Infographic: Big Cable v. Grassroots in Community Broadband Referendum

Today, the American Prospect published an analysis authored by our own Sean Gonsalves that examines how a recently filed bill in California aims to strip telecommunications oversight authority away from the California Public Utilities Commission and undermines the state's effort to make broadband more affordable.

The California State Assembly recently voted 67-1 to strip telecom oversight authority away from the CPUC and shift it to a more easily lobbied state legislature – and an as-yet-undefined state broadband office. The effort still has a long road before it’s formalized. Assembly Constitutional Amendment 9, authored by Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, D-Encinitas, now moves on to the California Senate, where it needs to secure a two-thirds vote before appearing on a statewide ballot before California voters.

Locals in Longmeadow, Massachusetts say they’re being bombarded with misleading mailers, texts, and phone calls from a telecom-industry linked group trying to mislead the public ahead of a key vote on the city’s plan to begin construction of a municipal broadband fiber network today. Longmeadow residents are voting today (May 12) on whether to approve an $8.6 million loan to construct the first phase of what will ultimately be a town-wide fiber broadband network.

The public-private partnership the city struck Arizona-based Wecom Fiber is expected to inject at least $100 million into local economy over five years while saving the city an estimated $18 million in capital expenses. The fiber network will ultimately pass 30,000 locations within Flagstaff city limits, but also connect 34 municipal facilities. Construction of the network began in April of 2025, and is poised to deliver more than 815 miles of new fiber across Coconino County.

Local government organizations are voicing their strong opposition to the American Broadband Deployment Act, an industry friendly proposal being cooked up in the House that would take public rights of way management and property decisions away from state, local, and tribal governments through federal preemption and industry-friendly defaults. The American Broadband Deployment Act (HR 2289) saw initial approval by the US House Energy and Commerce Committee last January. It’s being presented by telecom companies as a way to dramatically streamline government broadband permitting and regulation, something they insist will speed up the deployment of fast, affordable broadband access.

Pennsylvania’s Claverack Rural Electric Cooperative (REC) says it’s making steady inroads in expanding affordable fiber access throughout rural Bradford and Wyoming Counties. The cooperative recently passed a notable milestone: the cooperative just wrapped up a project that delivered 100 miles of new fiber-optic cable to pass roughly 1,300 previously-unserved and underserved homes and businesses in rural Bradford and Wyoming counties for the first time ever.