Broadband Bills Advance in Congress
Oct 31, 2007
Two broadband-related bills passed committees in the U.S. House and Senate yesterday.
In the House, the Energy and Commerce Committee approved Rep. Ed Markey's (D-MA) Broadband Census of America Act that requires the collection of more detailed data on broadband availability and speeds in the United States. The legislation, which received broad bipartisan support, was described as being "as close to a home run as you can get" by Rep. Markey (who's still celebrating the Red Sox World Series win and couldn't resist making a baseball analogy).
In the Senate, the Commerce Committee passed the Community Broadband Act, sponsored by Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Gordon Smith (R-OR). The bill is designed to promote universal broadband access by prohibiting states from restricting the creation of municipal broadband networks (over a dozen states have passed legislation to do just that). It also stipulates that local governments can't discriminate against competing broadband providers.
Tags:
Broadband, House of Representatives, muni wi-fi, Senate
