Who wants competition? Big cable tries outlawing municipal broadband in Kansas

Legislation introduced in the Kansas state legislature by a lobby for cable companies would make it almost impossible for cities and towns to offer broadband services to residents and would perhaps even outlaw public-private partnerships like the one that brought Google Fiber to Kansas City.

The bill doesn't list any lawmaker as its sponsor, and there's a reason -- a state Senate employee said it was submitted by John Federico on behalf of the Kansas Cable Telecommunications Association, of which he is president. It's a lobby group with members such as Comcast, Cox, Eagle Communications, and Time Warner Cable. Instead of promoting development in broadband networks, the bill actually limits the possibility of them being built. A municipality would not be able to offer broadband "through a partnership, joint venture, or other entity in which the municipality participates," the bill says. The city or town also would not be able to use its powers of eminent domain to condemn any facility "for the purpose of enabling a private business or entity to offer, provide, carry, or deliver video, telecommunications, or broadband service to one or more subscribers."