It looks increasingly likely that the FCC will overturn North Carolina’s anti-municipal broadband law, freeing cities like Wilson, NC to provide broadband to whomever it chooses.
Federal regulators are moving ahead with a proposal to help two cities fighting with their state governments over the ability to build public alternatives to large Internet providers.
The Federal Communications Commission this week will begin considering a draft decision to intervene against state laws in Tennessee and North Carolina that limit Internet access operated and sold by cities, according to a senior FCC official. The agency’s chairman, Tom Wheeler, could circulate the draft to his fellow commissioners as early as Monday and the decision will be voted on in the FCC’s public meeting on Feb. 26.
Chairman Wheeler just released the following statement:
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler issued the following statement today regarding a proposed Order on community broadband that he will circulate to his fellow commissioners this week:
“Communities across the nation know that access to robust broadband is key to their economic future – and the future of their citizens. Many communities have found that existing private-sector broadband deployment or investment fails to meet their needs.
They should be able to make their own decisions about building the networks they need to thrive. After looking carefully at petitions by two community broadband providers asking the FCC to pre-empt provisions of state laws preventing expansion of their very successful networks, I recommend approval by the Commission so that these two forward-thinking cities can serve the many citizens clamoring for a better broadband future.”
I wonder if this means the FCC can also veto any spending limitations that state law has shackled municipalities with?
via The FCC is moving to preempt state broadband limits – The Washington Post.