Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Thomas Beckett <thomas AT tbeckett.com>]

Something just happened in the House with this but I'm not clear on what.  Mark?

Thomas

4D827963.8040802 AT gmail.com" type="cite">

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Mark Turner March 17, 2011 5:13 PM

It got amended to exclude the four operating municipal systems and changed the threshold that a city could use to start service from 90% broadband penetration to 50%. In essence, the bill was stripped of two things TWC wanted most.

It will be back at Wednesday's Finance meeting where there will be public commentary. My POV article will run in Tuesday's N&O and there are indications legislators are coming around, so I believe on Wednesday we will be in better shape.

We'll see how much of this the industry wants to salvage. I expect some surprises Wednesday. Today, though, went much better than anticipated!

WRAL streamed the whole meeting and it can be watched here:
http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/video/9283673/#/vid9283673

Mark


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Lance A. Brown March 17, 2011 4:09 PM

So what the hell happened with the bill today!

--[Lance]

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Mark Turner March 17, 2011 1:43 PM

On 03/17/2011 10:18 AM, Matt Drew wrote:


I totally agree, Matt. While I sure would like to have the 10 Mbps symmetrical Internet that Wilson has, it's up to each individual community to decide that - not the state and certainly NOT TWC's lobbyists.

In Raleigh's case I know a muni broadband system would face opposition from city leaders and others. I have a good rapport with Raleigh's leaders and still I have no realistic expectation that Raleigh will implement a system like Wilson's in the near future. That said, I certainly am angry that TWC would try to take that possibility away, however remote that possibility may be.

We did some real damage to the bill today and significantly weakened it with amendments.  I'm hoping we can finish it off at the upcoming Finance meeting on Wednesday.

For anyone interested, WRAL's Laura Leslie live-streamed the meeting in its entirety. You can watch it here:

http://www.wral.com/news/video/9283673/#/vid9283673


Mark
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Matt Drew March 17, 2011 10:18 AM

"Specifically, how does the "ensure municipalities follow the same
requirements as private vendors" wording really mean "unfairly keep
municipalities from building their own network"?"

One of the ways that Time Warner and other large cable companies
currently suppress competition is a series of mapping and reporting
requirements that are built into the law at the state level (see
N.C.G.S. 66-354, among others). These requirements are not easy or
cheap, and a cable provider can be subjected to forfeiture of all
revenue (not just profit) from their system during the time they are
not in compliance.

Previous bills have tried to make municipal systems follow these rules
as well, adding a another layer of bureaucracy and cost - and I
presume the current bill again attempts to do this.

I'm opposed to municipal broadband, but I'm even more opposed to TWC
using the state government to tell the cities what they can and can't
do. These bills are blatant attempts to block potential government
competition, just as previous "regulations" enabled large providers to
strangle private competition. It is exactly the opposite of what we
need in order to get better, cheaper, and more ubiquitous service.

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Tom Caswell March 14, 2011 2:53 PM

I need some help with this one as I'm currently disillusioned with any "side" in a political argument.  On one hand I don't want to stifle competition.  On the other hand I'm not against capping usage or other similar business practices.  Specifically, how does the "ensure municipalities follow the same requirements as private vendors" wording really mean "unfairly keep municipalities from building their own network"?

 

Tom

From: Mark Turner <jmarkturner AT gmail.com>
To: Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/ <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, March 14, 2011 1:29 PM
Subject: [internetworkers] OT: URGENT: H.129 to be heard in Thursday's Finance Committee!

Hello INWers,

Just yesterday, AT&T announced it would immediately cap it's U-Verse users at 250 GB per month. Anyone going over that cap (NetFlix users, for instance), will be socked with overage fees.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Exclusive-ATT-To-Impose-150GB-DSL-Cap-Overages-113149

This is what you can expect if H.129 passes and broadband competition is eliminated in North Carolina. You can COUNT on it!

As I stated in my Friday note, a lot of outrageous behavior took place Friday between the telco lobbyists and Rep. Avila. Basically, the "negotiation" that was supposed to take place was entirely one-sided in the favor of the telcos. In essence, there was no negotiation. Rep. Julia "My Word Is My Bond" Howard's word has proven to be worthless.

The bill will be heard at Thursday's Finance Committee meeting. I'm told NO PUBLIC COMMENT WILL BE HEARD, so we'll just have to make our opinions heard otherwise. CALL YOUR FINANCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS NOW! And if you attend Thursday's meeting, please wear RED to show your opposition to this bill.

Also, Rep. Avila's just sent a skewed report to other representatives with logic holes big enough to drive a truck through (though I remind you that the Internet is not a big truck). Normally I would ignore such tripe as this, but as many legislators may read it, PLEASE COMMENT ON IT! Go ahead: rip it apart as the sham that it is:

http://www.innovationpolicy.org/fat-pipe-dreams-in-north-carolina

If you can make it to Thursday morning's meeting, please do. In the meantime, call the Finance members NOW and tell others to as well.

Finance Committee:
http://is.gd/ncgafinance

Broadband Petition:
http://is.gd/ncbetterbroadband

Thanks and hope to see you Thursday!

Mark Turner

P.S. Have you made your phone calls yet?
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Thomas A. Beckett        "At the intersection of business & creativity."
828-713-1668                  Hendersonville & Asheville, North Carolina
Mountain South Business Law                   <http://www.tbeckett.com>
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