Community Broadband Media Roundup - March 28

Colorado

Without SB 152 on the books, Colorado municipalities would not have to spend taxpayer dollars to reclaim local authority to build broadband networks.

Mancos seeks more Internet options by Jacob Klopfenstein, Pine River Times

SB 152 requires local government to seek voter approval before providing telecommunications services. It also prevents municipalities from entering into private-public partnerships or expanding networks to provide those services. The Mancos Board of Trustees passed a resolution March 9 urging citizens to vote in favor of authorizing the town to opt out.

Maine

Small Maine town hopes boosted broadband will stimulate economic development by Nick Sambides Jr., GovTech

Massachusetts

Western Mass. broadband 'pause' goes on and on by Steve Nelson, Berksire Eagle

Tennessee

Federal appeals court deciding municipal broadband expansion by The Associated Press

FCC heads to court for broadband's most important fight yet by Karl Bode, DSL Reports

For years we've noted how 19 states now have protectionist laws in place -- literally written by giant ISP lobbyists -- that prevent towns and cities from building their own broadband networks, or in some cases even striking public/private partnerships with companies like Google Fiber. Last year the FCC voted to dismantle these laws in two states -- Tennessee and North Carolina. Municipal ISPs there (Wilson, NC's Greenlight, and Chattanooga, TN's EPB) complained the laws were preventing them from expanding their gigabit fiber broadband services.

Appeals court questions Tennessee & North Carolina lawsuit to restrict community broadband by Chris Morran, The Consumerist

Tennessee makes it clear protecting AT&T and Comcast from broadband competition is its top priority by Karl Bode, TechDirt

Washington

As Seattle hosts broadband conference, Mayor doubles down on refusal to build municipal Internet network by Ansel Herz, The Stranger

What Murray is really saying is that he doesn't consider broadband to be a priority. Last fall, the mayor himself spearheaded the push for the largest-ever property tax levy in the city's history: Move Seattle, with a price tag of $930 million. Voters approved it.

The study that Murray mentioned determined that Seattle could construct a high speed network using a combination of property taxes and user fees for $440 million. The mayor—who received big donations from Comcast and CenturyLink during his last campaign—simply lacks the political will to advocate for building such a network at this time.

How to combine bike sharing and municipal broadband into one effort by Eric Mandel, MyNorthwest

Seattle's plan to build gigabit fiber network stuck in limbo by Karl Bode, DSL Reports

General

Gigabites: Municipal broadband takes a backseat by Mari Silbey, Light Reading

20,000 people just urged the FCC to subsidize broadband for the poor by Sam Gustin, Motherboard