If you live in North Carolina, get writing. We need a full court press opposing North Carolina Senate Bill 1004 and North Carolina House Bill 1252, immediately!  Protecting the city of Wilson is also going to protect your choice to consider municipal broadband in your community.  A sample letter follows.  Be sure to modify it so that you are writing to the State Senate about SB 1004 and to the State House about HB1252.  Please write one in your own words for maximum effectiveness.  You can find e-mail addresses for your representative at the bottom.  Cut and paste the correct one and send an e-mail today!

April 24, 2009

Dear Senator [insert name] -or- Dear Representative [insert name]:

I am writing you to express my strong opposition to [Senate Bill 1004] -or- [House Bill 1252].  At a time when North Carolina continues to face the perils of a difficult economy, our state must do all that it can to work towards recovery.

As you may know, in 2007 the city of Wilson was confronted with a challenge.  The incumbent cable provider, Time Warner Cable, declined multiple requests by city officials to improve their broadband service for residential and business customers.  City officials decided that with the intransigent position by Time Warner, it had no other choice but to consider building its own municipal broadband system, with state of the art fiber optic technology.

It is unfortunate that most communities in our state have broadband service provided by a virtual duopoly – the cable company and the telephone company.  In markets where competition is less than strong, companies lack the incentive to improve service on an ongoing basis.  This left cities like Wilson confronting the fact they would soon be left in a broadband backwater when compared to Raleigh and other nearby cities.

You may have been told that tax dollars are being used to build this, and other, municipal broadband systems.  The city of Wilson’s system does not rely on one penny of taxpayer dollars.  Time Warner’s claims that this bill would provide a “level playing field” are dubious at best.  What this legislation effectively does is make municipal systems difficult and expensive to propose, untenable to administer, and give unwarranted protection to the existing commercial players.

Few municipalities in healthy, competitive markets, feel the need to build their own systems for the benefit of their communities.  But when competition barely exists, or does not exist at all, it would be devastating to limit a community to essentially “live with what they’ve got,” and this legislation is a one way ticket to that reality.  That means high technology businesses will locate elsewhere, good jobs will not be created, and our future competitiveness will be at serious risk.  Broadband is not just a convenience, it’s an absolute necessity.

Let me be clear.  It’s my opinion that any vote in favor of this legislation represents a vote for big business at the expense of the citizens of North Carolina.  It is an issue of critical importance to me, and others, and I urge you in the strongest possible terms to vote against this bill.

I appreciate your consideration, and look forward to hearing your views at your convenience.

Very truly yours,

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E-Mail Contacts [Find YOUR elected official here – don’t bother writing to those outside of your district]

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