In Comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission today, ITIF urged the Commission to not encourage municipal broadband overbuilds. This high fixed-cost industry is driven by economics that cannot sustain increased competition through an injection of public money without imposing negative externalities on others. This fact, combined with the poor track record of attempted municipal networks as well as the availability of alternative opportunities to reduce the costs of deploying or upgrading networks means state laws restricting these networks are usually good policy and should not be preempted. Doug Brake, telecom policy analyst at ITIF, said, "when analyzing state restrictions on municipal networks you have to ask whether these networks benefit or harm the surrounding area. Where networks duplicate existing private infrastructure, it is likely they end up raising costs on others, justifying state restrictions."
