. >> reporter: jim bailer is lead counsel. >> the laws are sometimes said to be for the purpose of creatingevel playing field, for the purpose of creating fair competition, but in reality, are to create barriers that the established carriers can't comply with in most cases. >> reporter: in february the fcc agreed and overturned tennessee state law. >> the federal government is preempting a state from preempting cities. the attorney general filed an appeal saying quote: >> right now in tennessee because of that, there's no competition. there's no choice. there's no service. >> reporter: janice is a proponent of municipal broadband but says changing the law is a challenge because of lobbyists. >> they hold tremendous power, and there have been efforted to eliminate this problem in a few areas of tennessee. each time tremendous dollars have gone in to lobbyists to defeat it. very few things have been able to get past it. >> reporter: she will propose legislation in 2016 to strike the clause from tennessee law that prohibits municipal broadband from expanding into rural areas. >> it is an infra