The company that says that the gubmint should stay out of its business and let it destroy Net Neutrality also says the government should clobber Kansas towns with no broadband who have the audacity to run their own networks.
The company tried to get the Kansas legislature to pass a bill it wrote, SB 304, which would prevent towns from providing their own broadband — legislation that they've already passed in dozens of other states.
Now the town of Chanute, KS is planning to build its own network, and AT&T have asked the state to ban the town from using bonds to finance the move.
As I've noted previously, AT&T's also in the process of going state by state
payingasking state lawmakers to gut any and all remaining consumer protections (like laws requiring they continue offering 911 to the elderly) so it can back away from aging DSL markets it doesn't want to upgrade. In Kansas specifically, AT&T has promised locals they'll be awash in all manner of miracle broadband improvements, if only they eliminate the Kansas Corporation Commission's consumer protection regulations and minimum quality-of-service standards. Well, at least the ones that apply to AT&T.Again, just so we're clear, this is the same company that insists that absolutely any regulatory effort to protect consumers from duopoly power is the very worst sort of government over-reach, but has absolutely no qualms about using government over-reach and regulation to make sure broadband prices remain high and service quality continues to suck.
AT&T's Regulatory Hypocrisy On Proud Display In Kansas, Where It's Fighting To Keep The State A Broadband Backwater [Karl Bode/Techdirt]
(Image: AT&T Death Star, Aaron Parecki, CC-BY)
