National Journal, December 6, 2006
By Michael Martinez

A group of Nebraskans is trying to mount resistance to a state law preventing municipalities and utilities from owning and operating their own high-speed Internet networks.

A 2005 state law imposed a two-year moratorium against publicly owned telecommunications services. But on Monday, an executive of an Internet firm based in the Cornhusker State filed papers with Secretary of State John Gale to authorize a ballot initiative that would permit communities and power companies to provide telecommunications services, including broadband.

Linda Aerni, the president of Community Internet Services, took the first step in pushing for such a ballot initiative. Voters will be able to decide on the issue themselves — if about 80,000 signatures are collected by next summer for a ballot initiative.

Earlier this year, the state commissioned a task force, of which Aerni was a member, to examine the issue. That group last month recommended that lawmakers continue to keep public entities out of the broadband business. Aerni was among the minority that objected to that conclusion.

The report said a majority of the task force found "allowing public entities to provide wholesale broadband services or infrastructure access will adversely affect the future investment in broadband infrastructure by private providers." It also concluded that publicly owned networks would do little to extend broadband service to areas without access.

In a telephone interview, Aerni said Nebraska "probably is the most restrictive state in the nation" when it comes to public broadband. She said the state's stance on publicly owned networks has been particularly bad for consumers, considering its entire power infrastructure is publicly owned. The potential benefits of broadband over power lines, or BPL, are immense in Nebraska, she said.

"BPL is very compatible with Nebraska as an avenue of competition," Aerni said.

According to Aerni, the task force failed to look beyond the information that was provided to them by telephone companies already operating in the state.

Paul Schumacher, an attorney in Columbus who has partnered with Aerni on the initiative, said the state's power network is capable of "reaching the farthest barnyard on the map." He said the state should be reaching for the same goal with broadband.

"But this initiative wouldn't be limited to BPL," he said. "It would allow for a look at all technologies. At this point, I think it's time for people to start thinking about broadband as a public highway rather than a private one."

A study released this year by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University's law school found that more than 7 percent of towns in Nebraska lacked broadband providers.

Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy, who chaired the broadband task force, told AP earlier this week that the panel took care to closely examine the issue and that "all the members took their assignments very seriously."

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