RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Legislation that would put new restrictions on municipal broadband networks is facing fierce criticism from Virginia cities and a promised veto from Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
The legislation, backed by telecommunications companies and associated business groups, would essentially give private internet providers the right of first refusal before a city or local government could finance a broadband expansion. The bill’s sponsor, Republican Del. Kathy Byron, says her goal is to make sure the state’s most underserved communities are the focus of publicly financed broadband expansion efforts, not areas that already have access to private, high-speed internet service.
But cities with municipal broadband networks have rallied against the bill, and critics have called it a giveaway to telecommunications companies that would make it harder to bring high-speed internet access to rural and low-income areas.
“It’s corporate cronyism, it’s big government, big corporations squeezing out the little guy,” said Ray Ferris, a Roanoke city council member.
Similar fights over city-run broadband networks have played out in neighboring Tennessee and North Carolina.
On Tuesday, McAuliffe made his opposition to the legislation official and promised to veto the bill in its current form. The Democratic governor usually waits to see if a bill will pass before commenting on whether he’ll sign it into law but decided to try and get ahead of Byron’s bill before lawmakers vote on it.
“The governor is working hard to expand access to broadband internet across the commonwealth. That goal requires fostering competition, not stifling it,” said McAuliffe’s spokesman, Brian Coy.
Byron, whose biggest campaign donors include Verizon said the Virginia Cable and Telecommunications Association, said opponents of the bill have misrepresented what it does. She said the legislation would also bring greater transparency to how municipal broadband networks use public money when setting rates.
When told of McAuliffe’s plan to veto her legislation, Byron said it was premature.
“That’s crazy,” she said. “What’s everyone afraid of?”
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