Advocacy

Public broadband networks have experienced enormous growth over the past decade, there remain significant legal, economic, and political barriers to further expansion. Seventeen states still prohibit communities from building their own networks and even where they are permitted, lobbyists for large incumbent broadband providers pressure local officials to dismiss local broadband options. These barriers are especially important now that Congress has allocated more than $47 billion to states to build last mile and middle mile networks, mostly in rural areas and tribal communities. This is on top of $10 billion already provided to the states by the Treasury Department under the American Rescue Plan. Public Networks must be able to access these funds to build everywhere in the United States and not surprisingly, there are already efforts in some states to exclude public networks from this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.