Charter Communications does not like Brownsville, Texas's new universal access broadband network

Telecom giant Charter Communications, known to many as Spectrum, does not like the City of Brownsville (TX)'s new multi-million broadband network project. That was made clear by Todd Baxter, Charter’s group vice president for state government affairs. When asked about how he thinks the state of Texas should get fully wired -- and whether it was the job of the private sector, public-private partnerships, municipal broadband or a combination -- Baxter said, "Brownsville is very well served and ubiquitously served by the private sector right now. So, I think a really good question that should be asked is, should government money be being used to over-bill the private sector to build redundant networks when, in fact, local governments should be looking to partner with the private sector, who already has networks in those towns. And so I would question whether that is actually a good use of taxpayer dollars. I think that is the question that should be asked.” Gov Greg Abbott (R-TX) responded, "“A primary goal of the legislation that we passed, a primary goal of the half a billion dollars that we provide in funding is to make sure that those with no access to broadband whatsoever are going to be able to get it. Those who live in rural settings, like those that were mentioned in Penitas, they are going without it and they need it. That said, there are multiple platforms that are available to make sure that those in Brownsville will be able to get that."