Netflix Backs FCC Preemption of State Broadband Laws

Netflix has weighed in favor of the FCC granting the requests of the cities of Wilson, N.C, and Chatanooga, Tenn., that the commission preempt state laws limiting the buildout of municipal broadband networks.  

In a filing at the commission this week, Netflix said: "When the Commission encounters barriers to broadband investment or deployment, it is required to remove them promptly. For example, the City of Wilson, North Carolina, and the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, Tennessee have asked the Commission to preempt state laws that prevent them from extending gigabit broadband networks to unserved and underserved households."  

Pointing to the social and economic opportunities that it says would come with the service, Netflix said the FCC should act "promptly" to remove barriers to that buildout. 

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John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.