PROVIDENCE – An R.I. Superior Court judge has dismissed Cox Communications' lawsuit against the state that accused the R.I. Commerce Corp. of using “flawed data” and mismanaging the rollout of a $108 million broadband expansion plan.
In his decision issued on Nov. 7, Superior Court Judge Brian Stern said the matter is a federal issue.
“This court cannot reach the merits of Cox Communications’ claim, but Cox Communications is not left without a remedy,” Stern wrote. “Cox Communications is simply in the wrong court and may pursue a remedy in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.”
Cox spokesperson Bill Fischer said the company’s legal team is reviewing the decision.
"That said, we are considering all options at this juncture including filing a claim in federal court," Fischer said. "It is important to note that [the Nov. 7] decision does not dismiss our assertions or claims nor have they been litigated. [The] decision to dismiss was based purely on jurisdiction."
Cox claimed in a 33-page complaint filed on Sept. 23 in Providence Superior Court that R.I. Commerce used flawed data to “build a taxpayer-subsidized and duplicative high-speed broadband internet in affluent areas of Rhode Island.”
Rhode Island received $108 million as part of the $42 billion that Congress set aside in the 2021 federal infrastructure law to expand high-speed internet access across the nation.
In the lawsuit, Cox claimed federal data showed that 99.3% of Rhode Island has access to high-speed internet, with only 0.7% of the state “unserved,” with less than 25 megabits per second for download speeds.
Cox challenged a proposed map put out by Gov. Daniel J. McKee’s administration that shows 30,000 underserved locations that don’t have high-speed internet access, including homes in some of Rhode Island’s wealthiest neighborhoods, including in Barrington on Rumstick Road and Nayatt Point, and mansions along Ocean Drive in Newport.
Cox said that data was wrong because some of the locations the state listed are Cox customers and individual testing showed they had high-speed internet access.
Cox claimed in the lawsuit that it was also asked to pay $52,000 to process a public records request to get Rhode Island’s data used for the map.
Brian Thorn, director of broadband strategy for R.I. Commerce, responded to the lawsuit, claiming, “The provisions for which [Cox seeks] a waiver were subject to rigorous scrutiny by [the National Telecommunications and Information Association], and they were approved only after Rhode Island made significant and required changes to ensure that they are fair and designed to produce the most accurate Rhode Island broadband map possible.”
(ADDS paragraphs 4-5 with Cox comment. Minor edits.)
