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Panel to evaluate municipal broadband rules in Tennessee

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 10/15/15. Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke comments on EPB's announcement that residents of the Tennessee valley will have the opportunity to have the worlds fastest home 10-gig internet service. Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 10/15/15. Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke comments on EPB's announcement that residents of the Tennessee valley will have the opportunity to have the worlds fastest home 10-gig internet service.

By Associated Press October 21, 2015 1 min read

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An advisory panel is scheduled to hold hearings Wednesday on broadband access in Tennessee.

The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations meeting comes as state lawmakers grapple with whether to allow utilities in cities like Chattanooga to offer super-fast broadband Internet service outside of their service areas.

So far, lawmakers have sided with private telecoms like AT&T that see taxpayer-funded broadband as unfair competition.

But the refusal of state lawmakers to change the rules led Chattanooga to ask the Federal Communications Commission to override state laws preventing the city’s super-fast Internet to be offered in outlying areas.

The FCC earlier this year voted to override state laws restricting municipal broadband, but the state’s attorney general has filed a legal challenge in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.