AT&T, Comcast Kill Local Gigabit Expansion Plans in Tennessee For some time now municipal broadband operator EPB Broadband (see our user reviews) has been saying that a state law written by AT&T and Comcast lobbyists have prevented the organization from expanding its gigabit broadband offerings (and ten gigabit broadband offerings) throughout Tennessee. These state laws currently exist in more than twenty states, and prohibit towns from deploying their own broadband -- or often even striking public/private partnerships -- even in cases of obvious market failure.

A proposal that would have recently lifted this statewide restriction in Tennessee was recently shot down thanks to AT&T and Comcast lobbying. Even a new compromise proposal (which would have simply let EPB expand slightly in the same county where it is headquartered as well as one adjoining county) was shot down, after 27 broadband industry lobbyists -- most of whom belonging to AT&T and Comcast -- fought in unison to kill the proposal. The proposal was shot down by a 5-3 vote, with Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, a former AT&T executive, being one of the votes against. "It's a testament to the power of lobbying against this bill and not listening to our electorate," said Rep. Kevin Brooks, who spearheaded the original, full proposal. "We have thousands of petitions that were signed [and placed] in everybody s office. And the voice of the people today was not heard. And that's unfortunate." Last year the FCC voted to Last year the FCC voted to dismantle broadband protectionist bills in both Tennessee and North Carolina, though those efforts remain bogged down in court. ISP-loyal lawmakers in the states have argued that the FCC's attempt to shoot down these laws violates their states rights , though letting Comcast and AT&T write awful state telecom law doesn't appear to generate the same disdain.







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Most recommended from 94 comments



camper

just visiting this planet

Premium Member

join:2010-03-21

Bethel, CT 32 recommendations camper Premium Member Lobbying is cheaper than providing service to customers

Both AT&T and Comcast have discovered that it is far less expensive to pay lobbyists to reduce or prevent the emergence of competition than it is to provide a cost-effective service to their customers.



Why worry about competing when you can lobby to prevent the competition in the first place?



Why are Comcast and AT&T so afraid of having to compete in the marketplace?

wavelength

CyberSec Pro

join:2015-05-22

Raleigh, NC ·Google Fiber

Juniper SRX240

Ubiquiti UniFi UAP-AC-PRO

1 edit 19 recommendations wavelength Member Best government money can buy...



"Don't regulate us," they cry all the time... And now, with their hat in hand and a fist full of dollars, they beg for the marketplace to be regulated.



Yeah, I get it, a pseudo-government enterprise might be hard to compete against, but suck it up and out-compete them instead of running to the government that you lobbied to last week to keep from regulating you.



When did we settle for mediocrity at an inflated price in America? This is a perfect example of the crony capitalism that has taken the place of real competition. We constantly hear about how a competitive marketplace is better, but along come the entrenched interests and suddenly capitalism is not good enough."Don't regulate us," they cry all the time... And now, with their hat in hand and a fist full of dollars, they beg for the marketplace to be regulated.Yeah, I get it, a pseudo-government enterprise might be hard to compete against, but suck it up and out-compete them instead of running to the government that you lobbied to last week to keep from regulating you.When did we settle for mediocrity at an inflated price in America?

Harddrive

Proud American and Infidel since 1968.

Premium Member

join:2000-09-20

Mission, TX 17 recommendations Harddrive Premium Member Please remember... Welcome to The United States of Corporate America. Do as you're told. Big Business knows what's best for you and your Government.

KrK

Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy

Premium Member

join:2000-01-17

Tulsa, OK 6 recommendations KrK Premium Member Corruption and Cronyism at it's finest.... We surely need a change at the Supreme Court level, and then start dismantling this crap. Take out Citizen's United first.



It's beyond ridiculous.... and people wonder why everyone jumps at the chance to bring in Google.

N10Cities

Premium Member

join:2002-05-07

0000000 4 recommendations N10Cities Premium Member State's rights????? What is up with this 'state's rights' bullshit? I thought that was settled during the Civil War. atigerman

join:2002-01-19

Tigerton, WI 2 recommendations atigerman Member Dear AT&T and Comcast Ether expand or get out!



Signed, a broadband user IanLee

join:2014-11-24

Woodland, WA 2 recommendations IanLee Member America sold out This ladies and gentlemen is why we should of never let the government allow these faceless corporations to take control of the majority. If 90 percent of media wasn't controlled by six corporations and Comcast/NBC didn't control a huge portion of the American bandwidth and internet service, then I guarantee these forums would have nowhere near the viewers and posts they have now.



I qualify as out of city limits. I get subpar DSL service from TDS, which mind you worked a lot better back in 2010 than it does now. Hell I used to be able to download 7-8 GBs during 5-6 pm, just had to wait a few hours but I knew they would finish eventually. Now there is no way possible I could ever get anything to download of that size during peak hours.



It is settled. The only true way most of us either out in the sticks or just outside of town (there are countless towns that offer halfway decent internet that stop just outside their borders, any further on people only get subpar DSL) are going to get better internet is to move.



Apartments in Vancouver are not cheap, ranging from $900 to over $1300 a month for most places. But in return I will get far faster internet service, be within walking distance of a few stores, and only have to drive 5 - 20 minutes to get to where I need to go. I hate Comcast and CenturyLink as much as the next guy, but most of us know local ISPs, if there are any in Clark County are going to have a hell of a hard time getting anywhere, what with city expectations and countless agreements said ISPs must agree and sign to. I need broadband internet, most of us need broadband internet if America is going to evolve and move on. But we pay a premium price for it.



You think my internet is cheap because it's only subpar 3 MB DSL? Nope, I pay $35 a month for internet access along with $50 for just keeping the landline. I have been told repeatedly on the phone that I cannot get rid of the landline, I have to keep it for the DSL. Oh and if I want to call somebody in Portland or Seattle using the landline I have to pay extra, because TDS charges me $50 a month for local service. All of the four major carriers (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile) offer unlimited texting and calling, which is standard fare these days, so I have absolutely no need for the landline phone anymore. I get Verizon service where I live, if my landline goes kaput for whatever reason I can use my iPhone 6s to call 911.



Dave Wittwer (TDS CEO) along with Randall Stephenson and Brian L Roberts all get paid for doing nothing. I work 50-55 hour weeks, hurt my back in the process because my job is physical, work extra hard to gain a bonus every month and still get punished. Millions of Americans are in the same situation as me, and I too have to visit a coffee shop or a college if I want to get online homework or cloud storage done during peak hours. I pay my bills on Sunday afternoons and let me tell you, having to hit that refresh button a bunch of times and resetting the modem just so I can get a confirmation message from my bank is enough to have me scream in person at a Customer Service Representative.