News

City Council passes resolution regarding HB 1587

Friday, May 25, 2007
Category: Fiber Optic Network

NC House Bill 1587 is in the Utility committee of the NC Legislature. Called the “Local Government Fair Competition Act”, many people see it as a bill that would PREVENT competition by sandbagging municipalities and protecting the incumbent providers. NC lawmakers have not voted on it yet. You can read the entire bill here.

Thursday night, Wilson’s elected leaders passed this resolution unanimously. The Public Works Commission of Fayetteville passed a similar resolution earlier this week.

Wilson City Attorney Jim Cauley said this week, “In the interest of corporate protectionism, it will create such a barrier to the construction of municipal broadband infrastructure that many citizens will not have access to high-speed fiber-optic services in the foreseeable future, thereby making our economic development efforts that much more difficult.”

The NC League of Municipalities is also against this bill. In the group’s Legislative Bulletin dated May 18th, the League says, “Access to high-speed broadband service is critical for the future economic development of our state as we attempt to replace our lost textile, tobacco, and furniture jobs. HB 1587 will effectively prevent local governments from bringing high-speed broadband to North Carolina communities, especially to rural and distressed urban areas. Through their opposition to build-out requirements, the industry has made it clear they have no intention of investing in such areas.” The League represents 522 cities, towns and villages in NC.

The bill was approved by the House Public Utilities Committee on June 6 and will be taken up by the House Finance Committee soon.