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House committee assigns broadband bill to study

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

(Updated 2:44 pm)

By Mark Binker
Staff Writer

A controversial bill that would have limited how and when local governments can help provide broadband has been sent to a study committee.

The move by the House Public Utilities Committee essentially delays any legislative action on the bill until at least next year. Study committees typically meet when the legislature is out of session. Their recommendations can give legislation a boost in the ensuing session.

“This thing needs to be studied, it needs to be discussed,” said Rep. Ty Harrell, a Wake County Democrat, who took note that a large hearing room at the General Assembly was packed by both supporters and opponents of the measure.

Supporters of the bill say that governments should not compete with private Internet providers. But opponents say that private companies do not always provide Internet service where it’s needed or at speeds high enough to satisfy customer demands.

Although the type of study committee could change, House members recommended that legislative leaders appoint both House and Senate members to a panel that would study the issue between legislative sessions. The measure would also be looked at by a committee that studies revenue laws before returning to the House and Senate for action.

Accompanying Photos

File photo (News & Record)

Photo Caption: The state sales tax would be applied to more items including software downloaded over the Internet.

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House Bill 1252

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wreck86

May 6, 2009 - 10:58 am EDT

The state should let the communities decide for themselves. It may work fine for cities to rely solely on competing private firms (keyword there, competing), but smaller communities may be better served.

I want to know who's pushing this bill to prohibit local governments from providing service. It sure sounds a little stinky. Hey N&R, how about researching that?

Illiterati

May 6, 2009 - 11:06 am EDT

Not surprisingly, Time Warner (of recent bandwith cap fame!) and Embarq are behind this bill. It's in retaliation to the town of Wilson, NC, after the town invested in its own community broadband service, which is cheaper AND faster than Time Warner's RoadRunner service. TW wouldn't offer broadband to residents it didn't deem profitable, so the town stepped in and set up its own network.

Here's a good site for everything you need to know: Save NC Broadband (http://savencbb.wordpress.com/)

Panacea

May 6, 2009 - 11:07 am EDT

I agree. The cable companies just want to salvage their cash cow and keep abusing customers because right now, they can.

Norm*

May 6, 2009 - 11:26 am EDT

Again we bump into this idea that the role of government is to help businesses to create profit rather than protecting the public. What do these folks on the House public utilities committee think their job is? Time to get upset is now.

And if the local Chamber thinks they really support businesses they'll begin working on this because access to the internet is the most valuable asset a business needs for growing.

Norm*

May 6, 2009 - 11:23 am EDT

GO HERE and see what government CAN do ---> http://www.greenlightnc.com/

dampier

May 6, 2009 - 2:13 pm EDT

In other words, Rep. Ty Harrell bailed on his own bill after the gigantic bees nest of angry constituents hammered him for this naked anti-consumer legislation custom written for big cable and telco interests. We've been following the issue for some time on stopthecap.com, which also beat back Time Warner's usage cap/metered pricing proposal (for now anyway). When the facts are revealed about who is doing what and why, it always comes down to following the money.

eyesnot

May 6, 2009 - 3:27 pm EDT

All these comments are true. I worked in midmanagement for this company until I COULDN'T face another day. I am Christian and with a large family. I have moral values that are destroyed, not only in Time Warners business model, but in their employees. They are the epitomy of trailer park trash, and this bill is another move to get back in the back pockets of government. Time Warner Cable is a losing concept. Like newspapers, cable television is being replaced by computers using WAN.
How can they keep their grips on their known demise? By finding ways to control consumers.
They don't provide a service that costs $150 a month folks. And after all the years of consumer abuse, we sure don't need to provide them the means to force this price on taxpayers heads.
The day they go bankrupt is the day we ALL will rejoice.