By Allan Maurer
RALEIGH, NC—Although Time-Warner Cable says North Carolina municipalities that have already put high speed municipal broadband systems in place would be “grandfathered” into bills being considered to limit the ability of cities to launch their own Internet, phone and cable TV services, that may not be so, says Wilson City Attorney Jim Cauley.

City spokesperson Brian Bowman, who runs a blog (http://savencbb.wordpress.com/) about Wilson’s superfast 10/10mb broadband service and the the incumbent’s efforts to legally limit city competition, says City Attorney Cauley tells him Wilson would not be exempt from the bill after all.

Cauley was not available for comment when we called this morning, but a Time Warner Cable spokesperson and an NC Cable Association spokesperson both told TechJournal South previously that Wilson, Salisbury and other NC municipalities with systems or plans in place for providing their own broadband would not be affected by the bill.

The NC legislature’s utility committee did not consider the bill (HB 1252) Wednesday, but Bowman says he understands it will when the committee meets next Wednesday, “Although that hasn’t been confirmed,” he adds.

Phones are ringing in Wilson
In one of the most recent posts on Bowman’s blog, he also notes, “Phones are ringing in Wilson. There’s a new poll about HB 1252 that is apparently designed with leading questions about municipal broadband.

It includes questions that, as a friend put it, can’t possibly be answered correctly without siding with certain cable and or telco providers.

“I’m guessing a couple of the industry execs will use it this week to convince lawmakers that Wilson citizens don’t need their system,” he writes.

Bowman says that questions are framed in such a way that only one answer is likely. One question, for instance, asks, “Do you think it’s right to collect taxes from a business and then use that money to compete against the business?”

The automated polling calls have also been made in Salisbury, NC, according to reports.

Bowman says his blog averages from 1,000 to 4,000 hits a day and had 12,400 hits last Friday.

Debate not limited to NC
The debate over whether municipalities should provide broadband services as a utility is not limited to North Carolina by any means.

Bristol, Virginia’s municipal fiber-optic network landed the city on the Intelligent Community Forum’s top seven “most intelligent cities” list, the only U.S. city to do so. Kentucky and other Southeastern states have also had their successes with municipal broadband, while other states, such as South Carolina, have already erected legal barriers to such efforts.

The publication “Government Technology” discusses Bristol’s system here: http://tiny.pl/zphq in an article called, “Municipal Broadband Efforts Succeed Despite Wi-Fi Meltdown.”

While some municipalities did have troubles in attempting to provide free Wi-Fi services, often in partnership with private providers, the issue here is different and as Bowman points out, times have changed. “People seem to understand the importance of broadband now,” he says.

California-based broadband industry analyst Craig Settles says that often cities are more nimble at providing the updated high speed infrastructure for broadband services than incumbents.

In a blog post titled “N. Carolina’s Fight for Broadband is the U.S.’ Fight, (http://roisforyou.wordpress.com) ” he outlines community efforts not just in Wilson, but also in Rutherford, Polk, Craven, and Madison Counties in Western NC.

“Municipal broadband…has quite a few stellar successes in North Carolina and elsewhere to recommend it,” he says.

Settles tells TechJournal South the incumbents, the large telcos and cable companies, are hampered by three things: their administrative infrastructure and the limitations and expense of their technologies. “All three make it difficult for them to match government efforts,” he says.

At one time, he notes, railroad company executives could not envision the railroad industry supplanted by airlines, but it happened for one simple reason, he says. “Trains can’t fly.”

Additional resources:

Previously on TechJournal South: For more perspective on the incumbents’ position:

http://techjournalsouth.com/news/article.html?item_id=7334

Excellent resource with extensive links on municipal broadband efforts:
Baller Herbst Law Group:

http://tiny.pl/zj3s

States that have already passed laws limiting municipal broadband:
State Barriers to Community Broadband Services

http://tiny.pl/zj36

Wikipedia entry on municipal broadband

http://tiny.pl/zj33

Municipal Wireless Snapshot report:

http://www.successful.com/msp/snapshot-4-09.pdf

Fast Company: Time Warner’s Antics in Wilson, NC Give another reason to snip the cable:

http://tiny.pl/zj37

List of municipal broadband network organizations.

http://tiny.pl/zj34

An older, but contrary view from the Reason Foundation:
Municipal broadband fails again

http://tiny.pl/zphh

 

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