President Obama today called for an end to state laws that restrict the rights of cities and towns to build their own broadband networks.

In a report titled, "Community-based broadband solutions: The benefits of competition and choice for community development and highspeed Internet access," the White House said it wants to "end laws that harm broadband service competition."

"Laws in 19 states—some specifically written by special interests trying to stifle new competitors—have held back broadband access and, with it, economic opportunity," the report said. "Today President Obama is announcing a new effort to support local choice in broadband, formally opposing measures that limit the range of options to available to communities to spur expanded local broadband infrastructure, including ownership of networks. As a first step, the Administration is filing a letter with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging it to join this effort by addressing barriers inhibiting local communities from responding to the broadband needs of their citizens."

The FCC is already examining these state laws, and considering whether it can invalidate them by using its authority to promote competition in local telecommunications markets by removing barriers that impede infrastructure investment. Community broadband providers in Tennessee and North Carolina recently petitioned the FCC to preempt state laws that prevent them from expanding.

There are also limits on municipal broadband in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. A similar law in Missouri has an exception for "Internet-type" services, but a state legislator is trying to impose new restrictions on municipal broadband there too.

This is the second time in recent months in which Obama has taken stances on major issues at the FCC. In November, he called on the FCC to reclassify broadband as a common carrier service in order to impose net neutrality rules. After initial resistance, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler now appears ready to do just that.

Beyond those 19 state laws, there may be more restrictions on broadband that should be removed, the White House said. "The President is calling for the Federal Government to remove all unnecessary regulatory and policy barriers to broadband build-out and competition, and is establishing a new Broadband Opportunity Council of over a dozen government agencies with the singular goal of speeding up broadband deployment and promoting adoptions for our citizens," the report said. "The Council will also solicit public comment on unnecessary regulatory barriers and opportunities to promote greater coordination with the aim of addressing those within its scope."

Obama is scheduled to speak about broadband at a community Internet service provider in Iowa tomorrow. The White House report said the US Internet market is seeing a "declining level of competition at higher speeds."

"At speeds of 4 Mbps or less, 75 percent of consumers have a choice between two or more fixed providers, and 15 percent can select among three or more ISPs. However, in the market for Internet service that can deliver 25 Mbps downstream—the speed increasingly recognized as a baseline to get the full benefits of Internet access—three out of four Americans do not have a choice between providers," the report said.

Wheeler last week proposed changing the official definition of broadband from 4Mbps downstream and 1Mbps upstream to 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up.

Obama argues that community-based broadband can boost competition and help Internet users.

"In markets where private competition is anemic, whether because of regulatory barriers to entry or the high fixed costs of infrastructure investment, town and cities can build their own middle-mile networks and offer competitive access to the private sector, as Scott County, MN has done," the report said. "Or municipalities can provide service directly to consumers, like in Chattanooga, TN. In either case, municipalities are creating more choices for consumers, fostering competition and creating opportunities for economic growth. Municipal broadband is often a logical choice for towns and cities that are already served by a municipal electric utility, since infrastructure costs can be shared across those two services, just as private cable companies leveraged their networks to provide Internet service. Hundreds of towns and cities around the country have experimented with these networks and created tremendous benefits for consumers and businesses."

The White House wants to help individual communities build better broadband networks, by publishing guides and offering online and in-person technical assistance to communities looking to "address problems in address problems in broadband infrastructure planning, financing, construction, and operations across many types of business models."

Additionally, the Department of Agriculture plans a "revamped" broadband loan program for rural carriers to bring high-speed Internet to unserved and underserved areas.