President Biden won big on broadband, but allies say municipal broadband lost out

Some of the Senate infrastructure bill's staunchest supporters say they are frustrated by what wasn’t included in the bill: provisions to encourage municipal broadband — Internet service that is partially or fully owned by local governments. Consumer advocacy and anti-monopoly groups say helping cities build their own Internet services is crucial for expanding connectivity nationwide, and they say it could also dramatically increase competition in areas where only a few major telecommunications companies dominate the market. Locally owned networks, proponents contend, aren’t driven by profit margins but rather a desire to serve their communities, and thus could serve as an important alternative to private companies. However, municipal broadband networks won’t be prioritized when the new money is dolled out, and the legislation won’t preempt state measures that restrict those networks. More than a dozen states also had laws on the books restricting municipal broadband networks as of early 2021. Municipal broadband proponents aren’t holding their breath for an about-face on the issue, due in no small part to the strong opposition the push has faced from the telecommunications industry and its allies on Capitol Hill.