FCC chairman supports local broadband

by Jon Jamison, Wilson Daily Times, February 2, 2015.

In response to petitions made by Wilson and Chattanooga, Tennessee, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is proposing dismantling state laws to allow the expansion of municipal broadband services such as Greenlight.

Wheeler issued a statement Monday calling both cities forward-thinking communities. It’s immediately unclear how far-reaching the decision could be, but it would set a national precedent for decisions in the future and open the door for municipal broadband expansion on a broader scale.

It could also spark lawsuits and challenges nationally.

It also puts Wilson at the center of the national broadband battle as policy-making develops. The city has already been featured in the Wall Street Journal, and Variety was reporting on developments as recently as Monday, along with a host of others, including The Washington Post and PC Magazine.

"Communities across the nation know that access to robust broadband is key to their economic future — and the future of their citizens,” Wheeler said. "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.”

The city and Chattanooga, Tennessee, petitioned the FCC last year and are anticipating an FCC decision during the commission’s Feb. 26 meeting.

"Chairman Wheeler’s comments are consistent with the position of the Wilson City Council and other local governments across the country,” City Manager Grant Goings said Monday. "Local infrastructure decisions should be made by local officials that are elected by the citizens they serve.”

He said they never envisioned being at the center of national policy decisions.

"We just built a fiber-optic broadband utility for our community because our cable company refused to do so,” Goings said.

Monday’s development follows President Barack Obama’s statements where he stressed the importance of open access to high-speed Internet as important to the American economy during his State of the Union address.

Obama committed to seeking ways to expand access to the Internet in a safe environment that offers protection, security and the ability to tap into the latest technology.

Obama’s statements aren’t the first that hit close to home for Wilson-area residents, including the 7,000 Greenlight customers who have access to some of the fastest Internet speeds in the nation. Obama has recognized the city of Wilson for its leadership and innovation in deploying Greenlight into an area previously unserved by the latest, high-speed, fiber-optic technology.

A White House fact sheet also zeroed in on Wilson as having "inspired leadership and community mobilization.”

"Wilson has been transformed from the World’s Greatest Tobacco Market to North Carolina’s First Gigabit City,” according to White House statements.

Obama, who was in Cedar Falls, Iowa, recently, talked about his plan to keep the Internet open to new competition.

The Obama administration plans to seek an end to laws that harm broadband service competition, he supports grants and loans for rural providers and he has written the Federal Communications Commission asking for a vote to overturn state laws that limit the government’s ability to operate broadband networks.

The city of Wilson’s Greenlight network places it on the national stage as city leaders seek the FCC decision to overturn state laws, including North Carolina’s, which limit government’s ability to provide high-speed Internet service, especially in rural areas of the nation.

North Carolina law crafted, in part, because of Wilson’s Greenlight network, was passed in an effort to establish new laws that set rules for how government competes against private industry. The city of Wilson is exempt from most of the law, unless it expands its network beyond Wilson County. An expansion would eliminate the city’s exemption from state law.

The 2011 legislation requires a public vote before local government can borrow money to build a network, and government bodies are required to pay the same fees and taxes private companies pay. Private industry leaders believe the law provides better guidelines for government competition against private companies and establishes protections for taxpayers.

The city of Wilson decided to petition the FCC following statements by Wheeler who said in early 2014 he is committed to looking closer at state laws that restrict cities from offering high-speed broadband. Wheeler favors increased competition, including government-operated networks that would provide increased access across the nation.

Not everyone on the Federal Communications Commission supports the idea that government should be in the business of offering broadband service. Commissioner Michael O’Rielly has said in a statement that Obama’s interest in overturning of state laws is an "unnecessary interference.”

Commissioner Mignon Clyburn has spoken in support of Wilson’s broadband network. At the time legislation was pending in 2011, Clyburn told The Wilson Times that it would be a significant barrier that could cripple communities trying to meet the needs of residents and businesses.

Clyburn said North Carolina’s legislation would serve to "discourage municipal governments from addressing deployment in communities where the private sector has failed to meet broadband service needs.”

The FCC is composed of five commissioners, all appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. None of the commissioners can have a financial interest in any commission-related business.

http://www.wilsontimes.com/News/Feature/Story/35588455---FCC-CHAIR-SUPPORTS-WILSON-S-PETITION