Kan. bill would outlaw community broadband service
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – Community broadband service would be banned under a bill that will come before a Kansas Senate committee Tuesday.
The Wichita Eagle (http://bit.ly/1fByK2r ) reports that a lobbyist for the cable TV industry introduced the bill. It would prohibit cities and counties from building public broadband networks and providing Internet service to their businesses and citizens.
Commerce Committee chairwoman Julia Lynn says she doesn’t think it’s fair for government to compete with private enterprise for broadband customers. The Olathe Republican noted that municipalities don’t have to pay property or franchise taxes.
But committee member Tom Holland, a Baldwin City Democrat, says underserved several small towns in his district are considering setting up networks and that the bill would “just about shut that down.
