A couple weeks ago, President Obama asked the FCC to look at reducing state barrier to community networks. (That speech was followed up by the proposed Community Broadband Act.) Earlier this year, broadband consultant Craig Settles released a report called, How to Navigate, Mitigate or Eliminate the Impacts of State Restrictions on Public Broadband. It’s a primer on what needs to be done and why to reduce state barrier to community broadband. Here is what Craig had to say about the barrier in Minnesota…

This state has one of the most straightforward If‐Then laws. Communities have to pass a referendum with at least 65 percent of the vote in order to own and operate a telephone exchange (click here for the law’s wording). “What we have is a psychological   barrier  to broadband that’s built from the fear of being sued more than a real restriction,” said Danna MacKenzie, executive director, Office of Broadband Development for the state of Minnesota. Besides the referendum requirement, which is a surmountable challenge, no one’s considering building telephone exchanges anymore when communities are contemplating broadband networks. Cities can make the case that their network is only for data and avoid the referendum altogether, which Lake County did. MacKenzie said, “Their legal department felt the county was not subject to this particular law. The county took a political hit for bypassing the referendum but has moved past it to begin building the network.”

Monticello partnered with Hiawatha Broadband Communications to jointly own and operate a fiber data network, and Windom built a citywide       network. Lac qui Parle and Sibley counties partnered with a telephone and broadband co‐op, respectively. Scott County built its network infrastructure to address public safety, city facilities and anchor institutions, and then started offering services to businesses.

The referendum actually can be viewed as a positive requirement for communities. Local governments are not accustomed to operating in a competitive environment. To pass referenda, they would have to do extensive needs assessments, consensus building, planning and marketing within the various communities. Ultimately, this can lead to a better broadband strategy and ultimately a better network with a stronger potential for financial sustainability.

And here I have paraphrased his general recommendations for community, states and other interested in pushing down the barriers…

• Know the laws; some may be misleading
• Be ready to fight at a moment’s notice should barrier be introduced or discussed at the legislature.
• Find out who is opposed to removing barriers and work with them.
• Files comments with the FCC
• Prepare to lobby.
• Develop innovative funding strategies
• Rethink your approach to private public partnerships