Community Broadband Media Roundup - January 29

California

Editorial: A legal and political push builds to save net neutrality by San Francisco Chronicle Editorial Board

California wanted to bridge the digital divide but left rural areas behind. Now that's about to change by Jazmine Ulloa, Los Angeles Times

California is trying to bring back net neutrality, but the debate is complicated by Jazmine Ulloa, Los Angeles Times

Truckee among hundreds of communities building own internet networks by Irene Cruz, KXTV ABC 10 - Sacramento

Colorado

Fort Collins starts mapping residents' interest in broadband by Kevin Duggan, The Coloradoan

The City Council has directed $1.8 million from the General Fund to cover startup costs associated with the new utility.

The city also is preparing to issue bonds to cover the cost of engineering and building a fiber-optic network that would deliver its promised 1 gigabit-per-second speed for uploads and downloads.

Construction of the system is still far away. Depending on the construction schedule and where you live, service would come to your neighborhood somewhere between 2019 and 2022.

Idaho

Officials Discuss How to Connect Rural Idaho Communities by Scott Jackson, Moscow-Pullman News (Republished in Government Technology)

Louisiana

LUS Fiber ranks #1 in nation in Harvard University study by JArnold, KADN News 15

Missouri

Proposed broadband grant system may provide relief for rural areas by Kathryn Hardison, Columbia Missourian

Montana

Montana mandates 'net neutrality' for state contracts by Matthew Brown, Associated Press

It was unclear from the order what would happen to companies with existing contracts. Bullock told the state Department of Administration to craft policies and guidance by March 1 to put the order into effect, and he invited governors and lawmakers across the United States to duplicate his action.

If other states follow suit, it could have a significant impact — both on large telecommunications companies with state contracts and smaller companies trying to get into the market, said Christopher Mitchell with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which supports net neutrality.

"States spend a lot of money on telecommunications contracts," Mitchell said. "We're seeing a number of states interested in doing something like this."

New York

NYC wants a way to sniff out net neutrality violators by Jason Shueh, StateScoop

New York to Internet Providers: Follow Net Neutrality Rules or Lose State Contracts by Rick Karlin, Tribune News Service (Republished in Governing Magazine)

North Carolina

Public housing residents bridging the digital divide by Wilson Housing Authority, The Wilson Times

Tennessee

Tennessee lawmakers seek to re-impose 'net neutrality' rules on state broadband providers by Andy Sher, Chattanooga Times Free Press

Virginia

CVEC presents rural broadband plan for Albemarle, rest of service area by Allison Wrabel, Charlottesville Daily Progress

General

FCC admits mobile can’t replace home Internet, won’t lower speed standard by Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica

Pai's FCC has determined that mobile broadband is not a full substitute for home Internet services. The FCC says this even after previously suggesting that mobile Internet might be all Americans need. The FCC also won't be lowering the speed standard that it uses to judge whether broadband deployment is happening quickly enough.

Net neutrality ruling got you down? You can always build your own ISP by Bryan Clark, The Next Web

DIY net neutrality: Can municipal broadband help protect internet freedom? By Brent Bambury, CBC Radio

Want To Topple Telecom Oligopolies? Support Locally Owned Broadband by Matthew Marcus, Fast Company

This past August, the residents of the Republican-leaning Michigan town of Lyndon Township overwhelmingly voted to raise their property taxes. What spurred this rural community to violate the core Republican tenant of minimal taxation?

Lack of high-speed internet access.

Speedy internet connections are easy to come by in cities and sprawling suburbs where big cable and telephone monopolies can expect a large return on their investment. But in many rural areas of the country, high-speed internet access is sparse–39% of rural Americans flat-out do not have broadband access.

That’s why Lyndon Township’s residents decided to fund a 3 million dollar broadband project, which increased their property taxes by over $20 per month on average. The end result will be a locally owned network offering a basic 100 Mbps fiber-to-the-home service, which is faster and more reliable than most cable services. As Ben Fineman, president of the Michigan Broadband Cooperative explained, “for people in a rural area, that’s far and away better than anything they can get today.”

Internet Association Ramps Up State Activities by Broadcasting & Cable

Community Broadband and Privacy by Danny Abramov, Financial Buzz

Ajit Pai's FCC Can't Admit Broadband Competition is a Problem by Karl Bode, DSL Reports

While the FCC is fortunately backing away from a plan that would have weakened the standard definition of broadband, the agency under Ajit Pai still can't seem to acknowledge the lack of competition in the broadband sector. Or the impact this limited competition has in encouraging higher prices, net neutrality violations, privacy violations, or what's widely agreed to be some of the worst customer service of any industry in America.

The Trump FCC had been widely criticized for a plan to weaken the standard definition of broadband from 25 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, to include any wireless connection capable of 10 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up.

Consumer advocates argued the move was a ham-fisted attempt to try and tilt the data to downplay the industry's obvious competitive and coverage shortcomings. They also argued that the plan made no coherent sense, given that wireless broadband is frequently capped, often not available (with carrier maps the FCC relies on falsely over-stating coverage), and significantly more expensive than traditional fixed-line service.

More Than 750 American Communities Have Built Their Own Internet Networks by Karl Bode, Motherboard Vice

More communities than ever are embracing building their own broadband networks as an alternative to the Comcast status quo.

According to a freshly updated map of community-owned networks, more than 750 communities across the United States have embraced operating their own broadband network, are served by local rural electric cooperatives, or have made at least some portion of a local fiber network publicly available. The map was created by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit that advocates for local economies.

These networks have sprung up across the nation as a direct reflection of the country’s growing frustration with sub-par broadband speeds, high prices, and poor customer service. They’ve also emerged despite the fact that ISP lobbyists have convinced more than 20 states to pass protectionist laws hampering local efforts to build such regional networks.

Many of these laws even bar communities from striking public/private partnerships with companies like Google Fiber, even in instances where no private ISP is willing to provide service.

Some States Want to Save Net Neutrality, But Can They? By Natalie Delgadillo, Governing

The order from the FCC includes a provision that could be a big problem for states trying to take matters into their own hands: "We conclude that we should exercise our authority to preempt any state or local requirements that are inconsistent with the federal deregulatory approach we adopt today."

In other words, the FCC believes it has the final say on net neutrality. But not all legal scholars agree.

“It’s unclear [whether the FCC can preempt state laws]. The agency may have gone too far,” says Pantelis Michalopoulos, a partner at the law firm Steptoe and Johnson, and an expert in telecommunications law who has previously represented internet industry groups in net neutrality litigation.

Michalopoulos says that federal preemption is usually based on something -- some conflicting federal regulation or law that trumps state legislation.

“Here, we have an attempt to preempt state laws based on nothing, or virtually nothing, precisely because the FCC has decided not to promulgate substantive rules on [net neutrality],” Michalopoulos says. “This makes it a little more difficult for this kind of preemption to succeed.”

New Bill Would Prevent Comcast-Loyal States From Blocking Broadband Competition by Karl Bode, TechDirt

New York and Montana Have a New Trick to Protect Network Neutrality by April Glaser, Slate

Despite the FCC, more than 750 predominantly conservative US communities have built their own publicly owned ISPs by Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing

The Value of Broadband Competition by Pots and Pans Blog

City-Run Broadband Can Keep Net Neutrality Alive–And It’s Cheap by Ben Schiller, Fast Company

However, many state legislatures, including North Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Missouri, and Arkansas, have either outlawed municipalities from building networks or put up serious roadblocks. In other states, telecom companies have lobbied hard against new projects. Fort Collins, Colorado, passed a ballot initiative last November to establish a new utility despite telecom lobby groups spending up to $900,000 to defeat the measure.

“More communities are considering this, but it’s politically challenging. Cable and telephone companies try to convince people that the municipalities will go broke if they build new networks,” Chris Mitchell, director of ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative, tells Fast Company. (The Obama Administration, which hoped to expand the number of municipal networks, failed in efforts to pre-empt state laws).

Mayor quits FCC committee, says it favors ISPs over the public interest by Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica

Dear State and Local Gov: FCC Chair Ajit Pai Is Just Not That Into You by Mitch Herckis, Route Fifty

The committee, referred to as the BDAC (pronounced Bee-DACK) in FCC-speak, discussed wide-ranging draft policy guidance for states and municipalities. On page 50 of the state model code was a recommendation to push local governments to de-prioritize publicly funded municipal broadband. There were also working group recommendations on “removing state and local regulatory barriers” that focused on all the ways state and local governments were believed to be holding back innovation.

The group also debated when and how the FCC should preempt state and local authorities on telecommunications concerns, with one participants stating that while they couldn’t agree on preemption language yet, ultimately, it will be in there.