West Virginia Bill Would Let Public Service Commission Regulate Broadband Deployment
Legislation giving the West Virginia Public Services Commission “authority and duty to regulate the practices, services and rates of broadband deployment projects,” is only in the discussion stage, sponsors told us. Senate Bill 491 (http://xrl.us/bmryeb) is intended to level the playing field within state broadband employment, said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. David Sypolt, a Republican.
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West Virginia has virtually no broadband regulation, Sypolt said. The governor appointed a broadband employment council a couple of years ago, but it’s not serving its purpose, he said. The council’s definition of broadband is only 765 kbps, but it should be at least 4 Mbps, he said.
The state has funded development from big broadband providers, like Frontier Communications, but not small, entrepreneurial providers, Sypolt said. The bill is aimed at dispersing the funding and giving those smaller providers a fighting chance against more powerful companies. Sypolt said big providers like Frontier Communications have not delivered promised broadband to certain areas of the state, and he wants to open the market to other providers who will follow through.
The West Virginia broadband market has a problem with “predatory pricing,” Sypolt said. This occurs when bigger providers lower their prices to eliminate competition and then raise prices again once the competition is out of the picture. “I want to make an environment where more innovative companies can compete,” he said.
"State regulation is unnecessary, expensive and not permitted under law,” said Dan Page, a spokesman for Frontier Communications. The competition among broadband providers isn’t a bad thing either, he said: “Stiff competition among providers delivers customers value far more efficiently than local government oversight.” Page said Frontier is investing $310 million in West Virginia, with a big part of that going to broadband.
The bill was spurred by complaints about the big broadband providers, said co-sponsor, Sen. Bob Beach (D). He said he hopes the bill will send a message to the companies that they need to provide better and faster service. Sypolt will try to get the bill on this year’s agenda, he said, but the bill remains in discussion for now.