Plan to kill municipal broadband fails in Maine legislature

Cities and towns in Maine that want to provide their own broadband service just helped defeat a proposed law that would have made it impossible to build taxpayer-funded networks.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Nate Wadsworth, a Hiram Republican, would have imposed stringent conditions that critics say would make it all but impossible for Maine towns and cities to build their own high-speed networks when cable and telephone companies decline to provide upgraded service. Municipal officials and one ISP that has partnered with a city for a municipal project objected to the bill in a hearing. The next day, a legislative technology committee voted 12-0 against the bill, effectively killing it.