[grc] Ban on municipal broadband lifted

[Tom Voorhees]

FYI
There is some hope for the future !
Tom.

http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/seven-colorado-cities-counties-lift-10-year-ban-municipal-broadband-investm/2015-11-04?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
[1]
TWENTY SIX COLORADO CITIES, 17 COUNTIES LIFT 10-YEAR BAN ON MUNICIPAL
BROADBAND INVESTMENT 

November 4, 2015 | By Sean Buckley [2] 

The municipal broadband movement got a boost in Colorado as residents in 26
cities and towns and 17 counties voted to overturn a law that limited local
communities from building a broadband business even in areas where
incumbent telcos and cable operators have refused to upgrade facilities. 

While there are over two dozen states that have laws on the books limiting
local government from offering broadband services -- a number of which have
been driven by the local cable operators and telcos like Comcast (NASDAQ:
CMCSA [3]) and AT&T (NYSE: T [4]) -- Colorado's law stands out from other
states. 

Under the 2005 state law, a municipality can build their own broadband
network if "an election shall be called" and a majority of voters approve
it. 

The majority of voters supported local measures with over 70 percent of
ballots cast. The ballot measure passed overwhelmingly in all 43 cities and
counties where voters considered it.  

Among some of the areas were Durango where over 90 percent of voters chose
to opt out of restrictive SB 152. Likewise, Telluride voters affirmed their
commitment to local authority when over 93 percent of votes supported
measure 2B.  

A call to repeal restrictions on municipal broadband is not relegated just
to Colorado. Similar initiatives have been called for in North Carolina and
Tennessee, for example 

In February, the FCC moved to preempt [5] elements of state laws in North
Carolina and Tennessee that were designed to restrict municipal providers
in these communities from providing broadband service outside of their
current serving areas. This move could drive other states to act and could
result in court challenges. 

Meanwhile, a group of mayors from New Haven, West Hartford and Stamford,
Conn., have come together in hopes of creating a 1 Gbps-capable open access
fiber-to-the-premises network for the state. 

For more:
- _The Denver Post _has this article [6]
- here's a complete list [7] of communities  

Related articles:
Colorado communities band together to eliminate municipal broadband
restrictions [8]
Seven Colorado cities get green light to build municipal broadband networks
[9]
Baltimore mulls its own municipal broadband plan [10]
Connecticut mayors make call for 1 Gig broadband open access network [11]
Republicans rail against FCC Chairman Wheeler's municipal-broadband
proposals [12]
Fiber hunter: How to improve Internet access by digging up forgotten fiber
lines [13]
Longmont, Colo., employs Calix for its 1 Gbps FTTH network [14] _This
article was updated on Nov. 5 to reflect that it was 26 communities that
made the vote._



Links:
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[1] http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/seven-colorado-cities-counties-lift-10-year-ban-municipal-broadband-investm/2015-11-04?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
[2] http://www.fiercetelecom.com/author/sbuckley
[3] http://www.fiercecable.com/tags/comcast
[4] http://www.fiercewireless.com/tags/att-0
[5] http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/fcc-ruling-overturns-state-laws-preventing-municipal-broadband-expansion/2015-02-26
[6] http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29053351/colorado-communities-trying-lift-limits-municipal-broadband
[7] http://muninetworks.org/content/voters-quiet-drums-polls-colorado
[8] http://fiercetelecom.com/story/colorado-communities-band-together-eliminate-municipal-broadband-restrictio/2015-11-03
[9] http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/seven-colorado-cities-get-green-light-build-municipal-broadband-networks/2014-11-07
[10] http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/baltimore-mulls-its-own-municipal-broadband-plan/2014-09-22
[11] http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/connecticut-mayors-make-call-1-gig-broadband-open-access-network/2014-09-16
[12] http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/republicans-rail-against-fcc-chairman-wheelers-municipal-broadband-proposal/2014-08-22
[13] http://www.fiercetelecom.com/special-reports/fiber-hunter-how-improve-internet-access-digging-forgotten-fiber-lines
[14] http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/longmont-colo-employs-calix-its-1-gbps-ftth-network/2014-06-23