Agenda - 09-03-2002 - 9b - Laserfiche WebLink

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3 TELECOMMUNICATIONS: PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE Excerpt from: International City/County ICMA Management Association Local governments are providers, users, and regulators of telecommunication service. Many local governments have already jumped to the fore with strategic plans to seek out partnerships with the public and industry to assure that local infrastructure is developed to assure economic vitality,right-of-way management, and public benefits. We've seen strategic alliances and creative regulatory schemes being developed by local governments all over the country: in Blacksburg,Virginia;Milpitas,California; Seattle, Washington,Austin,Texas;Kansas City, Missouri Broomfield,Colorado; Clark County,Nevada; and many other places. In response to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, all communities would be wise to reevaluate their ongoing plans,or get started on developing new ones,because the rules have changed, the business motivations are changing, and our consuming public wants more and better information services at affordable rates. A good plan approaches telecommunications as a means to reach a goal: a goal of achieving economic prosperity, consumer protection, and satisfying the public and civic interest. Local government's self-interest in planning for an effective telecommunications infrastructure is to protect its property,the public right-of-way,while maintaining a balance between the varied needs and interests of the public,the industry, and the government.The basic purposes of any telecommunications plan are to • Maintain local control of the rights-of-way • Establish appropriate quid pro quos for the use of public property • Satisfy the needs of consumers and the public interest,by retaining rate stability(when not satisfied via a competitive marketplace),offering consumer education and protection, providing for effective competition in a developing marketplace, and applying appropriate and necessary regulations in a uniform fashion. The new Telecommunications Act preserves the rights of local governments to protect public safety and welfare,preserve universal service, ensure service quality,protect consumer rights,manage the public right-of-way, and receive compensation for its use. All of this must be done in a competitively neutral fashion. And while the concept of competitive neutrality, a basic sense of equity,is not new to local governments,what is new under the new federal law, is how "telecommunications"competitors are defined.