It's showtime in fight against state barriers to public broadband

[Commentary] In 2015, we should expect to see many of the legal restrictions on public-owned broadband networks aggressively challenged because, frankly, communities are mad and aren’t going to take these impediments to local economic growth any longer. Two organizations have formed to organize and focus efforts by public, private and nonprofit sector stakeholders to find paths to greater broadband coverage.

The Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC) unites public and private interests that support local choice and provide communities practical advice and tools to prevent new state barriers from being enacted and remove existing barriers. [Editor’s note: Joanne Hovis, a member of the Benton Foundation board, is a founding member of CLIC] Next Century Cities is a membership organization providing knowledge and peer support for communities and their elected leaders, including mayors and other officials, as they seek to ensure that all have access to fast, affordable, and reliable Internet.

[Craig Settles is the author of Fighting the Next Good Fight: Bringing True Broadband to Your Community]