Tennessee Broadband Update
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As the legislature convened last week, the battle over expanding municipal electric broadband in Tennessee also resumed. The bill (SB1134/HB1303) is still on the minds of many.
The week before the legislature went back into session, TACIR continued its study of broadband. The commission heard an update from TACIR staff on where the study is currently and some of the challenges they're facing. It also heard presentations from the University of Tennessee Joint Institute for Computational Science and state government’s Strategic Technology Solutions. The UT presenter talked about the advantages of fiber as a broadband delivery method, and that 10 years is a good timetable to achieve 1 gigabit speed statewide. That's too long for most Tennesseans who currently don't have access to high-speed broadband. We need it much sooner.
The TACIR staff also talked about the due date for the study being moved back to January 2017. When the broadband study was initiated, this was the reporting timeline, but this fall it was accelerated so the report would be completed late spring 2016. The due date change for the study completion is because TACIR needs more time to study what they have realized is a big, complicated topic. TACIR also wants to wait on the Department of Economic and Community Development’s broadband availability study, which is due out in early summer. At the end of the broadband portion of the hearing, Sen. Mark Norris again made assurances that the TACIR study should not affect any legislation.
We are still having encouraging discussions with legislators and other interest groups. Many Tennesseans are still visiting TN4Fiber.org to sign a petition that requests passage of the legislation. We encourage of you to sign the petition also. It’ll be a great help.
The need for more broadband in Tennessee is still too great, and the level of service offered by municipal electric systems is still an answer to meet that need. You can also help by contacting your state senators and representative and encouraging them to support our bill - SB1134/HB1303.
Now that the offseason is over, months of work over the hardest work begins. If this legislation was easy, it would have passed already. We look forward to talking with legislators about how municipal electric broadband can help get more broadband service to more homes and businesses.
We’ll keep you posted on things as they develop.
The week before the legislature went back into session, TACIR continued its study of broadband. The commission heard an update from TACIR staff on where the study is currently and some of the challenges they're facing. It also heard presentations from the University of Tennessee Joint Institute for Computational Science and state government’s Strategic Technology Solutions. The UT presenter talked about the advantages of fiber as a broadband delivery method, and that 10 years is a good timetable to achieve 1 gigabit speed statewide. That's too long for most Tennesseans who currently don't have access to high-speed broadband. We need it much sooner.
The TACIR staff also talked about the due date for the study being moved back to January 2017. When the broadband study was initiated, this was the reporting timeline, but this fall it was accelerated so the report would be completed late spring 2016. The due date change for the study completion is because TACIR needs more time to study what they have realized is a big, complicated topic. TACIR also wants to wait on the Department of Economic and Community Development’s broadband availability study, which is due out in early summer. At the end of the broadband portion of the hearing, Sen. Mark Norris again made assurances that the TACIR study should not affect any legislation.
We are still having encouraging discussions with legislators and other interest groups. Many Tennesseans are still visiting TN4Fiber.org to sign a petition that requests passage of the legislation. We encourage of you to sign the petition also. It’ll be a great help.
The need for more broadband in Tennessee is still too great, and the level of service offered by municipal electric systems is still an answer to meet that need. You can also help by contacting your state senators and representative and encouraging them to support our bill - SB1134/HB1303.
Now that the offseason is over, months of work over the hardest work begins. If this legislation was easy, it would have passed already. We look forward to talking with legislators about how municipal electric broadband can help get more broadband service to more homes and businesses.
We’ll keep you posted on things as they develop.
