Free Press Action Fund Commends Community Broadband Legislation
WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, Rep. Anna Eshoo introduced the Community Broadband Act of 2016 in defense of local communities’ rights to build and operate their own broadband networks.
The legislation is modeled on a bipartisan 2005 bill introduced by Sens. Frank Lautenberg and John McCain. Sens. Cory Booker, Ed Markey and Claire McCaskill sponsored a similar effort last year. All of these bills would help empower communities to make their own choices about building municipal broadband systems, free from the bans state legislatures have imposed on such options in roughly 20 states.
The bill’s recent reintroduction follows a court ruling in August that reversed a Federal Communications Commission decision to “preempt” some such state bans. Rep. Eshoo’s bill, text available here (PDF), amends the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to explicitly “preserve and protect the ability of local governments to provide broadband capability and services.”
Free Press Action Fund Policy Director Matt Wood made the following statement:
“The Free Press Action Fund commends Representative Eshoo and other members of Congress who are standing up for the right of everyone in America to connect and communicate. High-speed and affordable internet access is essential to the health and prosperity of any community no matter its size or location. People should be able to decide for themselves whether to create and benefit from homegrown networks run by public entities. This bill would begin to clear away obstacles to community networks, taking aim at the barriers to self-determination put in place by monopoly-minded phone and cable companies in about 20 states.
“Millions of people across the country, and especially those living in low-income communities and communities of color, lack access to affordable broadband services. As a nation we should be encouraging every good effort — whether public or private or a combination of the two — to connect more people to high-speed networks.
“The only goal companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon have in blocking these networks is to preserve their local broadband monopolies and prevent competitors from offering people more affordable and accessible options. They’ve hired armies of statehouse lobbyists to push bills that deny communities this essential communications right. And they will no doubt fight Eshoo’s bill at the federal level despite its obvious benefits.”
