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Predictable: AT&T Sues Nashville

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AT&T made good on its promise to sue Nashville, and with haste, too.  The suit is a response to Metro’s new ordinance known as One Touch Make Ready (OTMR); it is disputing the government’s authority to regulate attachments to utility poles.  AT&T claims that only the Federal Communications Commission can do that.

Earlier: One Touch Make Ready approved by council, probably faces lawsuit

The OTMR ordinance was passed by the Metro Council on Tuesday.  Twelve councilmembers voted to defer the bill because they were fearful of the threatened lawsuit, but the bill proceeded anyways.  On Wednesday, the Mayor, who had previously been neutral on the bill, signed it into law.

The lawsuit does not seek a preliminary injunction, in which the judge would put the ordinance on hold pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

 

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Three big bills advance tonight in Metro Council meeting

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One Touch Make Ready passed the second reading tonight on a 32-7 voice vote.  It’s still up for a third (and final) reading before it heads to the the Mayor’s desk.  The bill, pushed by Google Fiber, would allow new companies move other companies’ data lines out of the way on telephone poles.

The marijuana decriminalization bill also passed its second reading tonight.  The bill would reduce the penalty (at the discretion of the police officer) for getting caught with up to a half ounce of pot (which the police chief said is still a lot of joints for one person) to $50 or 10 hours of community service, down from a misdemeanor.

And finally, the inclusionary zoning bill passed its final vote tonight.  The proposed law would require developers requesting special entitlements to also include a certain number of affordable housing units in their developments.

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Google Fiber is a go

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With Google Fiber, we went from being in the dark (get it? optical communications?) about its status to a live network in a flash (see what I did there?).  Today, the company suddenly announced that it’s brought at least four apartment or condo buildings in the vicinity of Music Row online, and residents of those buildings can now sign up for service and schedule an installation.  Residents of certain other apartment or condo buildings can see if their building is slated for the go-live soon.

And they’ve announced prices as well: $50 monthly for 100 Mbps, or $70 each month for the heralded 1 Gbps speeds.  They also offer a TV package and a home phone add-on.

For Nashvillians who just can’t wait to give really fast Internet a try, Google’s set up a trial space in The Gulch:

But those in other apartment buildings, single family homes, and businesses will just have to sit on their hands and wait patiently for the tight-lipped company to let them know when the service will be available to them.  A hint: if you see crews burying a cable in your neighborhood, you might just be getting fiber service soon.

 

 

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Google Fiber for Public Housing

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The chatter today is that Google Fiber will be offering its service free to residents of public housing projects that it connects to, including in Nashville.  We’ve already known this for awhile, though, which is why it’s helpful that WPLN’s Emily Siner answered my question before I even asked it:

Head on over to the Google Fiber Blog for the full scoop.

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