"AT&T is the villain" in city broadband fight, Republican lawmaker says [telecom]

open original image

In Tennessee, AT&T fights against effort to expand municipal Internet.

by Jon Brodkin

A Republican state senator in Tennessee is fed up with AT&T and other private Internet service providers that are trying to stop the spread of municipal broadband.

"We're talking about AT&T," Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) said at a rally of business owners, residents, and local officials in the state Capitol, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported yesterday. "They're the most powerful lobbying organization in this state by far... Don't fall for the argument that this is a free market versus government battle. It is not. AT&T is the villain here, and so are the other people and cable."