Cable guys pushing for quick Senate Bill move May 27

Received this from a friend today: S. 1004 (Level Playing Field Study) will be in Public Utilities this Wednesday, May 27. Their plan is to refer the study bill to Rules very quickly with NO CHANGES.  This will likely be a rush job like we experienced in Senate Commerce.  We were told that the bill [...]

Broadband blog is good reading

Strange as it may seem, a lot of good things have come out of this battle in the NC Legislature. While the cable company rushed us with big lobbyist cannons, you good folks jumped up with armor aplenty. First, a big thank you to all of you. I’ve crossed paths with some great people during [...]

Video of the House Vote

Here’s a 29-minute unedited video of the vote to send HB 1252 to a study committee. We’re told the cable company is lobbying to hand-pick a more friendly committee instead.

Heads up, there may be more work behind the scenes

This was posted yesterday on the Facebook page of NC Citizens Against Anti-Competition Bills Hb1252 and SB1004: “Rep. Bill Faison is under pressure from Time Warner Cable to move H.1252 out of his committee. Please call Rep. Faison today at 715-3019 or email him at Bill.Faison@ncleg.net and remind him there’s a lot of us on [...]

More good news! Senate’s monopoly protection bill put on hold

Hey, guys. Just got out of the Senate Commerce Committee and the news is good. While SB 1004 wasn’t killed (that would have been perfect), it was sent to another Senate Committee for study. Translation? Greenlight is safe and the future of next-generation broadband is in better shape now than it was just a little [...]

Urgent! Senate version of HB 1252 up tomorrow, May 7.

Forgive the exclamation points, but this is important. One day after the house public utilities committee sent the anti-municipal broadband bill to a study committee, the senate version of the SAME BILL will be heard in a Senate committee tomorrow. Senate bill 1004 can stop next-generation broadband deployment just as abruptly as the house bill. [...]

Great news, HB 1252 voted to study committee

Glad to report good news, folks. You did it. HB 1252 is going to a study committee. That means it will be adapted, at the very least, before it would come back for a vote. It may not come back at all. Greenlight and all NC muni broadband projects are alive and well. This is [...]

Vote is today in the Public Utilities Committee

The NC House Public Utilities Committee votes today on HB 1252. They meet at 10am in room 1228 of the Legislative building on Jones St. It will be interesting to see what happens after several large companies including Google, Intel and Alcatel-Lucent sent a letter to lawmakers this week saying HB 1252 is not good [...]

Broadband monopoly bill up for a vote tomorrow (5/6)

The bill that would force you to wait on the cable/phone supplier for better broadband speeds is up for a vote tomorrow morning (Wed., May 6) in the NC House Public Utilities Committee in room 1228 of the Legislative building on Jones St. HB 1252 would prevent any NC city/county/town from providing broadband services to [...]

Private industries blast broadband monopoly bill. This is HUGE.

A joint letter sent to state legislators and the governor yesterday should be a nail in the coffin for the argument that this is a private sector vs. public sector issue. Several large companies including Google, Intel Corporation and Alcatel-Lucent have explained to our lawmakers that HB 1252 is bad for NC and for the [...]