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North Carolina Still Wants To Block Municipal Broadband

Posted by Soulskill on from the because-competition-has-no-place-in-capitalism dept.

An anonymous reader writes: In February, when the FCC rolled out its net neutrality rules, it also voted to override state laws that let Texas and North Carolina block ISPs created by local governments and public utilities. These laws frequently leave citizens facing a monopoly or duopoly with no recourse, so the FCC abolished them. Now, North Carolina has sued the FCC to get them back. State Attorney General Roy Cooper claims, "the FCC unlawfully inserted itself between the State and the State's political subdivisions." He adds that the new rule is "arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion within the meaning of the Administrative Procedure Act; and is otherwise contrary to law."

6 of 289 comments (clear)

  1. I wonder why... by MetricT · · Score: 5, Informative

    You have to admire the hypocracy of state legislators who argue for "state's rights", who don't care about "city and county rights" to roll out broadband to attract jobs and new people to their area. It's almost like they were hypocrites, ignorant of freshman economics, sold to the highest bidder or something... /Lives in Tennessee, has the same bunch of ignorant cretins passing laws that an 18 year old freshman could easily shoot down as dumb.

    1. Re:I wonder why... by squiggleslash · · Score: 5, Informative

      You write as if there's some great principle involved that anyone's claiming to upkeep (and being taken seriously when they do) that involves the best place to exert power.

      Truth is that all these positions are based upon where someone believes they can politically win power. If the country as a whole, and hence the Feds lean X, then expect supporters of the opposing position Y to support slightly more local locations of power.

      Pro-Slavers were very, very, happy to be opposed to "States rights" back when they were proposing (and passing) Fugitive Slaves laws that imposed huge immoral burdens on the Free States. As soon as it looked like the anti-slaves might win power at a Federal level, suddenly they back-pedalled.

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      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    2. Re:I wonder why... by Moridineas · · Score: 3, Informative

      Disclaimer, I live in NC and generally support municipal broadband projects when communities are underserved. I'm a big fan of the Wilson fiber service.

      First, there is no concept of a citizen of a city or municipality. People are citizens of a state. Cities, counties, municipalities are all creatures of a state, and thus are under the control of state government, not local or federal government. There's no hypocrisy because the general argument in favor of states rights is not about ultimately devolving power to the smallest possible unit of control, but about maintaining state legal authority from being assumed by the federal government.

      The main argument against municipal broadband projects is that they frequently fail and leave the municipality saddled with debt. This becomes the responsibility of the state government. Thus, state governments have the power to regulate what projects municipalities embark on, because the state government is the ultimate guarantor.

      The secondary argument against municipal broadband is that municipal projects are typically able to entirely bypass permitting and other planning approval stages (costly stages and costly permits; let's not forget the requisite greasing of the political wheels). They are frequently given rights of way and access that private companies do not have authorization to use. There is a good chance that a municipal broadband network would discourage other companies from making a significant investment facing this kind of unbalanced competition. If the project then goes on to be a significant money loser, the municipality is even worse off than when it began.

      Examples of municipal projects that have failed or otherwise had explosive debt:

      Provo, UT (saved by Google)
      Lafayette, LA http://www.rstreet.org/2014/05/30/muni-broadband-the-gift-that-keeps-on-taking/
      Davidson, NC and Mooresville, NC http://www.lakenormancitizen.com/news/news/item/6426-reinventing-mi-connection-an-inside-look.html
      Utah UTOPIA alliance http://www.wsj.com/articles/municipal-broadband-is-no-utopia-1403220660

  2. Re:Most places still face monopolies or duopolies by topher_k · · Score: 3, Informative

    Um...how many cable network providers do YOU have where you live? Does ANYONE have three (3) or more?

    Chattanooga, Tennessee. EPB, Comcast, AT&T. But yeah, almost no one has a choice. I'm lucky.

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    They'll get my encryption algorithm when they pry it from my cold, dead hard drive.
  3. Too Bad For North Carolinians! by Greyfox · · Score: 5, Informative

    I live in Longmont, Colorado. Couple years ago we had a referendum and opted out of the state's blocking of municipal broadband services. They're currently rolling the service out in my neighborhood and their guys did an install at my house about a month ago. I'm getting the fastest internet service in the country for $59 a month. My youtube uploads go at around a gigabyte a minute. Too bad about all these state legislators who seem to feel the need to protect their constituents from super-fast internet speeds at affordable rates that the private companies never seem to feel the need to deliver. I guess luckily for them, most people have no idea what they're missing, or a lot of those guys would be getting kicked out of office right now.

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    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  4. Re:In other words... by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 3, Informative

    The state government is saying that the federal government has no right to interfere with the state's right to interfere with local government.

    Which is true. See my post above for a full explanation.

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    Do you have ESP?