ISPs try to kill open-access fiber network, avoid competition

Private Internet service providers (ISPs) are speaking out against a proposal to build a publicly funded fiber network in West Virginia. A state senator introduced a bill that would deploy more than 2,000 miles of fiber optic cable. The state-owned and operated network would include only middle-mile infrastructure and not the "last mile" fiber connections that extend to people's homes and businesses. This network would be open access, however, so any Internet service provider could gain access to the lines and build last-mile facilities to offer service directly to customers. That arrangement would make it easier for small Internet service providers to compete against the big ones. Naturally, small ISPs support the project while big ISPs oppose it.

“This bill would obligate the state to borrow between $75 million and $100 million, and it wouldn’t guarantee that a single rural customer who doesn’t have broadband service would get it,” West Virginia Cable Television Association Chief Mark Polen said. The cable association includes Suddenlink, Comcast, Shentel, Time Warner Cable, and others. “The state-financed, state-owned, and state-operated fiber network will be in direct competition with the private investments our members have made in West Virginia,” Polen said. Frontier Communications, the state's largest Internet provider, also opposes the project.