AT&T Hides Anti-Muni-Broadband Language in Missouri Traffic Bill Earlier this year, AT&T tried to pass a Missouri bill that would hinder towns and cities from improving local broadband and even partnering with private companies like Google Fiber. We've discussed for years how AT&T has managed to get more than 19 such bills passed in states nationwide, all of them claiming to be motivated out of concern for taxpayers' well being, but in reality focused on protecting AT&T from the remotest specter of real competition. Missouri already passed one such bill in 1997, and AT&T's been working to expand it ever since.

But AT&T has a problem. Passing these bills used to be easy, as the company could simply encourage partisan bickering to distract the public from the fact that AT&T's sole motivation is keeping broadband markets uncompetitive. But as efforts from the like of Google Fiber and Ting have highlighted that public/private partnerships are a good way to shore up broadband coverage and competition gaps, public sentiment has generally cemented against these kinds of protectionist laws. In fact, most municipal broadband networks are now being built in Conservative areas, with broad, bi-partisan support among consumers annoyed by slow speeds and high prices. So when AT&T's latest attempt at broadband protectionism, HB 2078, stalled in the Missouri legislature last month, AT&T devised a clever end around. They convinced Missouri Representative Lyndall Fraker to bury the language of HB 2078 in a totally unrelated Missouri traffic measure: quote: The bill seems to have lost momentum since mid-March but its sponsor, Rep. Lyndall Fraker, is taking another approach to make sure his bill gets passed, come hell or high water. Session ends May 13th, so he is now banking on procedural tricks, rather than the substance of his legislation.On May 2nd, when a bill relating to traffic citations, SB 765, came before the body, Fracker proposed to amend it with language from HB 2078. Some of the amended language is even more destructive than the original proposal in HB 2078. Should AT&T succeed, Missouri state law will ensure that there's fewer competitive alternatives to choose from. That's great news for AT&T, who recently announced they'll be taking advantage of this lack of competition to impose Should AT&T succeed, Missouri state law will ensure that there's fewer competitive alternatives to choose from. That's great news for AT&T, who recently announced they'll be taking advantage of this lack of competition to impose new caps on overage fees on all of its U-Verse markets starting May 23.







News Jump California Defends Its Net Neutrality Law; AT&T's Traffic Up 20% Despite Data Traffic Actually Being Down; + more news Are The Comcast-Charter X1 Talks Dead In The Water?; AT&T May Offer Phone Plans With Ads For Discounts; + more news Europe's Top Court: Net Neutrality Rules Bar Zero Rating; ViacomCBS To Rebrand CBS All Access As Paramount+; + more news Verizon To Buy Reseller TracFone For $7B; 5G Not The Competitive Threat To Cable Many Thought It Would Be; + more news MS.Wants Records From AT&T On $300M Project; Google Fiber Outages In Austin, Houston, Other Texan Cities; + more news States With The Biggest Decreases In Speed; AT&T Hopes You'll Forget Its Fight Against Accurate Maps; + more news AT&T's CEO Has A Familiar $olution To US Broadband Woes; EarthLink Files Suit Against Charter; + more news 5G Doesn't Live Up To Hype, AT&T's 5G Slower Than Its 4G; Cord-Cutting Now In 37% of Broadband Households; + more news FCC Cited False Broadband Data Despite Warnings; ZTE, Huawei Replacement Cost Is $1.87B, But Only $1B Allocated; + more Cogeco Rejects Altice USA's Atlantic Broadband Bid; AT&T Is Astroturfing The FCC In Support Of Trump Attack; + more news ---------------------- this week last week most discussed

Most recommended from 58 comments



Flyonthwall

@teksavvy.com 37 recommendations Flyonthwall Anon This should be unconstitutional You should have to vote on the bill at hand, and not bury it in the language and hope the reps don't read it. That's so underhanded people should go to jail for even trying it. Slyster

join:2015-01-08

Sugar Grove, VA 21 recommendations Slyster Member How? How could they possibly try to squeeze this in on a traffic situation? Makes no sense. It should be illegal and ATT fined a bajillion dollars for trying it.