Report calls for the end of NC broadnband restrictions

Electric cooperatives offer a promising way for small cities and rural areas in North Carolina to build access to high-capacity broadband. But state laws hamper those efforts, and large commercial providers are in no hurry to fill the gap, according to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.  Commercial internet providers are making progress with fiber-to-the-home and other high-capacity services in major urban parts of North Carolina, the report says. But in rural areas, fiber and higher-capacity build outs are few and far between, the report says. The big exception is areas that have cooperatives that have gotten into the broadband game. “Examining the rural areas with high-quality access shows a common denominator: cooperatives,” said the report, which was written by H.R. Trostle and Christopher Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. “North Carolina has eight telephone cooperatives and each of them has already invested in fiber-optics; six of them have already replaced or aim to replace all their old copper with fiber-optics. Some of them are bringing fiber-optics to nearby areas outside.”  The report says its not just telecommunications cooperatives that have the potential to help rural areas make progress on high-capacity broadband. Electric cooperatives may also provide internet service, but – like phone cooperatives – they can’t expand internet hook-ups beyond their primary service area. Additionally, state law prohibits power cooperatives from accepting federal loans or grants for internet projects and limits the amount of capital they may invest in communications services. The report recommends repealing those state laws.