June 24, 2005 – A month after legislation that would restrict municipalities from providing free or discounted broadband internet access to residents was proposed in the US House of Representatives, two Senators filed a counter measure to allow local governments to compete with private service providers.
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Introduced by Senators John McCain (R-Arizona) and Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey), The Community Broadband Act of 2005 would remove any already existing state laws prohibiting municipal governments from offering low-cost or free high-speed Internet access in areas where private companies already provide the services.
"Government should work to open doors to greater technology for the American people, not slam them shut," Lautenberg said in the statement. "There is no valid justification for blocking local communities from offering broadband to its residents. If a town or a city wants to offer broadband as a tool for education and economic development, why should a state stop them?"
The McCain-Lautenberg bill is nearly the direct opposite of a bill offered in the House by Representative Pete Sessions (R-Texas) at the end of last month. That measure specifically bars local governments from competing with private cable television and Internet service providers.
Sessions is a former official with the telecommunications giant SBC, which was the Representative’s third largest donor in the 2004 race, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit group that tracks donations and contributions to politicians.
Fourteen states, including Pennsylvania, Colorado and Florida, have enacted laws similar to Session’s bill, according to Free Press, an organization that combats media consolidation.
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The competing legislative proposals are part of a much larger debate over access to the Internet and public airwaves. As previously reported by The NewStandard, grassroots organizations currently engaged in efforts to bring internet access to low-income and rural areas across the nation often end up dealing with barriers erected by giant cable and telecommunications firms.
