The FCC won’t rule on recent petitions seeking...
The FCC won’t rule on recent petitions seeking commission preemption of state laws in North Carolina and Tennessee that restrict municipal broadband projects until “after a full opportunity for comment by all interested parties in an open proceeding and a…
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careful analysis of the specific factual, policy, and legal issues involved,” Chairman Tom Wheeler said in letters to five Senate Democrats and three House Democrats. “I respect the important role of state governments in our federal system, but I know that state laws that directly conflict with critical federal laws and policy may be subject to preemption in appropriate circumstances. I recognize that federal preemption is not a step to be taken lightly without a careful consideration of all relevant legal and policy issues” (http://bit.ly/1oKFO3y). The cities of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Wilson, North Carolina, filed preemption petitions with the FCC in late July (CD July 28 p5). The eight Democrats -- California Reps. Anna Eshoo and Henry Waxman, Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, Minnesota Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar, Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey and Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Doyle -- asked Wheeler in June to clarify how the FCC would eliminate barriers to community broadband.