Will the FCC Vacate State Broadband Restrictions?

If the Federal Communications Commission does rule for Wilson and Chattanooga petitions and ultimately concerning municipal broadband, Christopher Mitchell, director of the Telecommunications as Commons Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, expects a lengthy legal process. He envisioned a scenario that could drag on for years and possibly reach the US Supreme Court.

If the matter goes that far, Michael Botein, professor of law at New York Law School, expressed reservation in the high court’s ability to understand the technical issues that are in play when it comes to municipal broadband networks. He called the Supreme Court “one of the worst informed” judicial bodies when the issue deals with technology, and said he wouldn’t “put any trust in their ability to puzzle this one out.”