Craig Settles

Broadband planners and supporters in Missouri and Tennessee say that legislative battles for publicly owned broadband have reached the tipping point this week. In MO, a bill that would prohibit municipalities from running broadband networks passed in the State Senate Jobs, Economic Development, and Local Government Committee and will move to the full Senate for debate.

In TN, several competing bills are in play, including one touted as a compromise that keeps the ban on municipal networks while allowing co-ops to offer broadband under certain conditions. Other proposals would remove municipal broadband limitations completely. On March 8, the TN bill was amended with the governor’s cooperation to allow co-ops to provide video. The original bill prevented co-ops from providing voice or video over any broadband networks they built. The last-minute change indicates that the wording of the bill is still open to negotiation — either to favor municipalities or to favor the positions of large telecommunications corporations that oppose the measure. In 2016, for example, when the Legislature was on the brink of removing municipal broadband restrictions entirely, AT&T forestalled the vote by helping push through a measure to study the issue for another year.

In 2016, the Appomattox County School District in Virginia used broadband in a unique way to close the “homework gap” for 49 percent. of its students. But now this visionary deployment could be declared null & void by a Virginia state legislator. The Federal Communications Commission changed its rules to allow schools to use eRate-funded broadband after school is over to provide home coverage. The School District built its own fiber network, installed Wi-Fi radios onto the network to reach un-served homes with free service, and also saves the county millions of dollars in leasing fees over five years.

Virginia state legislator Kathy Byron introduced a deceptively name bill that would stop the county’s efforts in its tracks. As the Roanoke Times states, “In the spirit of naming bills the exact opposite of what they would do, her so-called 'Virginia Broadband Deployment Act' [original title] would actually make it harder to extend broadband to areas that don’t presently have it — or don’t have enough of it.” This bill corrupts the notion that communities can best determine and meet their broadband needs.

[Commentary] Now that wireless can comfortably reach 40 to 50 Mbps in the home and gig wireless capacity backhaul is working in the field, can hybrid wired/wireless infrastructure dial back some of the hype? To lower their susceptibility of getting caught up in the hype, community broadband planners could start by understanding that the average person doesn’t much care how they get their data, so long as it's reliable, affordable, secure and fast. Many variations of wireless — including fiber-powered Wi-Fi radios and almost all configurations of fiber — can meet those for criteria.

[Craig Settles assists communities with developing their broadband business and marketing plans, and help communities raise money for broadband projects. ]

Legislation proposed in Virginia and Missouri would tighten the noose that restricts local governments from creating broadband options.

In Virginia, the bill comes from a state delegate with strong ties to the telecommunications industry and with ALEC, the national advocacy group that wrote similar laws for other states. Virginia’s State House Bill 2108 effectively stops cold all of the efforts the state has taken to get broadband in communities through seemingly benign definition. The bill allows municipal networks only in areas that don’t already have broadband – defined as 10 Mbps download speed and 1 Mbps upload.

In Missouri, meanwhile, the state’s current anti-municipal network law, written in 1997, bans public entities from owning and providing telecom services. But it’s always been an implied or assumed ban, even though an exception for broadband was written into the bill. One Missouri city built a network without challenge, and Columbia two years ago planned to play the same “Get Out of Jail Free” card. The Missouri Legislature has been making annual efforts since 2014 to ban muni broadband. This year’s entry is SB 186, which would prohibit retail or wholesale competitive service. By banning wholesale efforts, the bill would prevent a municipality from working with private-sector companies to supply broadband.

[Commentary] There are two ways to approach community broadband networks and “owning the business of broadband”: the problem-solving approach and the creation orientation approach. In creation orientation, you go about the process of creating something that didn’t before exist. This orientation is a different way of thinking about the task at hand, and leads to more effective broadband projects. Hybrid wireless/wired infrastructure facilitates the creation orientation.
[Settles is a broadband business planner who helps communities get more from their broadband investment. He recently wrote Fiber & Wireless – Stronger Together for Community Broadband.]

Google in June stunned some in the broadband world by acquiring wireless provider Webpass and “momentarily” exiting the fiber stage. Hybrid wired/wireless networks became the Next Big Thing – for a month. But what if hybrid infrastructure is the key that unlocks the doors to the next level of community broadband success? This report makes a business case for hybrid infrastructure by assessing community broadband in a historical context, as well as the capabilities of today’s fiber and wireless. Past and current projects can teach us how to get more value from broadband technologies that communities use. It’s time to talk about hybrids because the technologies are stronger together when tackling the opportunities and challenges of community broadband.

[Commentary] President-elect Donald Trump promised to “drain the swamp in Washington” of the lobbyists who feed on policymakers in our nations capital. For a fleeting moment, community broadband advocates were buoyed by populist rhetoric. Then reality sets in as the populist tapped Jeffrey Eisenach, a Verizon lobbyist, to head the team helping to pick staff members at the Federal Communications Commission.

So what’s next for advocates who see community broadband has one effective tool for forcing competition among providers? City and county officials need to use December for intensive strategic planning and forming partnerships with co-ops and private sector allies.

[Craig Settles assists communities with developing their broadband business and marketing plans, and help communities raise money for broadband projects. ]

[Commentary] Americans may be split in national politics, but when the topic is broadband, voters of all persuasions are supporting fewer restrictions on community-sponsored networks. The future of federal funding is uncertain, but that doesn't have to stop communities from moving forward with municipal, cooperative, and public-private broadband initiatives.

[Craig Settles is a broadband industry analyst, consultant to local governments, and author]

[Commentary] For years, we’ve heard “fiber is the future.” Now some innovators, including Google, say fixed wireless could play a bigger role in getting high-speed access to rural America. Lower costs, quicker installation, and the potential of hybrid wired and wireless networks are some of the reasons. As the drive intensifies to have their constituents connected to the rest of the world with highspeed Internet access, leaders of rural towns and counties can meet that need faster and for less money by building hybrid broadband infrastructure. Though it has taken a little more time than has been hoped, wireless could be on the brink of becoming an equal partner with fiber in the rural broadband world.

[Craig Settles is a broadband industry analyst and consultant]

[Commentary] Despite the fact that AT&T and Verizon stores are abundant in many neighborhoods, it doesn’t take much to show that large incumbents do not adequately serve urban communities. Many cities build better, faster, cheaper networks and offer better customer service. And Google's recent news about its move into the wireless world highlights how Google, municipalities and others can bring stronger competition to incumbents. Whether a community network’s customers are individuals, companies or organizations, give them gigabit wired or wireless, and they will be happier, more productive users.