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How the FCC’s Actions Could Affect Municipalities

While the Federal Communications Commission's so-called "net neutrality" decision this past Thursday (Feb. 26) continues drawing attention from the mainstream media, another action by the regulator could have a profound effect on the future of municipalities across the nation -- especially for cities still struggling to spur business and residential growth.   The FCC, on a 3-2 vote, approved a measure allowing two municipally-owned Internet service providers (ISPs) to expand beyond their existing footprint -- despite state laws that forbid them to do so or otherwise make it too difficult for them to even to want to.   A spokesperson for Chattanooga’s Electric Power Board, which provides both broadband connectivity and electricity, said that the municipal utility regularly receives requests from rural Tennessee communities nearby to provide service. Until Thursday, though, that sort of thing was now allowed. Now it is. And that's a good thing. Many local communities need better access to the Internet in order to strengthen and diversify their economies, but the big telecom firms often don’t view deployment everywhere as lucrative enough to bother.   It’s important to remember, though, that with respect to the FCC’s actions, other cities governed by state restrictions are still bound by them -- at least for the time being. The FCC only overruled the state laws for two municipally owned ISPs. In fact, other communities in Tennessee and North Carolina would still be subject to the state laws there, unless they too petition the Commission. That said, it’s r [...]

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2/27/15 4:26 PM

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Reprinted from Community Development Digest  http://www.cdpublications.com/cdd/ - Try a sample