The latest flash point is state legislation, approved 15-5 Thursday by the
General Assembly's commerce committee, calling for a task force to study a plan for data centers and an ultrahigh-speed broadband network for the bioscience, health care and insurance industries and public and private universities and research institutions.
Backers of the legislation, which now heads to the Senate, say it will promote key business, particularly as the state aggressively promotes its bioscience industry. Business lobbyists counter by saying such a plan falsely implies that Connecticut lags in broadband speed and access.
State Comptroller Kevin Lembo called ultrahigh-speed broadband an economic development tool and a "strategy that needs to be pursued."
"If we don't do something, someone else will and they'll eat our lunch," he said.
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