Municipal ISPs Blocked From Providing Cheaper Broadband in 18 States

Broadband has never been more important to daily life than it is right now. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are relying on their home broadband for almost every facet of their lives. Poor service can mean not being able to work or attend school. And while several broadband companies instituted measures at the beginning of quarantine to make their services a bit more affordable, those policies have largely been lifted.

Rather than leaving broadband in the hands of corporations who put their bottom line ahead of people, there is the possibility of potentially less costly broadband provided by municipal governments. But laws in many states stand in the way of consumers receiving cheaper, community-provided broadband.

For the past few years, BroadbandNow has been keeping track of which states allow for municipal broadband and which do not. It has updated its report from last year, and there is some good news. While last year, 22 states did not allow for municipal broadband, this year the number is down to 18: Arkansas, Idaho, Tennessee, and Washington have all passed bills that remove restrictions. Montana attempted legislation, but it failed early in the legislative session. There are stalled bills in Tennessee and Idaho, and Washington is working on HB 1336 to allow for the creation and expansion of unrestricted authority for public entities to provide broadband directly to residents.

The states that still have bans are:

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• Alabama

• Florida

• Louisiana

• Minnesota

• Missouri

• Montana

• Michigan

• Nebraska

• Nevada

• North Carolina

• Pennsylvania

• South Carolina

• Tennessee

• Texas

• Utah

• Virginia

• Washington

• Wisconsin

If you live in a state that allows for local broadband, you can search BroadbandNow for a provider. If you don't, you can at least find fast broadband by checking PCMag's list of fastest ISPs.