Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) today introduced legislation to help make broadband access universal and affordable across the country. (Read the full press release.)

Here are the big points as quoted from the press release:

1. Sets forth that no state regulation or requirement shall prevent a public provider from offering broadband services;
2. Prohibits a municipality from discriminating against competing private providers;
3. Requires a municipality offering high-speed Internet services to comply with Federal telecommunications law or regulation that applies to all such providers;
4. Encourages public-private partnerships and;
   Provides the public with notice and an opportunity to be heard before a municipality provides broadband to the public.

The good news is that I think this opens the door for open networks. I’m not sure what this will mean for statewide franchising legislation – it seems to emphasize local government, rather than statewide initiatives.

Also I don’t see a direct relationship with the spectrum auction – except that the Google letter I blogged about earlier today promotes open networks (and platforms) and as I said this seems to open that door wider (no pun intended).