Virginia House Passes (Another) Bill Restricting Local Broadband The Virginia House has passed a new bill, supported by the broadband industry, that could hamstring locals looking to build their own broadband networks (or partnering with private companies) -- even in locations incumbent ISPs have neglected. Many local news outlets and websites like Stop The Cap have noted the bill's sponsor, Virginia's Delegate Kathy Byron, has been a proud recipient of telecom industry cash for years, and is also on the council of ALEC, the organization ISPs use to ghost write legislation they then lobby (read: pay) to have passed.

The Roanoke Times notes that Byron's misleadingly-named "Broadband Deployment Act" passed 72-24 after notable criticism from local Virginia communities. Byron softened the language of the bill significantly to ease the bill's passage. She claims the bill now focuses on ensuring that municipal broadband operators keep "transparent records," but existing (and already hamstrung) municipal operations in Roanoke, Salem and Botetourt counties already have open books and records -- and public board meetings. Critics say the bill still exists primarily to protect state duopolies from communities looking to do something about years of sub-standard service and regional broadband market failure. They also complained the bill also opens up municipal broadband providers to intense scrutiny from state boards and other councils that tend to be stocked with AT&T and other ISP lobbyists -- or regulators whose primary purpose is protecting giant telecom company revenues in exchange for campaign contributions. While this new version is notably better than the version Byron initially tabled, the legislation remains, as they say, a solution in search of a problem. It's unclear if the bill in its current form will pass the Virginia senate. This is the second bill crafted in Virginia that restricts community municipal broadband options, and there are more than 20 such bills currently in place in states around the country. "Once again, we see a state legislature prioritizing the anti-competitive instincts of a few telephone companies over the need for more investment and the desire for more choices in rural communities across their state," notes Christopher Mitchell, Director of the Community Broadband Networks initiative at the "Once again, we see a state legislature prioritizing the anti-competitive instincts of a few telephone companies over the need for more investment and the desire for more choices in rural communities across their state," notes Christopher Mitchell, Director of the Community Broadband Networks initiative at the Institute for Local Self Reliance , a group that advocating for the communities most politicians pretend to serve. "Virginia's communities need more investment and more choices from ISPs, not new barriers crafted by powerful lobbyists in Richmond."







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Most recommended from 57 comments

Angrychair

join:2000-09-20

Jacksonville, FL 18 recommendations Angrychair Member Keep voting republican Whatever you do, Virginia, don't vote Dems, the Republicans will protect you from the broadband. wkm001

join:2009-12-14 7 recommendations wkm001 Member I called Kathy Byron I live in Salem and work in Roanoke. Cox Cable covers Roanoke and Comcast covers Salem. Verizon DSL is awful in both cities and they never considered deploying FIOS. There is a fixed wireless provider in the area but their speeds are quite slow.



I called Kathy Byron last week and left a message. Surprisingly she never called me back. I bet she calls the telecom lobbyists back when they leave a message.