CityLab highlights a rare piece of good news from this year's legislative session — the bill from Sen. Breanne Davis (R-Russellville) to allow local governments to build broadband infrastructure, overturning a previous legislative ban that gave phone and TV companies a monopoly on the broadband business.
Republican women in the legislature announced a package of legislation today. My attention was caught by a potential expansion of broadband competition.
The Education and Information Technology committees received a report this morning from CT&T Inc., which was hired to conduct a comprehensive study of the Internet capacity of Arkansas K-12 schools. It brings little clarity to the confusing issue, but it does illustrate the Department of Information Services has given a very bad deal to schools
A long-awaited report on K-12 broadband recommends using an "aggregated statewide network for Internet access" in the long run — like ARE-ON. Its short term recommendation: Stop using the Department of Information Services.
The latest Yell County Record emphasizes that Anna and Tom Cotton live in Dardanelle. And Cotton is button-popping proud of a $24 million low-cost USDA loan to a local phone company run by a big campaign contributor. Too bad Cotton voted against the legislation that provided the money his pal and many others got.
Here's a little national coverage on the fight between broadband providers and education advocates (joined by other business interests) who want to allow K-12 schools to access the public fiber optic network for colleges and universities, ARE-ON.
The Walton billions and the telecom industry are in a heavyweight battle in Arkansas over a law that prevents the state from providing broadband services to public school districts.