Tennessee, along with North Carolina, has become Ground Zero in the Obama Administration’s drive to roll back state laws restricting public-owned broadband networks. But what about on the ground? How do consumers, businesses and state legislators feel about these laws?

 

Tennessee State Senator Janice Bowling discusses her views on why it’s time to question the value of her state’s restrictions. Sen. Bowling believes in the free market system. But she also believes from first-hand experience that the public-owned fiber network in her hometown of Tullahoma successfully meets a vital economic need that the market can’t or won’t address.

 

The Senator describes her constituency’s progress in economic advancement, education, healthcare since launching their own network. Some Tennessee townsfolk can look across the bridge and see citizens in cities such as Chattanooga benefitting from gigabit networks. Sen. Bowling feels this is an injustice to communities, and last year led efforts eliminate the restriction on public utilities to expand their broadband services to nearby communities.

   

Craig