FCC Has No Standing in State Broadband Laws

The success of public broadband is a mixed record, with numerous examples of failures — from St. Cloud (FL) and Groton City (CT) to Philadelphia and the Utah Telecommunications Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA). With state taxpayers on the financial hook when a municipal broadband network goes under, it is entirely reasonable for state legislatures to be cautious in limiting or even prohibiting that activity. For this and other reasons, USTelecom opposes the petitions filed by the city of Wilson (NC) and the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga (TN) asking the Federal Communications Commission to preempt state laws restricting public entities from offering broadband service. The FCC should not interfere with state decisions on how best to extend broadband service.