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Follow-up to June 25, 2018 Worksession on Enhanced Broadband Capacity/Equity Copyrighted July 16, 2018 City of Dubuque Action Items # 1. ITEM TITLE: Follow-up to June 25, 2018 Worksession on Enhanced Broadband Capacity, Access and Equity in Dubuque SUMMARY: Information Services Manager Chris Kohlmann, Public Information Officer Randy Gehl and Sustainable Innovation Consultant David Lyons will answer any questions as a follow-up to the June 25, 2018 City Council Work Session on Enhanced Broadband Capacity, Access and Equity in Dubuque prior to City Council Goal Setting. SUGGESTED DISPOSITION: Suggested Disposition: Receive and File; Council ATTACHMENTS: Description Type Enhanced Broadband Capacity Follow-up to June 25 City Manager Memo Work Session-NNM Memo Follow-up to 6-25-18 Work Session Enhanced Broadband Capacity, Access and Equity in Dubuque Staff Memo memo to City Manager Net neutrality information update 7-10-18 Supporting Documentation THE CITY OF Dubuque � AIFA�erlwGh UB E '�� III► Masterpiece on the Mississippi Z°°'�w'2 7A13 2017 TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager SUBJECT: Follow-up to June 25, 2018 City Council Work Session on Enhanced Broadband Capacity, Access and Equity in Dubuque DATE: July 11 , 2018 Information Services Manager Chris Kohlmann, Public Information Officer Randy Gehl and Sustainable Innovation Consultant David Lyons will attend the City Council meeting to answer any questions as a follow-up to the June 25, 2018 City Council Work Session on Enhanced Broadband Capacity, Access and Equity in Dubuque prior to City Council Goal Setting. Some additional information on net neutrality is being provided. There will be no presentation. ��� �� ���� Mic ael C. Van Milligen �� � MCVM:jh Attachment cc: Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney Teri Goodmann, Assistant City Manager Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager Chris Kohlmann, Information Services Manager Randy Gehl, Public Information Officer David Lyons, Sustainable Innovation Consultant Dubuque THE CITY OF � DT T� � All-AmericaCitv U Masterpiece on the Mississippi 1 I I I Ial �oo�.,a,z.zo,3.�o,� TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager FROM: Chris Kohlmann, Information Services Manager Randy Gehl, Public Information Office David Lyons, Sustainable Innovation Consultant SUBJECT: Follow-up to June 25, 2018 Council Work Session on Enhanced Broadband Capacity, Access and Equity in Dubuque DATE: July 11 , 2018 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this memo is to provide additional follow-up discussion with and among the Mayor and members of the Dubuque City Council on the issue of Broadband Internet expansion. BACKGROUND In December 2015 and consistent with the Management Agenda item in the 2015 City Council Goal Setting Session titled "GDDC: Sustainable Innovation" and the Management in Progress item titled "GDDC Broadband/Fiber Optic Vendor EngagemenY' staff undertook the Dubuque Broadband Acceleration Initiative. Based upon research and market realities, the path chosen was to pursue public/private collaborations to accelerate and expand broadband capacity. Excellent progress has been made on broadband capacity and access. Staff is still in the earliest of stages on addressing the third priority .... Equity. The Dubuque City Council has received several updates on progress of the Broadband Acceleration Initiative and on June 25�h held a Council work session to receive further progress reports and to also discuss the request from the Campaign forDubuque Municipal lnternet to shift from City's focus on public/private collaborations and instead conduct a study to determine how best to implement a municipally constructed and managed internet system to provide, among other things, a guaranteed neutral access to all websites and online services. DISCUSSION We understand that there are continuing questions for staff on both the progress made to date using the public/private collaboration strategy and to the potential barriers to or strategies for a municipal internet system. Staff would like to make itself available to provide any additional information, answer follow-up questions or research any remaining issues the Council members feel important to their continuing consideration. RECOMMENDATION AND ACTION REQUESTED If the Mayor and Council wish to have additional discussion or provide additional direction to staff, we will be available at the council meeting for dialogue or questions on the Dubuque Broadband Acceleration Initiative. No formal presentation is planned. Thank you. Cc: Dave Ness, Civil Engineer II Kerry Bradley, Engineering Barry Lindahl, Senior Counsel 2 Net Neutrality Background and Update City of Dubuque Updated July 10, 2018 Net neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers and governments regulating the Internet should treat all data on the Internet the same, not discriminating or charging differentially by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or mode of communication. Twenty years ago, most people accessed the Internet through services like AOL, a so-called "walled garden," meaning you got Internet access from AOL but you also used their email, newsfeed, bulletin board—all bundled from your Internet Services Provider (ISP.) ThaYs no longer true. Now most people get their internet access services from a provider and they use broadband services to access email or cloud services from a separate provider. These services may have nothing to do with their ISP — people are using broadband Internet access basically like the telephone. After studying this shift, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2015 reclassified broadband as a telecommunication service; imposed transparency rules; and, among other changes, barred providers from blocking online content, throttling speeds or setting up Internet fast lanes and charging fees for their use, whaYs known as "paid prioritization." This gave the FCC much more regulatory authority over the industry, and they used this power to put in place strong net neutrality rules designed to prevent ISPs from discriminating against providers of content and services. On December 14, 2017 the Republican-led FCC has reversed course and voted to repeal the Obama-era net neutrality rules, known as Title II net neutrality regulations. The repeal passed along a party-line vote. In February 2018 The FCC's net neutrality vote was published in the Federal Register, the governmenYs official record of all administrative actions. As part of the public debate around net neutrality were court, federal and state legislative actions, in hopes of overturning it. Several groups filed petitions challenging the FCC, including Public Knowledge, the California Public Utilities Commission, Mozilla, Free Press, Open Technology Institute and a group of 22 state attorneys general including lowa's Tom Miller. There was also momentum for a congressional resolution to force the FCC to take back its vote and restore the old net neutrality rules. Fifty-two Senate lawmakers supported a return of net neutrality rules with both lowa senators opposing the effort. The legislation ultimately did not make it through the House. In lowa, state Rep. Liz Bennett, D-Cedar Rapids, introduced House file 2287 in February to maintain the 2015 rules, but the measure gained no traction. On June 11 , 2018 the FCC officially ended the consumer protections passed in 2015 that prevented internet service providers from blocking or slowing legal traffic, or for charging for faster delivery of some content. ISPs are required to disclose any blocking, throttling or paid prioritization of their own content or from their partners on customers' broadband connections. But if they want to do any of those things, they can. What does this mean for residents? In a June 13, 2018 Des Moines Register article https://tinyurl.com/y8hebnse local ISP's including Mediacom, Centurylink and Windstream all are quoted as claiming support for an open internet with statements that none block content. Similar statements from other large providers such as ATT&T, Comcast and Verizon have been shared. As consumers and business look to the future, there is a concern that the repeal of Net Neutrality will benefit large ISPs especially in locations where providers are limited. Companies that provide services over the Internet want to be able to reach their customers without interference from their ISP. Without Net Neutrality rules in place, users could experience data being slowed down or blocked, potentially facing paying a premium if the ISP owns or has a partnership with a competing internet entity or broadband edge service provider. Although ISP's are required to disclose any blocking, throttling or prioritization of content as well as engaging in unfair, deceptive and anticompetitive practices, issues will be handled after occurring with a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC.) Although the FTC is compelled to investigate issues, the concern is ISPs could claim network "issues" and don't have to report things like packet loss or their performance at peak usage times. In other words, providers could bypass unfair practices in the name of"reasonable network management." In addition, a very tangible challenge is control. As Fahas Manjoo argued in a recent New York Times column that "...by the time Tom Wheeler, F.C.C. chief under President Barack Obama, handed down rules to protect neutrality in 2015, we had already strayed quite far from the internet of the early 2000s, where upstarts ruled our lives...a vibrant network doesn't die all at once. Instead it grows weaker over time, with innovative start- ups finding it ever more difficult to fight entrenched incumbents."" Manjoo continues, "Today, the internet is run by giants. A handful of American tech behemoths —Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft — control the most important digital infrastructure, while a handful of broadband companies — AT&T, Charter, Comcast and Verizon — control most of the internet connections in the United States." With fewer companies deploying large scale, competitive fiber, one should expect the regional monopolization of high-speed broadband to get worse in the U.S. market. Dubuque values an equitable and sustainable city. Planning for the community's future and facilitating equitable access to critical human services is vital to accomplishing that mission. The internet services of our community, play a key role in maintaining and growing equitable and sustainable service delivery for our residents and businesses. Much work has been done to attract additional broadband providers to Dubuque with much work remaining to be done through leveraging available telecommunications assets, creating master agreements for public/private partnerships and working with legacy providers on new and enhanced services. As we continue to evaluate the impact of new rules around "net neutrality," specific actions will be evaluated with our local, state and federal partners on next steps. The City of Dubuque will continue encouraging our legislative leaders to protect an "open internet." In addition to working with legislative leaders, what can be done now that net neutrality has ended? . Monitoring. We (network professionals) need to closely monitor internet latency and hop path count to ensure that no ISP configuration changes are going on behind the scenes that can affect network performance. If we notice any significant changes, you should contact your provider and find out why it occurred. . Plan for possible service changes. It is critical that we are prepared for any changes to the services that an ISP offers. Although carriers have said they do not plan to block or throttle web access or charge increased prices for delivery of online content, that can change at any time due to the potential benefits of making changes. It is important to create what-if and next-step scenarios if the current ISP(s) were to make various changes. . Contractually require Net Neutrality for all city ISP service contracts. . In Public Private Partnerships give preference to net neutral companies and encouraging sharing of fiber optic infrastructure. . "Stay tuned" and be open/prepared for new markets and methods of internet service delivery. Prepared by Chris Kohlmann, Information Services Manager