Alabama, Michigan And Other States Argue For Right To Curb Muni-Broadband

Officials from 11 states are siding with North Carolina and Tennessee in their battle with the Federal Communications Commission about limits on muni-broadband networks. The states are asking the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to vacate a recent FCC order that invalidated limits on muni-broadband in North Carolina and Tennessee.

The agency's order was specific to those two states, but observers say the FCC may issue similar orders that would apply to around 20 other states that curb muni-broadband. "The FCC’s broad preemption of state municipal broadband regulation eliminates states’ control over their own subdivisions and frustrates state efforts to increase access to broadband," the group of states argues in a friend-of-the-court brief filed. The states contend that laws restricting muni-broadband offer "important checks on abuse and mismanagement." "The FCC’s order prevents states from governing their own instrumentalities, broadly usurps power without authority, and opens the door for financial instability and corruption," they argue. The states signing the friend-of-the-court brief are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah, and West Virginia.