Local View: Broadband task force has done little to serve public
Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 - 12:17:46 am CDT

In the spring of 2005, the Nebraska Legislature created the Broadband Service Task Force and provided it with $200,000 to study broadband Internet service availability in Nebraska. The Legislature gave the task force two years to work, during which time the enabling legislation, LB645, prohibited publicly owned electric companies and municipalities from offering low-cost, high-speed computer service.

Many observers hoped that an in-depth study might open the doors to new technology and better, low-cost service, particularly for rural citizens. Instead, the task force has done little more than rubber-stamp phone and cable company strategies. Though it has yet to complete its study, the task force recently recommended an extension of the prohibition created by LB645.

Two years and $200,000 should have produced a thorough survey of state services. But it took the task force more than a year to hold its first meeting. There has yet to be a public hearing -- the public is allowed to attend meetings but is not permitted to speak.

Having squandered so much time, the task force has been forced to rely heavily on information provided by interested parties. The Public Service Commission, which might have provided some original research, instead has relied on the same sources.

The task force has given short shrift to a white paper compiled by the New York-based Brennan Center for Justice with the help of Common Cause Nebraska and the Center for Rural Affairs. Greg Ast, the task force facilitator, refused to let a representative defend the paper at a task force meeting. When Common Cause offered to pay the expense of bringing Mark Cooper, a nationally known expert on broadband technology, to speak, Mr. Ast refused. It is worth noting that the largest single task force expense thus far reported is Mr. Ast's $80,000 salary.

The clout of the phone and cable companies on the issue of broadband provision is considerable. State Sen. Kermit Brashear, who proposed LB645, is a lawyer for Cox Cable in addition to being speaker of the Legislature. The primary lobbyist for LB645 is former Speaker of the Legislature Curt Bromm, who twice brought similar bills while in office. State Sen. Mick Mines, who sits on the task force, is vice president of a phone company. All three state senators serving on the task force voted for the prohibitions when the bill was on the floor.

Phone and cable companies have donated more than half of the campaign contributions accepted by one of the three public service commissioners serving as voting members on the task force. The same type of companies are the source of about one-fifth of the contributions accepted by another PSC member.

While the cities of Lincoln and Omaha are seriously considering wireless broadband, our Broadband Task Force is doing all it can to slow the wheels of progress.