[grc] We Can Save Community Broadband Fiber

[Tom Voorhees]

FTTH, Fiber To The Home, can reduce concerns of folks sensitive to
gigahertz of radio radiation from cell / smart phones.
Tom.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/08/community-broadband-and-fcc-net-neutrality-still-begins-home
[1]

THE FCC CAN'T SAVE COMMUNITY BROADBAND -- BUT WE CAN

Last year, while most of us were focused on the FCC’s Open Internet Order
to protect net neutrality, the FCC quietly did one more thing: it voted to
override certain state regulations that inhibit the development and
expansion of community broadband projects. The net neutrality rules have
since been upheld [2], but last week a federal appeals court rejected
[3]FCC’s separate effort to preempt state law. 

The FCC’s goals were laudable. Municipalities and local communities have
been experimenting with ways to foster alternatives to big broadband
providers like Comcast and Time/Warner. Done right, community fiber
experiments have the potential to create options [4] that empower Internet
subscribers and make Internet access more affordable. For example,
Chattanooga, Tennessee, is home to one of the nation’s least expensive,
most robust municipally-owned broadband networks. The city decided to build
a high-speed network initially to meet the needs of the city’s electric
company. Then, the local government learned that the cable companies would
not be upgrading their Internet service fast enough to meet the city's
needs. So the electric utility also became an ISP, and the residents of
Chattanooga now have access to a gigabit (1,000 megabits) per second
Internet connection. That’s far ahead of the average US connection speed,
which typically clocks in at 9.8 megabits per second. 

But 19 states have laws designed to inhibit experiments like these, which
is why the FCC decided to take action, arguing that its mandate to promote
broadband competition gave it the authority to override state laws
inhibiting community broadband. The court disagreed, finding that the FCC
had overstepped its legal authority to regulate. 

While the communities that looked to the FCC for help are understandably
disappointed, the ruling should offer some reassurance for those who worry
about FCC overreach. Here, as with net neutrality rulings prior to the
latest one, we see that the courts can and will rein in the FCC if it goes
beyond its mandate. 

But there are other lessons to be learned from the decision. One is that we
cannot rely on the FCC alone to promote high speed Internet access. If a
community wants the chance to take control of its Internet options, it must
organize the political will to make it happen – including the will to
challenge state regulations that stand in the way. Those regulations were
doubtless passed to protect incumbent Internet access providers, but we
have seen that a determined public can fight those interests and win. [5]
This time, the effort must begin at home. Here are a few ideas [6]: 

LIGHT UP THE DARK FIBER, FOSTER COMPETIITON

In most U.S. cities there is only one option [7] for high-speed broadband
access. And this lack of competition means that users can’t vote with
their feet when monopoly providers like Comcast or Verizon discriminate
among Internet users in harmful ways. On the flipside, a lack of
competition leaves these large Internet providers with little incentive to
offer better service. 

It doesn't have to be that way. Right now, 89 U.S. cities provide residents
with high-speed home Internet, but dozens of additional cities across the
country have the infrastructure, such as dark fiber, to either offer
high-speed broadband Internet to residents or lease out the fiber to new
Internet access providers to bring more competition to the marketplace (the
option we prefer). 

“Dark fiber” refers to unused fiber optic lines already laid in cities
around the country, intended to provide high speed, affordable Internet
access to residents. In San Francisco, for example, more than 110 miles of
fiber optic cable run under the city. Only a fraction of that fiber network
is being used. 

And San Francisco isn’t alone. Cities across the country have invested in
laying fiber to connect nonprofits, schools, and government offices with
high-speed Internet. That fiber can be used by Internet service startups to
help deliver service to residents, reducing the expensive initial
investment it takes to enter this market. 

So the infrastructure to provide municipal alternatives is there in many
places—we just need the will and savvy to make it a reality that works. 

"DIG ONCE"—A NO BRAINER

Building the infrastructure for high-speed internet is expensive. One big
expense is tearing up the streets to build out an underground network. But
cities regularly have to tear up streets for all kinds of reasons, such as
upgrading sewer lines. They should take advantage of this work to create a
network of conduits, and then let any company that wants to route their
cables through that network, cutting the cost of broadband deployment. 

CHALLENGE ARTIFICIAL POLITICAL AND LEGAL BARRIERS

In addition to state regulations, many cities have created their own
unnecessary barriers to their efforts to light up dark fiber or extend
existing networks. Take Washington, D.C., where the city’s fiber is bound
up in a non-compete contract with Comcast, keeping the network from serving
businesses and residents. If that's the case in your town, you should
demand better from your representatives. In addition, when there's a local
meeting to consider new construction, demand that they include a plan for
installing conduit. 

These are just a few ideas; you can find more here [8], along with a wealth
of resources. It’s going to take a constellation of solutions to keep our
Internet open, but we don't need to wait on regulators and legislators in
D.C. This is one area where we can all be leaders. We can organize locally
and tell our elected officials to invest in protecting our open Internet. 


Links:
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[1] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/08/community-broadband-and-fcc-net-neutrality-still-begins-home
[2] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/06/net-neutrality-rules-upheld-go-team-internet
[3] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/08/in-blow-to-muni-broadband-fcc-loses-bid-to-overturn-state-laws/
[4] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/07/hate-your-isp-maybe-you-need-community-fiber
[5] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/02/fcc-votes-net-neutrality-big-win
[6] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/06/neutrality-begins-home-what-us-mayors-can-do-right-now-support-neutral-internet
[7] http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/09/most-of-the-us-has-no-broadband-competition-at-25mbps-fcc-chair-says/
[8] https://muninetworks.org/content/community-connectivity-toolkit