Reform bill would hobble muni nets

Advocates of community broadband networks are already planning to fight some segments of Sen. John Ensign’s telecom reform legislation and they may have an advocate in one of his co-sponsors.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) agreed to co-sponsor Ensign’s reform bill, even though it severely limits municipally own broadband networks by imposing requirements that many think are impossible to meet. According to a McCain staff member, however, he will continue to back his own measure, introduced last June with Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), that gives municipalities the right to build, own and operate their own networks.

“I believe [Ensign’s] legislation would promote competition and reduce regulation in order to secure lower prices and higher quality services for consumers and encourage the rapid deployment of new technologies,” he said in a prepared statement. “While this legislation does offer an alternative approach from the one I have advocated for addressing the municipal broadband issue, I still felt compelled to sign on as an original co-sponsor because I believe the legislation is an excellent step toward deregulating the industry. If we are serious about providing Americans more choices and better technologies, this deregulatory bill provides the framework to do so.”

McCain added that he looks forward to working with Ensign (R-Nev.) and others to achieve President George W. Bush’s goal of “universal, affordable access for broadband technology by the year 2007.”

Most advocates of municipal networks declined to comment on the record Wednesday, just hours after Ensign’s Broadband Investment and Consumer Choice Act was introduced because they want to study its rather complex provisions where municipal networks are concerned.

“We need to study this a little more,” said Libby Beaty, executive director of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisers. “Sen. Ensign made it clear he is very concerned about insuring local governments have a role to play. We look forward to working with him on this.”

The good news is that Congress is showing an interest “in broadband investment and consumer choice,” said Joe Savage of the Fiber to the Home Council. “We do have a small difference with this bill in that our position is that anyone should be able to build a broadband network if they are willing to pay for it. There’s a second difference as well – we’d like to see some sort of broadband requirements in order to get all the benefits of deregulation.”

In fact, the Ensign bill sets the broadband bar very low – calling any service over 64 kilobits per second a broadband service. In addition, off the record, multiple sources within the muni network community said they believe Ensign is setting up an unworkable situation. Of specific concerns to community broadband advocates are the bill’s requirements which state that municipalities must not only allow private companies to bid on their broadband networks but also list all of the government’s potential advantages – such as non-profit status and funding through government bonds – and then share those advantages with the private entities. The private entities would then be the preferred provider, if they proceed.

Ensign said in his floor statement that this part of his measure should not spark controversy.

“Many are looking to find controversy on the issue of municipal networks,” he said. “You will not find an extreme policy in this bill. We encourage new investment in communities that may be unserved. We say that if local governments are willing to put up funds, and offer favorable tax treatment and free rights-of-way – make those same advantages available to private industry. If private industry doesn’t show up and offer to build – we would encourage local governments to go ahead and build their project. In this way, we ensure consumers get new services, but ensure that government isn’t competing unfairly, or unnecessarily with private industry.”