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Virginia bill would effectively ban city-run broadband
Now that the FCC can't prevent states from blocking municipal broadband, telecom-backed politicians are doing their best to shut down these government-run networks. Virginia House Republican Kathy Byron has put forward a bill that would make municipal internet virtually impossible. Towns couldn't offer internet service so long as there's at least one private provider offering 10Mbps downloads and 1Mbps uploads to 90 percent of customers in the area -- and that's pretty easy to find in Virginia. Those towns that do clear this hurdle would have to both conduct a "comprehensive" assessment and give private ISPs 6 months to come up with solutions that are potentially less expensive.