Municipal Broadband Opposition Laws: Pros and Cons -- and Legality

[Commentary] With Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler vowing to take action against state-level laws that block municipal broadband networks, we are seeing considerable debate about the pros and cons of those networks. Nineteen states currently have laws limiting and in some cases effectively prohibiting municipalities from offering commercial services on broadband networks constructed by the municipality, according to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. I thought it would be a good idea to review the arguments on both sides.

Supporters of municipal broadband opposition laws
Chairman Wheeler’s opponents, including industry research consultancy The Precursor Group, say the FCC would be overstepping its authority if it were to take the sort of action Wheeler has threatened. “Municipalities are legal creations of the state, not the federal government,” argued Scott Cleland, president of The Precursor Group, in a blog post.

Opponents of anti-municipal broadband laws
Municipal network supporters, including the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative, dispute the claim that “the vast majority” of community networks have been failures. Noting that there have been more than 400 municipal projects to date, Chris Mitchell -- director of the ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative -- said there were some projects that didn’t work out but others that have had major benefits. As for FCC authority, Mitchell said the recent Net Neutrality court decision said that the FCC had the authority to remove barriers to broadband network deployments.

What happens next?
In taking action against anti-municipal network legislation, Mitchell believes the FCC will go after the “most egregious” state-level laws. He cited North Carolina as one state with such laws, noting that the North Carolina law totally prohibits municipal networks. But if the FCC makes such a move, Cleland argues that it will encounter substantial opposition.