Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • Networking

    FCC Loses Court Effort to Expand Municipal Broadband

    By
    Michelle Maisto
    -
    August 11, 2016
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      FCC

      The Federal Communications Commission has lost its bid to overrule laws in North Carolina and Tennessee that prevent municipal broadband providers from expanding outside their territories.

      On Feb. 26, 2015, the FCC granted a petition to preempt the laws, calling them “barriers to broadband deployment, investment and competition” and a “conflict with the FCC’s mandate to promote these goals.”

      In a Memorandum Opinion and Order adopted that day, the FCC said it found a “clear conflict” between Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which directs the FCC to remove barriers to broadband investment and competition, and provisions in laws in Tennessee and North Carolina, preventing the expansion of service to the communities surrounding current service areas.

      Under Tennessee law, a municipality operating an electric plant can offer cable, video and internet service within the electric plant’s service area. Likewise, in North Carolina, municipalities can only offer internet services to those inside their municipal boundaries. It’s these limitations that the FCC was working to expand.

      In an Aug. 10 ruling, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said the FCC was inappropriately trying to shift the decision-making power between states and their municipalities.

      The judges’ ruling states:

      “There are no federal statutes or regulations requiring telecommunications providers to have a set geographic service area. Providers thus have discretion to choose the geographic areas that they serve, whether that means expansion or restriction. Providers likewise have discretion to choose the rates they charge for their services and how long the services-rollout process takes.

      “What the FCC seeks to accomplish through preemption is to decide who—the state or its political subdivisions—gets to make these choices. The FCC wants to pick the decision maker for the discretionary issues of expansion, rate setting, and timeliness of rollout of services. It wants to provide the [Electric Power Board of Chattanooga] and the City of Wilson [in North Carolina] with these options notwithstanding Tennessee’s and North Carolina’s statutes that have already made these choices.”

      On the FCC site, all five Commission members issued statements.

      Chairman Tom Wheeler said that, while he was reviewing the decision, some good may have already come from the fight.

      “I believe the Commission’s decision to champion municipal efforts highlighted the benefits of competition and the need of communities to take their broadband futures in their own hands,” said Wheeler.

      “In the past 18 months, over 50 communities have taken steps to build their own bridges across the digital divide,” Wheeler added. “The efforts of communities wanting better broadband should not be thwarted by the political power of those who, by protecting their monopoly, have failed to deliver acceptable service at an acceptable price.”

      Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel called the Sixth Circuit’s decision a “setback.”

      “It makes it harder for communities struggling when existing providers fail to meet their needs because it makes it more difficult for them to come together and build it themselves,” said Rosenworcel. “I fully respect this decision, but regret that it is at odds with our history of self-reliance—and constrains our options for new infrastructure in the future.”

      Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said she was “extremely disappointed” that the FCC’s “long-standing mission” had been “dealt a blow.”

      “State laws like the ones upheld today are part of the reason why families on one street may have gigabit service, while those on the other have nothing,” said Clyburn. “It is sad that those laws will still stand tall and act as a barrier to digital inclusion and universal opportunity for all.”

      Ajit Pai and Michael O’Rielly, the two Republicans on the Commission, again split with their colleagues, applauding the court ruling.

      “I am heartened by Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision,” O’Rielly said in his statement. “The FCC clearly tried to invoke imaginary authority and finally was called out by a court for doing so.”

      Pai, in essence, announced: I told you so.

      “In my statement last year dissenting from the Commission’s decision, I warned that the FCC lacked the power to preempt these Tennessee and North Carolina laws and that doing so would usurp fundamental aspects of state sovereignty,” he stated. “I am pleased that the Sixth Circuit vindicated these concerns.”

      Pai added that he hopes the FCC will “turn the page” on the matter.

      “Rather than wasting its time on illegal efforts to intrude on the prerogatives of state governments,” he stated, “the FCC should focus on implementing a broadband deployment agenda to eliminate regulatory barriers that discourage those in the private sector from deploying and upgrading next-generation networks.”

      Michelle Maisto
      Michelle Maisto has been covering the enterprise mobility space for a decade, beginning with Knowledge Management, Field Force Automation and eCRM, and most recently as the editor-in-chief of Mobile Enterprise magazine. She earned an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University, and in her spare time obsesses about food. Her first book, The Gastronomy of Marriage, if forthcoming from Random House in September 2009.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×