Tennessee Lawmakers Plan Push to Extend Muni-Broadband Boundaries

At first they didn't succeed, but two Cleveland (TN)-area lawmakers will try, try again to change state law so EPB and other municipal utilities can expand the boundaries of their high-speed Internet service to reach rural areas that don't have broadband. Tennessee state Reps Dan Howell (R-TN 22) and Kevin Brooks (R-TN 24) reiterated their support to tweak state law to expand the reach of public utilities' broadband to reach unincorporated community of McDonald near Bendabout Farm.

The lawmakers joined with a national group working to expand municipal broadband, Next Century Cities, during an evening meeting that drew about 85 people. The proposed legislation would strike a few words from state law, state Rep Howell said, and remove the requirement that utilities keep their broadband within the "footprint" of their electric service. If that happened, EPB could extend its gigabit fiber optic service into areas it now can't serve, such as McDonald. The proposed legislation got pulled in 2014 by its sponsors when it looked like it might die. State Rep Howell thinks it will do better in the next session of the Tennessee Assembly, which gets underway in January.