Hang on, those of you in the broadband wilderness, help may be on the way.
A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) incorrectly overturned state restrictions on municipal broadband providers in North Carolina and Tennessee last year. That was the correct decision since the FCC had no legal authority over states to do such a thing.
But, because of the ruling, in what eventually will be a win for the more than 830,000 Tennesseans without access, the state legislature is likely next year to consider proposals to end state restrictions on where municipal power utilities such as EPB can offer broadband service. In conjunction with that, it is also likely to consider bills that would lift the ban on electric cooperatives getting into the broadband business.
We're where we are because investor-owned utilities like AT&T or Comcast understandably did not want to spend the money to expand into rural areas until it was financially feasible to do so. But if they didn't and the municipal providers couldn't, residents in rural areas were out of luck.
In 21st-century America, access to broadband is critical for commerce, communication and education. Without it, rural residents are like the pre-TVA Tennessee towns in the 1930s which had no access to electricity. It's as if these residents aren't living in the same decade as their neighbors not too far down the road.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit's ruling came on the heels of results from separate studies by the state Department of Economic and Community Development and the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations that pointed out the need of broadband expansion across the state. They also suggested municipalities and nonprofit co-ops could play a role in that expansion.
Before last year's legislative session, members of the Hamilton County delegation hinted at interest in ending state restrictions on municipal providers but said they and other legislators wanted to wait for the results of the studies. Now, with the results of the studies and the FCC ruling, they have a virtual mandate to act.
They'll get pushback from the investor-related companies, which will argue that government shouldn't be involved at all, but rural residents shouldn't have to keep waiting for the high-speed internet access that so many of us take for granted. If the municipalities and the co-ops don't get involved, there is no telling how long they might have to wait.
By this time next year, we hope, legislators will have crafted sound legislation that will allow those in the broadband wilderness to be well on their way to broadband access.