(Great Beyond)Last week, a pair of city-operated utility companies petitioned the FCC, daring Commission Chair Tom Wheeler to make good on his promises to overturn ridiculous, industry-backed state laws that ban or severely limit municipal broadband. The FCC has opened the issue up for public comment, so it’s time to make your opinion heard. Both petitions deal with bizarre state laws that rein in muni broadband in favor of regional monopolies operated by the cable and telecom industries. In Tennessee, the laws prevent Chattanooga’s EPB utility company from offering its broadband service to communities outside of its electric-delivery area, even to communities that are requesting it because they currently have little-to-no broadband access. Meanwhile in North Carolina, the city of Wilson is allowed to provide power service to six counties but a 2011 state law says it can only offer its gigabit fiber broadband service in its home county. Comments are now open for the North Carolina petition and the Tennessee petition.