U.S. Representative Pete Sessions, 32nd District, Texas
In a world where
Nebraska recently prohibited cities and public utilities from offering broadband Internet access to residents and customers, while
Maine has clarified "that municipalities have the authority to become providers of wireless Internet services," one man is attempting to establish a uniform national standard that would "prohibit municipal governments from offering telecommunications, information, or cable services except to remedy market failures by private enterprise to provide such services."
That man is
United States Congressman Pete Sessions, who self-identifies himself on his official Congressional web site as "a conservative community leader [who] has combined hard work, innovative thinking, free-market solutions and common sense principles and values to build a successful family, business, and congressional career."
In pursuit of this policy, Representative Sessions has introduced
H.R. 2726, the "Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act of 2005."
Here's the text of
H.R. 2726, the "Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act of 2005.":
Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)
HR 2726 IH
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2726
To prohibit municipal governments from offering telecommunications, information, or cable services except to remedy market failures by private enterprise to provide such services.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 26, 2005
Mr. SESSIONS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A BILL
To prohibit municipal governments from offering telecommunications, information, or cable services except to remedy market failures by private enterprise to provide such services.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act of 2005'.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON MUNICIPAL SERVICES.
(a) Amendment- Section 253 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 253) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
`(g) Provision of Services by State and Local Governments and Their Affiliates-
`(1) PROHIBITION- Effective 60 days after the date of enactment of the Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act of 2005, neither any State or local government, nor any entity affiliated with such a government, shall provide any telecommunications, telecommunications service, information service, or cable service in any geographic area within the jurisdiction of such government in which a corporation or other private entity that is not affiliated with any State or local government is offering a substantially similar service.
`(2) GRANDFATHER PROVISION- Paragraph (1) shall not prohibit a State or local government or affiliated entity thereof from providing in any geographic area within the jurisdiction of such government any service that such government or entity was providing on the date of enactment of the Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act of 2005.'.
(b) Conforming Amendment- Subsection (f) of section 621 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 541(f)) is repealed.
Representative Sessions' telecomm experience
According to his official biography:
"Congressman Sessions joined Southwestern Bell Telephone Company after graduating from Southwestern University. Over the next 16 years, he served at the internationally renowned Bell Labs in New Jersey and as District Manager for Marketing in Dallas. Thanks to this private sector experience, Congressman Sessions understands the need to fight bureaucracy and to utilize market-driven solutions to effectively solve problems in our communities and in government."
Opposition to H.R. 2726 arises
The
United Telecom Council (UTC) self-identifies as "The Telecommunications and Information Technology Association for Utility, Energy and Other Infrastructure Companies."
UTC opposes H.R. 2726. Here's what it had to say in its newsletter, published June 16, 2005:
"A bill, HR-2726, introduced by Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), a former Southwestern Bell executive, sparked heavy consumer opposition due to its requirements to prohibit municipally provided telecom in most cases. Consumer and high-tech advocates are among those reacting strongly against the bill, which would bar municipal governments from offering broadband service except to 'remedy market failures.' According to the
Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and the
Free Press organization, more than 100 telecom lobbyists bombarded legislators for an anti-muni bill. Supporters of measures to keep municipalities from providing high-speed Internet, like SBC and BellSouth, argue that municipal government gets special treatment and tax breaks. But Mark Cooper, Research Director at CFA said these systems won’t require subsidies since they provide services in lieu of taxes.
Center for Digital Democracy Executive Director, Jeff Chester, said members of Congress and telecom lobbyists 'better think twice' before backing the bill, as the approach is 'ultimately going to backfire,' with companies that don’t want competition from municipalities painting themselves into a corner."
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