{"id":10083,"date":"2017-10-25T12:17:51","date_gmt":"2017-10-25T20:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2017\/10\/25\/news-3856\/"},"modified":"2017-10-25T12:17:51","modified_gmt":"2017-10-25T20:17:51","slug":"news-3856","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2017\/10\/25\/news-3856\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Telecom Spent $200,000 to Try to Prevent a Colorado Town From Even Talking About a City-Run Internet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Credit to Author: Kaleigh Rogers| Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2017 17:16:52 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n

Politics is an expensive game, but when an oligopoly is at stake, there’s no price tag too high for Big Telecom. In Fort Collins, Colorado\u2014a town of about 150,000 north of Denver\u2014Big Telecom has contributed more than $200,000 to a campaign opposing a ballot measure to simply consider a city-run broadband network. It’s the latest example of how far Big Telecom is willing to go to prevent communities from building their own internet and competing with the status quo.<\/p>\n

“It’s been wild,” said Glen Akins, a Fort Collins advocate for municipal broadband. “We’re overwhelmed by the amount of money the opposition is spending.” <\/p>\n

When the residents of Fort Collins vote on November 7 they’ll have a couple of ballot measures to consider, including one on city-run internet. If that measure is approved, Fort Collins will be able to change the city charter to allow it to run a municipal broadband utility. This doesn’t mean it will happen for sure, and the city still hasn’t finalized<\/a> what that utility would look like, but it opens the door to further discussions. <\/p>\n

Got a tip? You can contact this reporter securely on Wire @kaleighrogers <\/i> <\/b> or email <\/i> <\/b>kaleigh.rogers@vice.com<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s part of a process that is necessary because Colorado is one of 23 states<\/a> that have laws restricting the development of municipally owned broadband (all of which have been lobbied for by telecom companies<\/a>). Colorado’s law can be bypassed with a ballot measure, and in recent years this action has become particularly popular. Last year, 26 communities in Colorado voted on municipal broadband<\/a> measures\u2014all of them passed, meaning those municipalities can now explore building their own networks. In total, more than 100 communities in Colorado have voted in favor of measures to bypass the state’s restriction. Fort Collins passed this hurdle in 2015, and the new vote would take the next step of amending the town charter.<\/p>\n

But there are surprisingly strong forces at play lobbying against the Fort Collins measure, and funding a campaign that includes TV and radio ads, Google search ads, and flyers.<\/p>\n

\n