Let communities decide on broadband
Last year, voters in nearly 50 communities across Colorado faced a simple question: Should local residents shape the future of broadband access for their schools, businesses and homes? In every one of these communities, the people answered with a resounding “yes.”
Voters have recognized an important 21st century reality: high- quality Internet access is just as essential to thriving communities now as electricity was to thriving communities 100 years ago.
As Colorado’s General Assembly begins its 2016 session this week, we urge legislators to heed the call from so many of Colorado’s residents and work to repeal an outdated law, Senate Bill 152, that restricts important progress for next- generation broadband. Passed a decade ago at the behest of a national telephone company, SB 152 requires a costly and unnecessary referendum before a community can make its own decisions.
Because citizens in communities across our state repealed this law, these communities can now improve Internet access and competition with a variety of approaches: from building their own networks to partnering with private providers, to still other investments to lower barriers to competition for Internet service providers.
Having that authority is essential when some communities have been left behind by the modern, digital economy.
We have joined a national collaborative calledNext Century Cities that helps connect local governments to ensure everyone has a choice in highquality Internet access options. Next Century Cities includes tiny towns, large cities like Los Angeles, and even counties.
Here in Colorado, Longmont has built its own network, offering some of the fastest speeds in the nation at only $ 50 per month. Cortez has invested in fiber optic infrastructure to enable independent companies to offer services rather than having the city itself enter the business. Some cities have long used community- owned fiber optics to save money internally. Many are now developing plans to directly benefit our residents and businesses with our networks. Montrose, Arvada and Grand Junction are all exploring options that will lead to a real choice in providers.
We are encouraged by the efforts of counties like Rio Blanco to invest in high- speed networks, which connect those in areas poorly served by the private sector.
The parallels between last century’s electrification and the essential infrastructure of this century are striking. Electrification required extensive private investment, municipal investments, and federal support for rural cooperatives.
Leaders in Colorado should heed the lessons of the successful ballot initiatives from last year— residents and local businesses are demanding access to high- quality broadband Internet, and they will not tolerate outdated laws that restrict the ability of towns, cities and counties to meet the needs of the 21st century. Legislators should repeal SB 152.