The Advertiser: City Presses for Broadband

News Article

By Deborah Barfield Berry

Lafayette officials urged lawmakers Tuesday to take the "shackles" off local governments so they can offer much-needed broadband service, particularly in areas where providers won't do business now.

"Then you would have a truly competitive option," Terry Huval, director of utilities in Lafayette told members of the Senate small business committee. "We're already doing this in Lafayette."

Lawmakers are debating how to expand broadband service in communities throughout the country, particularly in rural counties in the South. Such access, Republican and Democratic lawmakers say, is key to expanding small businesses and job growth.

"This is going to be the lifeblood for firms in Louisiana, for firms in Maine," said Louisiana Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu, the panel's chairwoman. "We could not do this fast enough to help this economy grow."

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., agreed that the success of small businesses, which employ most workers in Mississippi, is key to a strong economy.

"They deserve quality and affordable access to the Internet to help them compete in the marketplace," he said.

Small businesses face major hurdles to getting service, including high prices and few choices, said Susan Walthall, acting chief counsel for the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy, an independent agency.

"We need to ensure that they have affordable access to adequate speeds of broadband so they can take advantage of the expanded markets and the opportunities to innovate," she told lawmakers.

Small businesses also need training and tools to better use technology, including social media, supporters said.

To Jumpstart The Effort, The Stimulus Bill Enacted Last Year Set Aside

$4 billion for businesses and governments to expand broadband services.

In the first round of funding, Louisiana received $143 million in grants and loans, Mississippi received $8 million and Alabama received $3.8 million.

Lafayette officials took their own steps and created LUS Fiber after private companies refused to provide service in the area. City officials say Lafayette is now the largest city with a community-owned fiber-optic system. They say access will be citywide this summer.

"We don't discriminate between one side of town or the other," Huval said. "We didn't do it with one dollar of federal funding...But I tell you the challenge has been great."

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