WASHINGTON-Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) are expected to introduce legislation Thursday afternoon to allow municipalities to develop and run their own broadband systems.
Announcement of the bill, which is a direct contrast to legislation proposed last month by Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), was made during a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event Wednesday on municipal broadband.
“Being sure our children and families can compete in the future is a local issue,” said Dianah Neff, chief information officer for the City of Philadelphia.
Neff is one of the leading proponents of municipal broadband. Philadelphia is developing a municipal Wi-Fi system that will be used by the city for its own telecommunications needs but will be also open to all citizens of Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia project and others in both large and small cities have received strong criticism from telecom and cable companies that believe municipalities should let the private market offer these services.
“I just don’t think it is a wise use of assets,” said Michael Balhoff, managing partner at Balhoff & Rowe L.L.C.
The McCain/Lautenberg bill comes at a time when various states are acting on their own bills, some for municipal broadband, some against.
In Maine, the governor recently signed a bill that would allow municipalities to offer telecommunications. Bell and cable operators fared better in Florida and Nebraska, where bills banning municipal telecommunications were passed.
In Florida, Republican Gov. Jeb Bush signed into law legislation requiring local governments to approach incumbent telecom and cable companies before pursuing large-scale Wi-Fi deployments like those planned by Philadelphia; San Francisco; Corpus Christi, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; Spokane, Wash.; and many smaller communities. The Florida legislation is similar to a Pennsylvania law that went into effect soon after Philadelphia announced its plans to build a municipal Wi-Fi system. The law allowed Philadelphia’s project to go forward, but other Quaker state communities will have to wait for established players to offer broadband before considering municipal systems.
There has also been judicial activity resulting in a Supreme Court ruling. The high court ruled that a provision of the Telecommunication Act of 1996 forbidding states from barring “any entity” from providing telecom services does not include local governments. At the same time, the Supreme Court decision did not prohibit municipalities from providing Wi-Fi and other broadband services, but rather gave states the last word on the matter.
