Today’s decision to reverse the Federal Communications Commission’s preemption of anti-municipal broadband laws is a setback for the public interest, Common Cause said today.

“Let’s be clear: industry-backed state laws to block municipal broadband only exist because pliant legislators are listening to their Big Cable and Big Telecom paymasters. These corporate providers invest in campaign contributions rather than in deploying high-quality broadband,” Common Cause Special Adviser Michael Copps said. 

“This decision does not benefit our broadband nation. Nor is it a good reading of the law. But if the FCC cannot set aside these bad laws, then the people must. We will redouble our state-by-state efforts to repeal these odious policies.” Copps continued.