I’m going to go out on a limb and make a couple of New Year’s predictions, a practice I’ve always avoided like the plague. But after my research for my latest Community Broadband Snapshot Report that addresses state legislative barriers to public-owned broadband, I feel pretty confident about this.
First, I predict there will be a surge of effort to counter the impact of current state laws that prevent municipalities and public utilities from building or expanding their broadband networks. Second, there will be a number of legislative bodies that, at the behest of giant telco and cable company lobbyists, will try to add new restrictive laws to the books, which I expect will be met with fierce opposition.
| If-Then Laws | Minefield Laws | Total Bans |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Florida | Arkansas |
| California | Louisiana | Missouri |
| Colorado | N. Carolina | Montana |
| Iowa | S. Carolina | Nebraska |
| Michigan | Utah | Tennessee |
| Minnesota | Virginia | |
| Nevada | ||
| Pennsylvania | ||
| Washington | ||
| Wisconsin |
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