[grc] Ban on municipal broadband lifted

[Sabrina Roach]

Tom,

I'm so excited to see you post this piece about the big municipal broadband
win in Colorado.

I see municipal broadband and community media as closely linked, so I
initiated a campaign called  Upgrade Seattle.

We worked with our city council to amend our mayor's proposed budget to
include a 5 M municipal broadband pilot project. They vote tomorrow! Keep
your fingers crossed.

Best,
Sabrina

PS: Posting about it to social media helps.

Coverage:

Puget Sound Business Journal
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2015/11/seattle-council-to-vote-on-municipal-broadband.html

The Stranger
http://www.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/2015/11/09/23128952/small-businesses-face-internet-dead-zone-in-sodo-after-sprint-shutters-wireless-network

Geekwire
http://www.geekwire.com/2015/seattle-officials-debate-5m-proposal-to-test-municipal-broadband-in-one-part-of-town/




On Sun, Nov 15, 2015 at 1:32 PM, Tom Voorhees <juice at whidbey.com> wrote:

> 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:
> ------
> [1]
> http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/seven-colorado-cities-counties-lift-10-year-ban-municipal-broadband-investm/2015-11-04?utm_medium=nl&amp;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
>
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