A city in Kansas that plans to expand a fiber broadband network to serve all residents and businesses has to explain itself to local DSL provider AT&T.

Chanute, Kansas, a city of 9,000 residents, needs state permission to issue bonds needed to finance the expansion of its fiber network, which was built to support utility operations and now also serves government facilities, a college, a library, a hospital, and a few business partners. Chanute requested approval to issue the bonds on October 21, saying the expansion would let it offer “Gigabit connectivity to potentially all of Chanute's utility customers.” Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, the AT&T subsidiary, promptly asked the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) for permission to “intervene” in the proceeding, saying the company’s “interests and those of its customers may be affected” by the plan.

AT&T’s petition was approved yesterday. (See the approval letter here.) But Chanute officials are confident their fiber expansion won’t be stopped. “AT&T intervention at this time is just a process. We are not expecting any issues,” Chanute Director of Utilities Larry Gates told Ars.

In response to questions from Ars, AT&T said it doesn’t intend to delay the proceeding and described intervention as a routine procedural matter used when an interested party believes it will be affected by a case and wants the opportunity to receive information and keep up with its developments. “AT&T has not taken a position on this fiber network,” an AT&T spokesperson told Ars. “As a provider in the area, any decision made by the KCC could impact AT&T’s business operations, which is why we asked to intervene in the proceeding.”

According to The Wichita Eagle, “the service the city is planning has a download speed of 1Gbps and is projected to cost $40 a month for city residents. That’s 14 times faster and 60 percent cheaper than the fastest Internet service that Chanute residents can get now. The speed would be as fast as the Google Fiber network being deployed in the Kansas City metropolitan area—and 42 percent cheaper for the customers.” Chanute said it would provide voice and video itself or contract with third-party providers.

AT&T sells DSL service of up to 6Mbps in Chanute; elsewhere in Kansas, AT&T speeds go up to 45Mbps. AT&T’s tentative plan for a nationwide fiber expansion, which AT&T threatened to halt if the US decides to regulate broadband as a utility, includes Kansas City but not Chanute.

Chanute’s application says neither AT&T nor Cable One “offers the level of service throughout Chanute’s utility service area that Chanute will be able to offer its citizens as a result of the investment planned for Chanute’s network.”

Chanute needs state permission because of a state law from 1947 that “requires municipalities to get commission approval for bonds to pay for constructing, expanding, or improving utility service,” The Wichita Eagle wrote. Chanute officials argue that the law is outdated but acknowledged that they need state permission to issue bonds.

Private telecommunications companies have pushed state legislatures to pass laws banning or restricting municipal broadband projects and have won such limits in 20 states. That number doesn’t include the Kansas law, but in January a cable lobbyist group introduced legislation that would have made it almost impossible for cities and towns in Kansas to offer broadband to residents. The bill was killed after widespread protests, including opposition from Chanute.

UPDATE: Shortly after we posted this article, Gates alerted us to a new document in which the KCC staff recommends that the commission approve Chanute's application to issue bonds.