Free municipal broadband at stake

By Christopher Tidmore
Contributing Writer

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, one of the few positive developments which occurred was that the city of New Orleans was able to offer free Wi-Fi service through its police communication system. Only the fact that the city was under a state of emergency allowed the Nagin Administration to trump state franchise laws that bar municipalities from providing the Internet for free.

Now the city of Lafayette, La., has put a legal challenge to do just that. If the Cajun Metropolis should prove successful, other cities across the nation could use existing high tech assets to narrow the digital divide – Wi-Fi costs that have kept countless poor families from regular access to the World Wide Web.

The Federal Communications Commission stands poised to insert itself into two disputes this month involving city-run broadband networks. One of these, Lafayette, La., has a major municipal broadband network and Mayor Joey Durel plans to expand it to other towns in Lafayette Parish.

However, Louisiana is one of 19 states that renders it all but impossible to provide or expand such community-run projects. If Lafayette gets pushback on its plans from private-sector telecom providers, it will petition for the FCC to step in, Durel told Politico.com.

“I would say if we run into issues where the incumbents take advantage of the Louisiana law to try to throw up roadblocks, I could definitely foresee us going to the FCC considering the mood they’re in right now,” he stated.

Durel references FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s plan to pre-empt state laws in North Carolina and Tennessee that discourage municipal broadband networks. (A Commission vote will be forthcoming on the issue Feb. 26).

Should Lafayette request FCC intervention, it would be the third city to petition the agency. As New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu has listed “the digital divide “as one of the leading factors preventing the city from experiencing faster economic growth, insiders have wondered if the Crescent City would follow suit with its own petition.

However strong opposition from Cox Communications and other broadband providers in the Pelican State have kept most local politicians from taking a stand until the FCC rules.

This article originally published in the February 16, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.