WASHINGTON—The Federal Trade Commission issued a guide of sorts for municipalities considering wireless broadband, offering city planners and policymakers a list of the pros and cons of various approaches to the issue.
The report essentially outlines a decision tree for municipalities, with a variety of options and the costs and benefits for each. “The decision-tree framework seeks to reduce the possible competitive harms arising from a municipality operating as both a market participant and a regulator. By identifying a range of operating models, the framework outlines a variety of options that offer reduced competitive risks while still achieving benefits from increased broadband access,” said the FTC in the report.
Although the report itself is essentially a guide for municipalities and is devoid of overt political positioning, a Democratic FTC commissioner used the report as a touchstone to discuss his opposition to efforts to ban or limit muni Wi-Fi projects.
“The report provides a powerful basis for the FTC to oppose, as part of our advocacy program, future attempts by states to limit or prohibit municipalities from offering broadband to their own residents. Some of these proposed laws address legitimate questions, but others are simply unconscionable,” said FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz. “Although there is real competition to sign up new broadband subscribers in some communities, broadband competition in many local markets remains all too limited.”
Municipal broadband—often deployed using Wi-Fi technology—has been a hot-button issue for more than a year. Incumbent telephone and cable companies have pushed state legislators to pass laws restricting localities from becoming players in the wireless broadband game. The success of these bills has been mixed, however.
At the federal level, legislation prohibiting states from restricting muni Wi-Fi was included in the communications-reform bill passed by the Senate Commerce Committee. However, that bill is stalled due to unrelated issues.
Muni Wi-Fi projects are springing up all over the United States, with major efforts occurring in Philadelphia, San Jose, Calif., and other cities.
FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras created the FTC’s Internet Access Task Force in August, and asked the group to look into the muni Wi-Fi issue. The task force is also looking into the thorny issue of network neutrality.
