FierceTelecom - February 15, 2017

Telco, cable-backed Missouri bill could limit municipal broadband growth, opposition group says

Written by Sean Buckley

A new broadband battle is brewing in Missouri as the state’s largest telcos and cable operators are backing a new bill to limit municipal broadband.

The new bill, SB 186, which was introduced by Senator Ed Emery, R-Lamar, seeks to limit the power of municipalities to provide competition to entrenched incumbent service providers.

SB 186, according to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, imposes restrictions on local governments to provide retail and wholesale bandwidth services.

“This legislation is trying to cut off communities at every turn by limiting any sort of ‘competitive service,’ whether it comes from public broadband infrastructure investment or a public-private partnership” said Christopher Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in a statement. “Missouri should be encouraging investment and local Internet choice, not working with monopoly lobbyists to prevent it.”

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Read the full story here.

In Missouri, the Senate Local Government and Elections Committee has quietly held on to Sen. Ed Emery’s SB 186. The legislation is another bill handed off from big corporate providers and designed to squash municipal networks. If it looks familiar, it should - it’s identical to last year’s HB 2078, that made a dramatic run through the legislature only to be withdrawn at the last moment. SB 186 will have its first hearing on Tuesday, February 14th, at 10:00 a.m.

Enough Already

As with HB 2078, this bill expands already existing laws that discourage local investment and impinge on local telecommunications authority. Missouri’s rural areas already have difficulties obtaining high-quality Internet access and some rural areas have no access at all. SB 186 prevents local communities from using their own infrastructure to partner with private providers. Large corporate incumbents, fearing public private partnerships, want to ensure that they can protect their practical monopolies from both municipal networks and new entrants.

In late January, the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC) organized a number of associations, advocacy groups, and private telecommunications companies who wanted to speak out against SB 186. They submitted a letter of opposition to the Chair and Members of the committee. The signatories described the bill as:

“…[H]arming both the public and private sectors, stifling economic growth, preventing the creation or retention of jobs around the State, particularly in rural areas, hampering work-force development, and diminishing the quality of life in Missouri.”

Call To Kill

In Missouri, the Senate Local Government and Elections Committee has quietly held on to Sen. Ed Emery’s SB 186. The legislation is another bill handed off from big corporate providers and designed to squash municipal networks. If it looks familiar, it should - it’s identical to last year’s HB 2078, that made a dramatic run through the legislature only to be withdrawn at the last moment. SB 186 will have its first hearing on Tuesday, February 14th, at 10:00 a.m.

Enough Already

As with HB 2078, this bill expands already existing laws that discourage local investment and impinge on local telecommunications authority. Missouri’s rural areas already have difficulties obtaining high-quality Internet access and some rural areas have no access at all. SB 186 prevents local communities from using their own infrastructure to partner with private providers. Large corporate incumbents, fearing public private partnerships, want to ensure that they can protect their practical monopolies from both municipal networks and new entrants.

In late January, the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC) organized a number of associations, advocacy groups, and private telecommunications companies who wanted to speak out against SB 186. They submitted a letter of opposition to the Chair and Members of the committee. The signatories described the bill as:

“…[H]arming both the public and private sectors, stifling economic growth, preventing the creation or retention of jobs around the State, particularly in rural areas, hampering work-force development, and diminishing the quality of life in Missouri.”

Call To Kill

In Missouri, the Senate Local Government and Elections Committee has quietly held on to Sen. Ed Emery’s SB 186. The legislation is another bill handed off from big corporate providers and designed to squash municipal networks. If it looks familiar, it should - it’s identical to last year’s HB 2078, that made a dramatic run through the legislature only to be withdrawn at the last moment. SB 186 will have its first hearing on Tuesday, February 14th, at 10:00 a.m.

Enough Already

As with HB 2078, this bill expands already existing laws that discourage local investment and impinge on local telecommunications authority. Missouri’s rural areas already have difficulties obtaining high-quality Internet access and some rural areas have no access at all. SB 186 prevents local communities from using their own infrastructure to partner with private providers. Large corporate incumbents, fearing public private partnerships, want to ensure that they can protect their practical monopolies from both municipal networks and new entrants.

In late January, the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC) organized a number of associations, advocacy groups, and private telecommunications companies who wanted to speak out against SB 186. They submitted a letter of opposition to the Chair and Members of the committee. The signatories described the bill as:

“…[H]arming both the public and private sectors, stifling economic growth, preventing the creation or retention of jobs around the State, particularly in rural areas, hampering work-force development, and diminishing the quality of life in Missouri.”

Call To Kill

In Missouri, the Senate Local Government and Elections Committee has quietly held on to Sen. Ed Emery’s SB 186. The legislation is another bill handed off from big corporate providers and designed to squash municipal networks. If it looks familiar, it should - it’s identical to last year’s HB 2078, that made a dramatic run through the legislature only to be withdrawn at the last moment. SB 186 will have its first hearing on Tuesday, February 14th, at 10:00 a.m.

Enough Already

As with HB 2078, this bill expands already existing laws that discourage local investment and impinge on local telecommunications authority. Missouri’s rural areas already have difficulties obtaining high-quality Internet access and some rural areas have no access at all. SB 186 prevents local communities from using their own infrastructure to partner with private providers. Large corporate incumbents, fearing public private partnerships, want to ensure that they can protect their practical monopolies from both municipal networks and new entrants.

In late January, the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC) organized a number of associations, advocacy groups, and private telecommunications companies who wanted to speak out against SB 186. They submitted a letter of opposition to the Chair and Members of the committee. The signatories described the bill as:

“…[H]arming both the public and private sectors, stifling economic growth, preventing the creation or retention of jobs around the State, particularly in rural areas, hampering work-force development, and diminishing the quality of life in Missouri.”

Call To Kill

As bills in Virginia and Missouri state legislatures are up for review this year, take a few minutes to listen to Christopher Mitchell and Lisa Gonzalez discuss state preemption, past, present, and future in episode 10 of the Building Local Power podcast. 

John Farrell from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance talks to them about the power of lobbying at the state level and how large national providers aim to control the market by using state laws. We’ve seen it happen in about 20 states and now local authority advocates are fighting to prevent HB 2108 ("Byron’s Bad Broadband Bill") in Virginia and a repeat of last year’s battle in Missouri with SB 186. If those state restrictions are allowed to become law, better connectivity for rural communities will be even more difficult to achieve because municipal networks will be all but stamped out. 

“These big cable and telephone companies are against competition,” says Chris Mitchell. “For them, they’ve grown up in monopoly environments. They are opposed to private-sector competition and public-sector competition.”

During the interview, Christopher and Lisa share examples of cost savings, economic development, and improved quality of life in communities where the big providers could not justify investment. Learn more about the who, what, and why companies like AT&T, Comcast, and CenturyLink spend millions on lobbying efforts in state capitols.

Building Local Power Podcast

This is episode 10 of the Building Local Power podcast, a series that shares the work of staff at the Institute and focuses on local initiatives. With the current state of affairs so uncertain at the federal level, taking action in your own community is more important than ever. New episodes air every other week.

As bills in Virginia and Missouri state legislatures are up for review this year, take a few minutes to listen to Christopher Mitchell and Lisa Gonzalez discuss state preemption, past, present, and future in episode 10 of the Building Local Power podcast. 

John Farrell from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance talks to them about the power of lobbying at the state level and how large national providers aim to control the market by using state laws. We’ve seen it happen in about 20 states and now local authority advocates are fighting to prevent HB 2108 ("Byron’s Bad Broadband Bill") in Virginia and a repeat of last year’s battle in Missouri with SB 186. If those state restrictions are allowed to become law, better connectivity for rural communities will be even more difficult to achieve because municipal networks will be all but stamped out. 

“These big cable and telephone companies are against competition,” says Chris Mitchell. “For them, they’ve grown up in monopoly environments. They are opposed to private-sector competition and public-sector competition.”

During the interview, Christopher and Lisa share examples of cost savings, economic development, and improved quality of life in communities where the big providers could not justify investment. Learn more about the who, what, and why companies like AT&T, Comcast, and CenturyLink spend millions on lobbying efforts in state capitols.

Building Local Power Podcast

This is episode 10 of the Building Local Power podcast, a series that shares the work of staff at the Institute and focuses on local initiatives. With the current state of affairs so uncertain at the federal level, taking action in your own community is more important than ever. New episodes air every other week.

As bills in Virginia and Missouri state legislatures are up for review this year, take a few minutes to listen to Christopher Mitchell and Lisa Gonzalez discuss state preemption, past, present, and future in episode 10 of the Building Local Power podcast. 

John Farrell from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance talks to them about the power of lobbying at the state level and how large national providers aim to control the market by using state laws. We’ve seen it happen in about 20 states and now local authority advocates are fighting to prevent HB 2108 ("Byron’s Bad Broadband Bill") in Virginia and a repeat of last year’s battle in Missouri with SB 186. If those state restrictions are allowed to become law, better connectivity for rural communities will be even more difficult to achieve because municipal networks will be all but stamped out. 

“These big cable and telephone companies are against competition,” says Chris Mitchell. “For them, they’ve grown up in monopoly environments. They are opposed to private-sector competition and public-sector competition.”

During the interview, Christopher and Lisa share examples of cost savings, economic development, and improved quality of life in communities where the big providers could not justify investment. Learn more about the who, what, and why companies like AT&T, Comcast, and CenturyLink spend millions on lobbying efforts in state capitols.

Building Local Power Podcast

This is episode 10 of the Building Local Power podcast, a series that shares the work of staff at the Institute and focuses on local initiatives. With the current state of affairs so uncertain at the federal level, taking action in your own community is more important than ever. New episodes air every other week.

As bills in Virginia and Missouri state legislatures are up for review this year, take a few minutes to listen to Christopher Mitchell and Lisa Gonzalez discuss state preemption, past, present, and future in episode 10 of the Building Local Power podcast. 

John Farrell from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance talks to them about the power of lobbying at the state level and how large national providers aim to control the market by using state laws. We’ve seen it happen in about 20 states and now local authority advocates are fighting to prevent HB 2108 ("Byron’s Bad Broadband Bill") in Virginia and a repeat of last year’s battle in Missouri with SB 186. If those state restrictions are allowed to become law, better connectivity for rural communities will be even more difficult to achieve because municipal networks will be all but stamped out. 

“These big cable and telephone companies are against competition,” says Chris Mitchell. “For them, they’ve grown up in monopoly environments. They are opposed to private-sector competition and public-sector competition.”

During the interview, Christopher and Lisa share examples of cost savings, economic development, and improved quality of life in communities where the big providers could not justify investment. Learn more about the who, what, and why companies like AT&T, Comcast, and CenturyLink spend millions on lobbying efforts in state capitols.

Building Local Power Podcast

This is episode 10 of the Building Local Power podcast, a series that shares the work of staff at the Institute and focuses on local initiatives. With the current state of affairs so uncertain at the federal level, taking action in your own community is more important than ever. New episodes air every other week.

As bills in Virginia and Missouri state legislatures are up for review this year, take a few minutes to listen to Christopher Mitchell and Lisa Gonzalez discuss state preemption, past, present, and future in episode 10 of the Building Local Power podcast. 

John Farrell from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance talks to them about the power of lobbying at the state level and how large national providers aim to control the market by using state laws. We’ve seen it happen in about 20 states and now local authority advocates are fighting to prevent HB 2108 ("Byron’s Bad Broadband Bill") in Virginia and a repeat of last year’s battle in Missouri with SB 186. If those state restrictions are allowed to become law, better connectivity for rural communities will be even more difficult to achieve because municipal networks will be all but stamped out. 

“These big cable and telephone companies are against competition,” says Chris Mitchell. “For them, they’ve grown up in monopoly environments. They are opposed to private-sector competition and public-sector competition.”

During the interview, Christopher and Lisa share examples of cost savings, economic development, and improved quality of life in communities where the big providers could not justify investment. Learn more about the who, what, and why companies like AT&T, Comcast, and CenturyLink spend millions on lobbying efforts in state capitols.

Building Local Power Podcast

This is episode 10 of the Building Local Power podcast, a series that shares the work of staff at the Institute and focuses on local initiatives. With the current state of affairs so uncertain at the federal level, taking action in your own community is more important than ever. New episodes air every other week.