Community Broadband Bill of 2007

The Community Broadband Act of 2007 (USBill|110|S.|1853) is a bill awaiting action before the U.S. Senate, 110th Congress. It intends to deregulate some provisionings of broadband Internet access, where municipalities may offer it to the public, either solely, or in public-private partnerships.

The bill would specifically:cite press release
title = Commerce Committee Approves Bill to Make Broadband Access More Affordable
publisher = U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
date = 2007-10-30
format = HTML
language = English
url = http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=248976&Month=10&Year=2007
accessdate = 2007-11-29
quote = Broadband services are essential to providing important educational and economic opportunities, especially for rural areas,” said Senator Stevens. “This bill would make it easier for municipalities, cities, and towns across our nation to offer broadband access to their residents through public-private partnerships.]
* Set forth that no state or local regulation or requirement can prevent a public provider from offering broadband services;
* Require a municipality offering high-speed Internet services to comply with federal telecommunications law or regulation that applies to all such providers;
* Encourage public-private partnerships; and provide the public with notice and an opportunity to be heard before a municipality provides broadband to the public.

Timeline

July 23 2007 – Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ)introduced [Library of Congress. (2007-07-23). [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/R?r110:FLD001:S09779 S.1853, CR S9779: Community Broadband Act of 2007] Retrieved on 2007-12-04.] legislation [Library of Congress. (2007-07-23). [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.1853: S.1853-IS: Community Broadband Act of 2007] (text of the legislation, as introduced in Senate). Retrieved on 2007-12-04.] to promote broadband Internet competition; to preserve the ability of local governments to provide broadband capability and services; and for other purposes, to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Senator Lautenberg was joined by cosponsors Gordon H. Smith (R-OR), John F. Kerry (D-MA), John McCain (R-AZ), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME), Ted Stevens (R-AK) and Senator Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI) in bringing this legislation in front of the Senate.

On October 30 2007: The committee approved legislation ] cosponsored by Senator Stevens to increase access to broadband services for cities and towns across America. This legislation would encourage municipalities to offer broadband services, making broadband access more affordable.

ee also

* Telecommunications Act of 2005

External links

* [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:S.1294: S.1294 Community Broadband Act of 2005]

References