Obama's Right to Embrace the Public Option for Closing the Digital Divide

Wheeler is now getting top-level encouragement to support the municipal broadband and local innovation.

Following up on his November statement urging the FCC to safeguard Net Neutrality -- which seems to have moved Wheeler toward clearer acceptance of the need to prevent the development of Internet fast lanes (for content from corporations and political elites that can pay to speed things up) and slow lanes (for content from grassroots activists and small businesses that cannot pay) -- President Obama on Wednesday announced that his administration would launch a multi-front effort to promote Internet investment, innovation and competition in municipalities across the United States.

"In too many places across America, some big companies are doing everything they can to keep out competitors," declared Obama, who addressed the issue in Cedar Falls, Iowa -- a city of 40,000 where Cedar Falls Utilities has developed Internet service as fast as global leaders such as Seoul, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Paris. "Today, I'm saying we're going to change that. Enough's enough."

Obama, who plans to raise the issue in his January 20 State of the Union Address, explains,"The good news is that there's some steps we can take, through executive actions, that allow us to make sure that every community...will be able to make the investments they need to speed up broadband, bring in more competition, give consumers more choice." Obama traveled to Cedar Falls, Iowa -- to outline an agenda that will be included in his January 20 State of the Union Address.

The White House says those steps will include:

* Calling to End Laws that Harm Broadband Service Competition: Laws in 19 states -- some specifically written by special interests trying to stifle new competitors -- have held back broadband access and, with it, economic opportunity. Today, President Obama is announcing a new effort to support local choice in broadband, formally opposing measures that limit the range of options available to communities to spur expanded local broadband infrastructure, including ownership of networks. As a first step, the Administration is filing a letter with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging it to join this effort by addressing barriers inhibiting local communities from responding to the broadband needs of their citizens.

* Expanding the National Movement of Local Leaders for Better Broadband: As of today, 50 cities representing over 20 million Americans have joined the Next Century Cities coalition, a non-partisan network pledging to bring fast, community-supported broadband to their towns and cities. They join 37 research universities around the country that formed the Gig.U partnership to bring fast broadband to communities around their campuses. To recognize these remarkable individuals and the partnerships they have built, in June 2015 the White House will host a Community Broadband Summit of mayors and county commissioners from around the nation who are joining this movement for broadband solutions and economic revitalization. These efforts will also build on the US Ignite partnership, launched by White House in 2012, and which has grown to include more than 65 research universities and 35 cities in developing new next-generation gigabit applications.

* Announcing a New Initiative to Support Community Broadband Projects: To advance this important work, the Department of Commerce is launching a new initiative, Broadband USA, to promote broadband deployment and adoption. Building on expertise gained from overseeing the $4.7 billion Broadband Technology Opportunities Program funded through the Recovery Act, BroadbandUSA will offer online and in-person technical assistance to communities; host a series of regional workshops around the country; and publish guides and tools that provide communities with proven solutions to address problems in broadband infrastructure planning, financing, construction, and operations across many types of business models.

* Unveiling New Grant and Loan Opportunities for Rural Providers: The Department of Agriculture is accepting applications to its Community Connect broadband grant program and will reopen a revamped broadband loan program, which offers financing to eligible rural carriers that invest in bringing high-speed broadband to un-served and under-served rural areas.

* Removing Regulatory Barriers and Improving Investment Incentives: The President is calling for the Federal Government to remove all unnecessary regulatory and policy barriers to broadband build-out and competition, and is establishing a new Broadband Opportunity Council of over a dozen government agencies with the singular goal of speeding up broadband deployment and promoting adoption for our citizens. The Council will also solicit public comment on unnecessary regulatory barriers and opportunities to promote greater coordination with the aim of addressing those within its scope.

For municipal leaders who have been fighting for the flexibility to invest and innovate, what the president has done is a huge deal. Now, however, the FCC must act. "The President's announcement [and the release] of a White House report detailing what municipalities have been able to accomplish utilizing broadband are very welcome," explained Madison's Paul Soglin, who has for years objected to a Wisconsin law that limits options for municipal investment and innovation. "I recognize, however, as does the President, that the real legal action will come at the Federal Communications Commission, which has scheduled a vote on robust regulation of net neutrality next month. The FCC also has the legal authority to simultaneously pre-empt state laws that create barriers to municipal broadband, and I join President Obama is urging the Commission to do so."

It's not just mayors and net neutrality activists who should be engaged with this issue, however. Americans who understand the vital importance of expanding access to fast and affordable broadband Internet -- not just for local and regional development but, in this digital age, for the maintenance of meaningful communications and robust debate -- need to recognize that this debate is about more than Internet infrastructure. What the president is talking about is developing and maintaining the democratic infrastructure of the United States in the twenty-first century.