free” card. The Missouri Legislature has been making annual efforts since 2014 to ban muni broadband. This year’s entry is SB 186, which would prohibit retail or wholesale competitive service. By banning wholesale efforts, the bill would prevent a municipality from working with private-sector companies to supply broadband.

[Commentary] Americans may be split in national politics, but when the topic is broadband, voters of all persuasions are supporting fewer restrictions on community-sponsored networks. The future of federal funding is uncertain, but that doesn't have to stop communities from moving forward with municipal, cooperative, and public-private broadband initiatives.

[Craig Settles is a broadband industry analyst, consultant to local governments, and author]

[Commentary] For years, we’ve heard “fiber is the future.” Now some innovators, including Google, say fixed wireless could play a bigger role in getting high-speed access to rural America. Lower costs, quicker installation, and the potential of hybrid wired and wireless networks are some of the reasons. As the drive intensifies to have their constituents connected to the rest of the world with highspeed Internet access, leaders of rural towns and counties can meet that need faster and for less money by building hybrid broadband infrastructure. Though it has taken a little more time than has been hoped, wireless could be on the brink of becoming an equal partner with fiber in the rural broadband world.

[Craig Settles is a broadband industry analyst and consultant]

[Commentary] In thinly-populated rural and tribal areas, community anchor institutions (CAIs) can be vitally important to connecting residents to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, because of economic factors, anchor institutions in rural and tribal areas have an especially difficult time obtaining high-capacity broadband connections at affordable rates. When implementing programs designed to increase access to broadband service in rural areas, federal, state, and local efforts should give high priority to the broadband needs of rural community anchor institutions.

[Koutsky serves as Chief Policy Counsel for Connected Nation]

[Commentary] Fast Internet access is the critical element in building healthier rural economies that create opportunity and improve quality of life. Here are some ways to get your community focused on the need for speed:

Lack of local leadership buy-in is a deal breaker.
Asking why you need faster Internet today is like asking why you needed electricity when candlelight was the standard 100 years ago.
Broadband connectivity and applications are quality-of-life issues.
Demonstrating usefulness is critical.
Urban density is no longer an advantage.
“Middle of nowhere” mentality is no longer applicable.

[Dr Roberto Gallardo is the leader of the Mississippi State University Extension Service Intelligent Community Institute]

[Commentary] The US has failed to deliver on universal high-speed, wired Internet service. The consequences for America's disconnected are a litany of troubles: economic decline population loss, less access to education, and poorer quality medical care. History is likely to judge the United States very harshly in how it met its Internet telecommunications infrastructure challenge. If the nation and its leadership had engaged in proper planning and budgeting a generation ago for the construction of ubiquitous fiber to all American premises, by now, the nation would be fully fibered and reaping the complete promise and value of the Internet. Instead, the previous two decades were squandered on inaction.

[Fred Pilot is from California and writes the Eldo Telecom blog.]

[June 1]