I was unable to attend this morning’s meeting of the Senate Commerce Committee, but just received a text message from Senator Don Vaughn, who represents me, indicating they sent SB 1004 to the “study committee.”

It has been a wild ride the last two days.  There was an estimated 150 people in the House Committee meeting yesterday.  Everyone from ordinary consumers like us, mayors of cities interested in our fight, to the pro-business/cable “Americans for Prosperity” who showed up wearing anti-communism buttons.

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This Wednesday morning, May 6th at 10:00am, the Public Utilities Committee is meeting in Room 1228 of the Legislative building on Jones St. in Raleigh to vote on HB 1252.  HB 1252 is the “Level Playing Field” bill, sponsored by Rep. Ty Harrell (D-Wake County), that would forever tie the hands of municipalities from ever offering better, faster and cheaper broadband Internet for their residents.  The city of Wilson already offers such a service called Greenlight.  After looking at what they offer for speeds and pricing, it will be understandable if you need a few moments for the anger over what you pay the “other guys” to dissipate and for your composure to return.

I am assembling a small army of outraged consumers across North Carolina to attend this critically important meeting and make our views known about HB 1252, which at its core screams anti-competition.  Everyone in North Carolina who cares about the cap issue, metered pricing, or municipal broadband needs to attend this meeting and show our feelings.  Municipal broadband is the safety valve we need to combat usage caps, price gouging, and rationed Internet.

Don’t be the hamster on the wheel spinning around and around in the cage current providers have constructed for our broadband service.  We deserve better, and we can make a difference!  Cable and telephone providers refuse to make the upgrades we demand and deserve.  Without competition, why spend the money to upgrade?  Let them get away with this, and you can be assured of slow speeds and bad service indefinitely.

Make an investment in yourself and your community and come to Raleigh this Wednesday morning.  Let’s demonstrate once again that organized consumers do not have to sit back and simply take what they give us.

When: Wednesday, May 6 10:00AM

Where: North Carolina Legislature Building, 16 West Jones Street, Raleigh (Here is a Google map of the area.)  Room 1228

Additional Information:  Be sure to follow any comments left on this article for last minute updates/information.  There is also a Facebook Group to oppose this bill and get late-breaking news and developments.

Jay Ovittore lives in North Carolina and is coordinating a pushback against corporate sponsored protection bills like HB 1252 and SB 1004 in the state legislature.

The first fallacy of HB 1252 can be found in its name, Level Playing Field/Cities/Service Providers. Would a level playing field exist where companies like Time Warner Cable and Embarq are exempted from the rules enacted in the bill, because they are private providers? No. The bill states very clearly all of the restrictions are on municipalities, all of the freedom from the restrictions go to private industry. This bill does not create a level playing field – it empties it of municipal projects leaving Time Warner and Embarq exactly where they are today, enjoying the fruits of a duopoly.

What do you think Time Warner would do if they had to follow these rules and regulations? They would fight the bill as anti-competitive, which it is. HB 1252 does one thing very well – preserves the de-facto duopoly for the companies that already provide service.

Sure, you could argue that municipalities could still technically set up service under this bill. But, what taxpayer is going to allow their City Council or County Commission to borrow money like a private business? Prohibited from consideration are bond initiatives and grants from foundations, as well as access to the $4.7 billion in stimulus money from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), to provide state of the art broadband to underserved parts of our country. So one could say that HB 1252 is prohibiting the Reinvestment and Recovery of North Carolina’s economy.

Congress’ own studies and research shows ARRA funding is critical to the deployment of rural broadband, which simply will exist in no other way. In this part of the country, outside of the largest cities we are are all underserved by cable and telephone broadband providers. What community wouldn’t if the incumbent providers capped and limited usage at radically higher prices.

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Here is the text of House Bill 1252 as approved by the Committee on Science and Technology on 4/23/09.

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT TO REGULATE COMPETITION BETWEEN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE BUSINESS BY REQUIRING CITIES THAT PROVIDE COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE TO THE PUBLIC TO COMPLY WITH LAWS APPLICABLE TO PRIVATE PROVIDERS, TO ESTABLISH SEPARATE ENTERPRISE FUNDS, TO NOT CROSS-SUBSIDIZE COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE WITH OTHER GOVERNMENTAL FUNDS, TO IMPUTE THE COSTS THAT WOULD BE INCURRED BY PRIVATE PROVIDERS, TO ANNUALLY REMIT TO THE CITY’S GENERAL FUND THE COSTS THAT WOULD BE INCURRED BY PRIVATE PROVIDERS, AND TO PREPARE AN ANNUAL AUDIT OF COMPETITIVE ACTIVITIES.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Article 16 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read as follows:

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