Big carriers go political to kill local broadband

Legislation introduced in the Kansas state legislature by a lobby for cable companies would make it almost impossible for cities and towns to offer broadband services to residents and would perhaps even outlaw public- private partnerships like the one that brought Google Fiber to Kansas City. In the past years 18 other states have also yielded to lobbying efforts by cable and telecom giants and passed similar legislation. Officials in the southeast Kansas city of Chanute, population 9,100, say they're the primary target of the proposed legislation. As part of its public utility system, the city runs an ultra-high-speed broadband network that now serves schools, city buildings, the town hospital, banks and other key businesses. What's embarrassing in this case is that big Cable is throwing money at local politicians to try to get the anti- municipal-broadband law passed. The Kansas Cable Telecommunications Association (which includes Time Warner, Cox, Comcast, and Eagle) has given $60,000 in campaign contributions recently, and Cox by itself pitched in another $80,000 in 2012. AT&T contributed $120,000, although Ma Bell may not be working to pass the bill, he adds. While the bill lets cities and towns offer service in "unserved areas," it defines such areas as those where at least 90 percent of households lack access to any broadband service, whether it be "fixed or mobile, or satellite broadband service" at the minimum broadband speed defined by the Federal Communications Commission, which is 4Mbps down and 1Mbps up.

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