Louisiana City Fights Telecoms to Pass Fiber-Optic Law

Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Lafayette, Louisiana, a city of sixty thousand, can now boast that it provi...  More »

Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Lafayette, Louisiana, a city of sixty thousand, can now boast that it provides high-speed Internet to all of its residents. The battle to become the first city in the state to provide municipal fiber-optic cable into each home led to $4 million in legal fees to fight lawsuits against BellSouth Corp. and Cox Communications Inc. The disagreement was over a state senate bill advocated by lobbyists of Louisiana's cable companies that named telecommunications as a permitted city utility, then hamstrung municipalities with a list of conditions. Megan Hughes reports on Bloomberg Television's "Inside Track." Erik Schatzker also speaks. (Source: Bloomberg)  « Less