Committee hires consultant to study broadband issue

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By KEVIN O’HANLON / The Associated Press

Nearly a year after lawmakers temporarily banned public utilities from getting into the Internet broadband business, a legislative committee agreed Thursday to pay a consultant $84,000 to help study the issue.

And the hiring of Gregory Ast of Denver came none too soon for the political watchdog group Common Cause.

“We’ve been concerned,” spokesman Jack Gould said. “If we continue to keep the new technology out of our state we are putting ourselves further and further behind other states.”

A bill (LB645) passed last year barred Nebraska’s public power companies from entering the broadband business through the end of 2007. Other political subdivisions of the state were prohibited indefinitely from selling high-speed Internet, cable television, telephone and other such services.

But the bill also created a task force to study the issue, which likely will be revisited by lawmakers next year.

The task force is to report to the Legislature by December.

“We need to find what’s the best option for the state of Nebraska to have the best level — or appropriate level — of delivery of broadband and Internet service,” said Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy, who chairs the task force. “We’re looking at accessibility and affordability.”

Consumer groups nationwide are battling an effort by the telecommunications and cable industries to keep local governments from offering cut-rate broadband service.

Opponents of such legislation point to the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, which was meant to foster competition in the industry and give consumers more choices.

According to the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, cable operators have spent more than $84 billion since 1996 on systems to bring broadband to consumers. Association spokesman Brian Dietz said the cost to consumers for broadband generally ranges from $30 to $70 a month.

But consumer advocates say the big companies have avoided building systems in many rural areas and have put the cost of broadband out of reach for many low-income people.

“Its an access issue,” Gould said. “It’s a freedom of competition issue. That’s what keeps the prices down.”

Mark Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America has said the telephone and cable companies don’t want competition from local governments, which consumer advocates say can build and operate systems that could offer broadband for $10 a month or less.

Private telecommunication companies do not want competition from Nebraska’s public power entities, arguing it would be unfair because they receive tax advantages and public financing.

The broadband bill was shepherded through the Legislature by Speaker Kermit Brashear of Omaha, a lawyer who lists Cox Cable among his clients, although he said he does not represent Cox on broadband or related issues.

The bill was lobbied heavily by former speaker Curt Bromm of Wahoo. Bromm, who chaired the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee, was paid a total of $10,000 a month in lobbying fees last session from the Nebraska Cable Communications Association and the Nebraska Telecommunications Association.