Tennessee's Rural Broadband Expansion Effort Heads To Governor's Desk

NASHVILLE, TN — State-backed expansion of broadband internet to rural areas is all but a done deal after the Tennessee House of Representatives approved a scaled-down version of Gov. Bill Haslam's proposal 93-4 Monday night. The bill creating the program already overwhelmingly passed the State Senate.

As approved by General Assembly, the state will fund $30 million in grants to rural electric cooperatives to provide broadband internet service. Originally, Haslam asked for $45 million. The legislature also amended to bill to allow for video service and to allow the co-ops to offer lower speeds. The original bill required speeds of at least 25 megabits per second; the requirement is now 10 megabits per second.

Haslam's effort was widely lauded by the co-ops and the trade association for rural telecom providers.

“Electric and telephone co-ops serve the state’s most rural and economically disadvantaged regions. The Governor’s legislation will now allow electric cooperatives to play a vital role in bringing broadband to these underserved areas," Tennessee Electrical Co-Operative Association executive vice-president David Callis said. "With our joint dedication and presence in these rural areas, electric and telephone cooperatives have a great opportunity to work together to meet this challenge.”

The Tennessee Telecommunications Association is "encouraged" by the plan.

“As providers of high-speed broadband and fiber to a large portion of rural Tennessee, we know there are still places that need to get connected. This is an issue that won’t be fixed overnight," TCA executive director Levoy Knowles said. "But our members, both the independent companies and the cooperatives, are optimistic about working with the electric coops to make broadband available to many more rural Tennesseans.”

Much of the opposition to the effort came from the state's wireless providers, who said that most of the state is already covered through cellular and data service and who raised concerns about unfair, state-funded opposition. Even some rural legislators worried publicly that Haslam's plan was a half-measure that would do little to provide broadband with any alacrity, according to The Tennessean, urging more funding given the state's $2 billion budget surplus.

Image via United States Department of Agriculture