Florida Senate reaches compromise on muni telecom nets

The Florida State Senate, one of several state legislative bodies considering a ban on municipal telecom projects, has instead adopted compromise legislation that allows cities and towns to build their own advanced telecom networks under certain circumstances.

The measure, which must still pass the Florida House of Representatives, was the result of weeks of effort by people on both sides, and represents significant compromise by both the telephone and cable companies and the municipalities, said Barry Moline, executive director of the Florida Municipal Electric Association, which represents many smaller towns and cities.

"We don't necessarily consider it a victory--we got some things and we gave up some things," he said. "I think, overall, it's good public policy."

The compromise replaces legislation that would have prohibited municipalities from building telecom networks and required communities that had already built such networks to stop adding customers. Florida is one of several states pondering similar legislation this year.

The compromise, reached with the assistance of Gov. Jeb Bush's office and State Sen. Lee Constantine, allows municipalities to build their own networks only after they have provided notice of their network requirements to private network operators and tried to get those requirements satisfied by those enterprises. The municipality must prepare a business plan that shows how its network operation would break even within four years, and conduct a series of public hearings explaining the plan to the public. If financing of the network will require more than 15 years, a public referendum is required.

Moline admits that many of his organization's members are unhappy about having to consult the telephone and cable industry before building the networks they believe their municipalities need.

"A lot of cities have a philosophy that they should be able to provide for the comfort and convenience of their community, in whatever the community wants," he said.

Given the highly competitive nature of the telecom business, however, it makes sense that existing service providers don't want more competition from a public entity with taxing authority.

"The reality is that in a competitive industry, the competitors can't serve everyone," he said. "They have to pick and choose where they can make a profit. And they are skipping over small and rural communities."

Representatives of both BellSouth and Florida's cable industry spoke in favor of the bill, Moline said, but he's waiting to see if new arguments arise in that body.