![]() |
||
|---|---|---|
Monthly Updates |
||
SEATOA MONTHLY UPDATE May 2011 President’s Update On the legislative front, despite SEATOA’s continued attempts to secure North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue’s veto of H129 – the Time Warner Cable/Centurylink legislation which made rapid movement through the State’s legislature in May – the bill became law without the Governor’s signature. The onerous regulations of this anti-municipal broadband bill will effectively curtail any efforts of NC local governments who would like to provide – or who are in the process of developing or operating – community networks, especially in areas not served by the private sector. In announcing that she would not sign, but not veto H129, the Governor provided the following written statement:
In various media interviews that day, Gov. Perdue stressed she did not like the bill: "I’m very unhappy with the concept” and she hoped the statement “…will force, pressure, coerce, encourage the private sector to do what they need to do in these rural areas. If the private sector’s not gonna do it, then we need to look at the law again." To that she added, “You can’t compete with government. That’s what the Umstead Act is about… But I happen to be from a part of the state that has a real need for higher-speed broadband access. I don’t believe you can expect businesses to grow in either the mountainous areas or the very rural northeast without having technology.” Of course, the Governor’s advisors should have informed her that another provision of state law exempts local governments from the Umstead Act, making the Act only applicable to state government activities. It’s also tough to accept that multi-billion dollar companies like Time Warner Cable and Centurylink need to be protected from small towns that have lost their tobacco economies, like Wilson or Salisbury. SEATOA’s veto request to the Governor included the FCC data revealing that those same companies have served North Carolina right into last place in the country in terms of the minimum broadband levels the FCC recognizes are needed for modern day internet use. That same private sector has already made it clear that it has no intention to serve our low density, low income rural areas. Voices from a number of the residents of these communities were heard in the House and Senate committee meetings. And as the private sector decides who can and can’t afford broadband, local communities now effectively can’t step in – it’s like saying communities should not provide water because the private sector provides bottled water. SEATOA plans to take Governor Perdue at her word. We will closely monitor the activities of our incumbent operators in providing true high speed broadband in NC – particularly in our rural communities. While we are hopeful that the Governor’s comments will spur operators to expand their networks – we are very cognizant of the business factors which affect their rates of return and have thus far hampered such expansion. Deregulated market like North Carolina’s – where the incumbents maintain monopoly control – also provide them wonderful opportunities not to upgrade or expand their infrastructure, but to raise rates and suck the cash out of outdated infrastructure to generate rich profits. Then these same companies use these revenues to upgrade the infrastructure in higher density, high income states (like Hawaii where we see Time Warner Cable building fiber to the home). NC consumers have no choice but to pay higher rates for less broadband. If their use overwhelms existing available bandwidth, the industry will just pare it back by charging even higher rates through metering, which has already been tested in Greensboro. We invite our members and friends to input information relating to these activities in their communities to SEATOA’s database – to assist us in this monitoring. Please input this information directly to seatoa@carolina.rr.com SEATOA monitored legislation in Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. None of these other states succeeded in passing bad broadband or PEG legislation this session.
SEATOA is ready to assist when potential changes signal affects on telecommunications activities for local governments and consumers. So input – to seatoa@carolina.rr.com – is welcomed to keep the Executive Team apprised of developments in your legislative arena.
November 2010
October 2010 SEATOA’s Executive Team is gearing up for the new legislative year. In NC in the last month, a subcommittee of Rep. Faison's (D. - Orange, Caswell) Rural Broadband Committee met, as did the full Committee. The issue under evaluation was authorizing Counties to provide broadband service to their communities. Rep. Faison's subcommittee has been tasked with more carefully evaluating the issues surrounding this topic. The full committee will meet again November 23rd at 10:00 a.m. in Room 544 of the NC House. As expected, the NC Cable Association is against NC counties providing broadband to their citizens unless it is according to "rules" the industry designs. These "rules" have been offered over the last three years by the industry, and in essence, create huge impediments to any city, county or town successfully deploying service. It is anticipated that the cable industry will use this committee’s discussion to – once again – attempt to introduce legislation that will terminate local governments' ability to provide broadband to their citizens. AT&T was described as showing a more evolved stance on the issue, new support for the idea that any entity should have the right and opportunity to compete in provisioning broadband service. In contrast, numerous counties in NC have now articulated that they believe deploying broadband infrastructure in their communities is essential to their future economic survival – so their citizens, students and businesses can compete in a global economy.
September 2010 SEATOA’s 10th Annual Conference – “Growing & Sharing Community Networks” – will be held at the Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park in Asheville, NC next May 8th thru 10th. Planning has begun for our broadband and PEG workshops, with the following focus areas in mind:
The Conference Planning Committee is actively seeking input on specific workshop topics and speakers in these and other areas – just e-mail them to seatoa@carolina.rr.com SEATOA applauds the work of its member communities, businesses, and state agencies for receiving the following additional federal broadband funds:
SEATOA would like to congratulate the new and returning NATOA Board of Directors members – including our own Sherry McCuller. We look forward to continuing to work with the NATOA Board and Staff to achieve our mutual objectives. June 2010 SEATOA spent the month of June heavily organizing its grassroots, municipalities and the private sector, to block a North Carolina telecom industry-sponsored, anti-muni broadband bill – S1209. This is the third year and fourth attempt by North Carolina's telephone and cable industry to terminate efforts by our municipalities to build fiber to the home systems. The bill took three different forms, from a moratorium on building muni broadband systems, to a bill limiting system financing to general obligation bonds and a referendum, to a Task Force and narrower moratorium which exempted current municipal providers. S1209 was finally passed out of the NC Senate, after a stalwart attempt by a Senator from our western mountain rural areas to amend the bill and strip it of the moratorium.
Real broadband deployment continues to be the theme for SEATOA in 2010
In April, D.C. comes to Asheville, NC for SEATOA’s 9th Annual Conference: “Expanding Community Networks.” SEATOA is thrilled to have Blair Levin, Executive Director of the FCC’s Broadband Initiative, Mignon Clyburne, FCC Commissioner, Tom Power, Chief of Staff to Assistant Secretary Stickling at NTIA and Jessica Zufolo, Deputy Administrator of the RUS Broadband Grant Program speaking before our southeastern audience. Conference registration is $150 for members. The Hilton at Biltmore Park Hotel room rate is $129/night. Topics will feature “how-to” updates on municipal broadband and PEG channel deployments in our four-state area. Click on the SEATOA’s website Conference link for more details.
February 2010 Real broadband deployment will be the theme for SEATOA in 2010, as the New Year introduced a renewed series of NC legislative committee meetings on the topic.
NTIA and RUS 1st round broadband and computer grants continue to trickle out of the federal government. These agencies missed their November 2009 deadline by more than three months and this handicapped the ability of first round applicants to apply for the 2nd, and final, round of funds, deadline March 15, 2010. To date, key grant awards in SEATOA states include:
The beautiful mountains of Asheville, NC will host SEATOA’s 9th Annual Conference, focusing on community broadband and PEG issues under the theme “Expanding Community Networks” from April 26-27, 2010. Conference registration is $150 for members. The Hilton at Biltmore Park Hotel room rate is $129/night. Topics will feature national speakers on the FCC’s new National Broadband Plan and “how-to” updates on municipal broadband and PEG channel deployments in our four-state area. Click on the SEATOA’s website Conference link for more details.
January 2010 SEATOA filled the end of 2009 with visits to Raleigh, NC to monitor a review of last spring’s industry-sponsored anti-muni broadband bill “The Level Playing Field” Act.
Planning is in full swing for the 9th Annual SEATOA Conference – “Expanding Community Networks” – to be held in Asheville, NC, from April 25-27th, 2010. We are lining up a great roster of speakers for this event and this is a great time of year to enjoy North Carolina’s mountain air – so plan to join us there. Click on the website’s Conference link for more details. |
||