Yeah, I've started to eye Vice articles with more and more suspicion, and this is another example of why. There's a lot more playing out here than implied by the Vice story. The headline is especially egregious and inaccurate.
Yeah, reading the bill (http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNu...), it seems pretty apparent that it's actually a step in the right direction, opening things up for co-ops and making money available to anyone willing to build out to under-served areas, not a handout directly to incumbent ISPs.
Would I have liked for it to have included the city and municipal entities too, sure, but one thing at a time.