Municipalities: Broadband Is Not a ‘Core Utility’

[Commentary] It is timely to fact check the Federal Government’s storyline that broadband is a ‘core utility,’ given a new White House report that directs municipalities that broadband is a “core utility… like water, sewer and electricity;” and given that a senior Federal Communications Commission official recently encouraged local municipalities at the NATOA conference to build their own local broadband infrastructure with the FCC’s backing now that the FCC has claimed the legal authority to preempt State laws limiting municipal broadband. If municipalities are fair, thorough, and fact-based in their decision making, they can’t help but conclude that broadband service has none of the relevant factual characteristics that public utilities like water, sewer or electricity do.