November 13, 2015

Public broadband votes demonstrate outdated nature of state law

Speed matters.

A state law passed in 2005 requiring public votes before any municipality can offer broadband services to its residents or businesses should be repealed.

The law was passed at the urging of a telecommunications industry — including Qwest Communications and Comcast — worried about governmental competition. But recent votes in Fort Collins, Loveland and elsewhere to allow municipalities to explore offering municipal broadband service demonstrate the public’s hunger for greater speed for Internet service, whether for residences or businesses.

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Voters in Fort Collins and Loveland on Nov. 3 passed ballot measures removing the cities from state restrictions by overwhelming margins. All told, about 40 municipalities have passed similar ballot measures across the state.

The votes follow a similar loosening of the strings in Boulder in 2014. The city recently hired a consultant to conduct a broadband feasibility study, with the option of going back to voters to fund municipal broadband next November.

Leading the pack among regional cities has been Longmont, which passed a measure allowing for municipal broadband in 2009. Longmont Power & Communications’ NextLight service now covers about 20 percent of the city, with buildout moving rapidly. Longmont — along with Boulder and other communities — is using so-called “dark fiber,” unused conduit and fiber-optic fiber. Boulder alone has access to 100 miles of conduit.

Opponents of municipal broadband argue that the service will compete against the private sector. But the private sector has not been responding to demand for ultra-high-speed Internet service, and opposition to the broadband measures has been muted or nonexistent — perhaps because telecom companies knew that they weren’t keeping up with demand.

Demand for broadband today far exceeds that of 2005, with video streaming increasingly common. High-speed Internet has become a “must-have” for residents, and represents an economic-development initiative for municipalities wanting to provide the infrastructure required for business.

Voter approvals in dozens of Colorado communities, removing cities and towns from state-imposed restrictions on municipal broadband, show that the 2005 law has rapidly become outdated. Just as cities and towns can and do provide roads and other infrastructure, they should be able to do the same for what was once known as the “Information Superhighway.”

It’s time to repeal the 2005 law — and fast.

Speed matters.

A state law passed in 2005 requiring public votes before any municipality can offer broadband services to its residents or businesses should be repealed.

The law was passed at the urging of a telecommunications industry — including Qwest Communications and Comcast — worried about governmental competition. But recent votes in Fort Collins, Loveland and elsewhere to allow municipalities to explore offering municipal broadband service demonstrate the public’s hunger for greater speed for Internet service, whether for residences or businesses.

Voters in Fort Collins and Loveland on Nov. 3 passed ballot measures removing the…

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