Markey, Internet Association Back FCC on Municipal Broadband Order
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and the Internet Association sided with the FCC in separate amicus briefs defending the agency’s decision to override state authority in Tennessee and North Carolina on barriers to municipal broadband. “The federal interest in developing a…
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national, interconnected advanced telecommunications network will in some cases override local and state policy preferences, as in the case of municipal communications network deployment,” Markey said in his 26-page brief, touting his unique experience in crafting the 1996 Telecom Act. “In such instances, the FCC must use its Section 706 authority to preempt state laws that inhibit those networks.” He defended the virtues of using the Telecom Act’s Section 706: “Congress enacted Section 706 knowing the FCC’s long and extensive history with using preemption as one of its regulating methods.” The Internet Association also defended the FCC’s move to override restrictive state laws. “In urging this Court to reverse the Commission’s decision, Petitioners and their amici ask the Court to take a step in the opposite direction, toward retrenchment, even in the face of the startling evidence regarding the state of broadband deployment and competition in America,” the Internet Association said. The challenge to the FCC’s pre-emption order is taking place in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Tennessee v. FCC, No. 15-3291, North Carolina v. FCC, No. 15-3555).