The FCC lacks “legal or constitutional authority” to pre-empt...

Friday night. The Wireline Bureau declined to extend the deadline. (See separate report above in this issue.) Under the 2004 case Nixon v. Missouri Municipal League, the FCC would need express statutory authority from Congress to pre-empt the laws, because the commission would “interpose ‘federal authority between a State and its municipal subdivisions’ and alter ‘a State’s distribution of its own power,'” the organization said. Communications Act Section 706 does not mention pre-emption authority, the filing said. NetCompetition also cited Nixon v. Missouri Municipal League in comments, said the organization’s blog (http://bit.ly/YYKiZP). The Supreme Court rejected the use of Title II as authority to pre-empt state prohibitions of localities offering telecom services, so “it is hard to see how the FCC’s new-found, ...Section 706 authority would be sufficient to trump the Supreme Court’s defense of state’s rights in the Constitution,” the post said. NetCompetition also said that municipal broadband networks are anti-competitive, arguing “when governments try and offer a similar service that private companies have long provided consumers, these governments effectively are opposing and undermining private companies in the marketplace -- not ‘competing’ with them.” The FCC does have authority to pre-empt the laws, said Momentum Telecom (http://bit.ly/1plUrL5). Section 706 gives the commission and the states “broad authority and discretion to determine when, where, and how to ensure that ‘all Americans have access to advanced telecommunications capabilities on a reasonable and timely basis.'” The FCC should grant the petitions by Wilson, North Carolina, and the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, Tennessee, to pre-empt municipal broadband laws in their respective states, said Holly Springs, North Carolina (http://bit.ly/1q8aFH1). The town council in 2013 authorized building a municipal network, and it was completed earlier this year, the town said. “Already, the network has succeeded in providing stronger, more reliable connectivity between public buildings and community anchor institutions.” Holly Springs said the network supports a public Wi-Fi network, and a private provider leases space on the network “to facilitate potential economic development by providing services to businesses.” The town “is an example of a community where private sector entities like Google and AT&T have expressed no interest or willingness at this time to build fiber infrastructure,” it said. “Because of our robust fiber network, the Town is palatable for new businesses and attractive to researchers.” Despite those gains, the North Carolina law limits the public-private partnerships the town is able to explore “due to the stymieing effect of North Carolina anti-municipal broadband legislation,” Holly Springs said.