Colo. Broadband Office to Seek Repeal of State Muni Ban
DENVER -- Colorado will try to end a state restriction on municipal broadband at the next legislative session, Colorado Broadband Office Executive Director Brandy Reitter said at the NATOA conference Tuesday. In panels on the broadband, equity access and deployment (BEAD) program and other federal infrastructure money, FCC and NTIA officials urged local governments to engage in state and federal broadband efforts.
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Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., hopes “to go back … and address” possible federal preemption of state limits on muni broadband on Capitol Hill, he said in a keynote. His Bridge Act would have included preemption, but Congress didn’t include that in the final law to provide broadband funding. Bennet thinks it might have gotten through if he had more time to talk to Republican colleagues, who were skeptical since it was mostly red states with limits, the Democrat said. Bennet told NATOA attendees he will help push NTIA to stand firm on statutory requirements not to exclude local governments.
“Communities need choice” and “competition,” said Bennet. “And when the private market won’t provide the quality broadband people need, local governments should have the freedom to offer it directly.” Allowing muni broadband creates competition that can spur industry to do more, he said. But slow permitting also is “counterproductive,” said Bennet, saying he wants to “drag our permitting processes into the 21st century.”
Many local governments opted out of Colorado's 2005 restriction by holding ballot votes, and more plan to vote in November, but getting rid of the ban known as SB-152 is on the state broadband office’s agenda for the legislative session beginning in January, Reitter said. Nearly 120 of 217 municipalities and 44 of 64 counties opted out of the Colorado bill (see 2204060039 and 2111030049).
The 2005 state ban is archaic and hasn’t worked for industry or local governments, said Reitter, noting opting out is costly. It should be easier to remove the ban in the current environment than it was 10 years ago, the official said. For grants, Reitter doesn’t care if a local government has already opted out of SB-152, she said. “Just apply.”
Colorado’s broadband office has approval from the governor’s office to seek legislation to remove the muni broadband ban, Reitter told us later. Rather than seek a straight repeaI of the 2005 law, the bill probably will propose a “repeal and replace,” which industry is more likely to support, she said.
Momentum is building in Colorado to remove its muni broadband ban, said Keller and Heckman’s Sean Stokes on a later panel: Other states with restrictions should also repeal such laws or provide waivers, the local government attorney said. States that continue to restrict local broadband should get “dinged” by NTIA in the BEAD program, he said.
The FCC wants local governments to participate in map challenges to improve their accuracy, said Eduard Bartholme, FCC Broadband Data Taskforce senior director-outreach, on the earlier panel. After a Sept. 1 filing window closes for collecting availability data from ISPs, the FCC will that month open the broadband fabric challenge process when states, local governments and tribes may weigh in, said Bartholme. The FCC expects to release its first set of maps this fall and will then take challenges to availability reported by ISPs, he told NATOA: "We really do want you to engage here.”
"This is not an easy undertaking,” said Bartholme. “There is no ... starting point list of every location.” Old Form 477 data left "a lot to be desired," historically overstating broadband availability, he said: Mapping will be an ongoing and iterative process.
Local governments should work with states now, while many are developing infrastructure funding strategies, Reitter said. Colorado included localities in its process and incorporated some existing municipal plans in its state strategy, she said.
Localities should find out what speeds residents are actually getting at their homes, said NTIA Broadband Specialist Sarah Bleau on the next panel. When states come out with initial plans, make sure what localities want to see is represented, she said. “This is local because you know the issues in your communities better than anybody else.”
General Counsel Nancy Werner will depart NATOA to become a partner Sept. 15 at the Bradley law firm, which will be renamed Bradley Werner, she told us Tuesday. Werner will continue working on local telecom issues.