U.S. court blocks FCC bid to expand public broadband
Source: Reuters
Technology | Wed Aug 10, 2016 3:10pm EDT
U.S. court blocks FCC bid to expand public broadband
WASHINGTON | By David Shepardson
A federal appeals court said on Wednesday the U.S. Federal Communications Commission could not block two states from setting limits on municipal broadband expansion, a decision seen as a win for private-sector providers of broadband internet and a setback for FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.
Cities in Tennessee and North Carolina had sought to expand municipal broadband networks beyond current boundaries, but faced laws forbidding or placing onerous restrictions on the expansions. ... The FCC voted 3-2 in 2015 to issue an order seeking to pre-empt those state laws, saying a 1996 law required it to remove barriers to broadband investment and that the municipalities wanted to expand service into areas with little or no internet service.
Wheeler criticized the decision that "appears to halt the promise of jobs, investment and opportunity that community broadband has provided in Tennessee and North Carolina." ... He said since 2015, "over 50 communities have taken steps to build their own bridges across the digital divide. The efforts of communities wanting better broadband should not be thwarted by the political power of those who, by protecting their monopoly, have failed to deliver acceptable service at an acceptable price."
Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai said that "rather than wasting its time on illegal efforts to intrude on the prerogatives of state governments, the FCC should focus on implementing a broadband deployment agenda to eliminate regulatory barriers that discourage those in the private sector from deploying and upgrading next-generation networks." ... USTelecom, the trade group that represents internet service providers including AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc, praised the decision as "a victory for the rule of law."
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-internet-ruling-idUSKCN10L23N
By Brian Fung
http://twitter.com/b_fung
August 10 at 2:46 PM
Federal regulators just suffered a major setback in their efforts to help cities build Internet services that compete with large providers such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable. ... In a federal-court decision Wednesday, the Federal Communications Commission was told that it doesn't have the power to block state laws that critics say hinder the spread of cheap, publicly run broadband service.
The ruling marks a significant defeat for a federal agency that for the past several years has turned "competition" into a literal mantra, with its chairman, Tom Wheeler, repeating the word at almost every possible opportunity. ... Under the court decision, large Internet providers will continue to enjoy certain benefits that insulate them from the threat of popular city-owned broadband operators such as the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, Tenn., and the city of Wilson, N.C.
Through EPB, residents of Chattanooga have access to download speeds of 1 Gbps at rates of about $70 a month. People outside of EBP's service area have "repeatedly requested expansions" from the public utility, according to Wednesday's ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, but due to a geographic restriction put in place by the Tennessee state legislature, EPB is prohibited by law from reaching more customers.
{How Chattanooga beat Google Fiber by half a decade}
Last year, EPB and other so-called municipal broadband providers asked the FCC to intervene on their behalf, and the agency agreed. Invoking a part of its congressional charter that it said would allow it to act against the states, the FCC tried to neutralize those state laws. The states responded by suing the agency, claiming it had no right to come between the historical relationship between states and the cities within their jurisdiction. This week's ruling, then, rolls back the federal government's attempt to intervene.
= new reply since forum marked as read
And $70/mth is very expensive for access. There are private companies in NM that offer wireless internet access for as little as $25/mth. 
they're all too happy to regulate.
They're cool with regs that limit other people, not them. Especially if it's something that their interpretation of God likes. 
