How States Are Fighting to Keep Towns From Offering Their Own Broadband

The attorneys general in North Carolina and Tennessee have recently filed lawsuits in an attempt to overrule the Federal Communications Commission and block towns in these states from expanding publicly funded Internet service. North Carolina’s attorney general argued in a suit filed in May that the “FCC unlawfully inserted itself between the State and the State’s political subdivisions.” Tennessee’s attorney general filed a similar suit in March. Tennessee has hired one of the country’s largest telecommunications lobbying and law firms, Wiley Rein, to represent the state in its suit. The firm, founded by a former FCC Chairman, has represented AT&T, Verizon and Qwest, among others.

James Tierney, director of the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia Law School, said it is not unusual for attorneys general to seek outside counsel for specialized cases that they view as a priority. Asked about the suit, the Tennessee attorney general’s office said, “This is a question of the state’s sovereign ability to define the role of its local governmental units.” North Carolina Attorney General’s office said in a statement that the “legal defense of state laws by the Attorney General’s office is a statutory requirement.”