AT&T, one of the few dominant Internet access providers in South Carolina, is again pushing a bill in the state legislature that will gut the self-determiniation of local communities in the digital age. The market power of AT&T and Time Warner Cable has already driven most private sector competition from the market — now they want to use their lobbying clout to ensure that the communities themselves cannot build the networks they need to attract economic development and maintain a high quality of life.
Last year, we were deeply concerned about House Bill 3508 but it was orphaned in committee after AT&T lost its credibilty by encouraging the state adopt a broadband definition lower than even the much-maligned 200kbps previously used by the FCC.
The bill is back this year and would have been taken up by the Senate Judiciary Committee today but that meeting now appears to be cancelled. Nonetheless, AT&T will undoubtedly find a way to bring it back this year and we shouldn’t count on AT&T’s stupidity to save us again from its massive lobbying clout.
Phil Dampier has issued a call to action at Stop the Cap!, calling AT&T’s bill the Profit Protection Act. He has a list of the Senate Judiciary Committee members so people in South Carolina can contact them.
It is crucial that Senators and Representatives hear from constituents on these matters. Issues of telecommunications policy rarely generate phone calls, so even a few calls can make a different and will serve notice to elected officials that they are being monitored on this issue.
There is no need for additional barriers in South Carolina for rural communities to build the networks they need. As we show on our community broadband preemption map, South Carolina has already enacted additional regulatory barriers that public sector entities must surpass in order to build this essential infrastructure in their community.
South Carolina’s communities have very poor access to the Internet compared to regional and international peers. AT&T is not expanding its super-DSL product called U-Verse and no major private companies are building fiber-optic networks. Making it harder for communities to build the necessary infrastructure simply means that South Carolina will be unable to attract the jobs or workforce of the future.
If you have questions or want to assist in the effort to preserve local decisionmaking authority in South Carolina or anywhere else, let us know.