The report is particularly damning considering the recent furor around net neutrality and the recent flood of comments sent to the FCC thanks to a 13-minute rant by John Oliver.
VICE says that the main reason average citizens can’t access fiber optic networks is because companies like Comcast and Time Warner Cable have signed agreements with cities that not only prevent local governments from becoming Internet service providers (ISPs), but also from leasing or selling fiber to startups that could potentially compete with the larger corporations.
To explain it further, companies like Comcast also sell services like phone and cable services, so in negotiations with local governments the companies can offer incentives like faster Internet or earlier access to new services in exchange for a non-competition clause.
One example is Washington DC, which re-negotiated its contract with Comcast in 1999. The eventual agreement gave only government officials access to fiber optics, and since 2006 only NGOs have been able to use it.
And that’s not even the beginning — at least 20 other states have some kind of law that makes it extremely difficult or impossible for local governments to give citizens fiber optic access.
Of course it’s not all bad news. There are at least 89 U.S. towns and cities that offer gigabit fiber as a publicly-owned utility. Chattanooga, Tennessee invested in the technology early to be able to do what they want with it without threat from big companies, and Wilson, North Carolina currently has the fastest Internet speeds in the state. It has since seen seen its population grow and more and more businesses are relocating to and forming in the city of 50,000.
“A lot of these small communities have decided to make the decision to try to try to keep young people from moving away and have decided to invest in this,” said Patrick Lucey, author of a new report on U.S. broadband options. “It’s not just about having broadband internet so you can watch Netflix, it’s about making sure schools and first responders have the bandwidth capabilities they need. To have libraries and hospitals wired up and to give residents the chance to take advantage of it.”
