High Tech Broadband Coalition wants state regulators to step aside
A group called the High Tech Broadband Coalition is encouraging public and private sector partnership to facilitate municipal broadband.
The HTBC – comprised of the Business Software Alliance, the Consumer Electronics Association, the Information Technology Industry Council, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Semiconductor Industry Association and the Telecommunications Industry Association – is essentially encouraging state regulators to step aside and let private sector investment and the market dictate the rollout of municipal services such as citywide Wi-Fi. It is also attempting to align its members’ companies with state and municipal governments as they build out their networks.
“History has shown that competitive markets using private capital provide the best services for consumers,” the organization states in a position paper issued last week. “However, governmental entities, pursuant to their mandate to advance or protect the public interest and public safety, may identify broadband needs that are best met through some form of governmental action or partnership with the private sector.”
HTBC says its member companies and the more than 12,000 high-tech corporations the group represents depend on consumer adoption of broadband for continued success.
The organization says a number of promising cooperative efforts between municipalities and multiple private sector partners already exist. Requirements vary among municipalities, so the proportion of private/public involvement varies as well, HTBC asserts.
But the bottom line: “HTBC opposes state laws that erect explicit or de facto barriers to municipal participation.”
Municipalities must be allowed to pursue broadband network solutions, and private-sector firms must not be foreclosed from choosing to invest in and partner with municipalities, the organization stresses:
“We believe such a framework can encourage public-private partnerships that advance the goal of making affordable and high-quality broadband available to all Americans.”
