Indiana Statehouse------------------------------------California State Capitol

Jon Davies is a media relations manager for Verizon. Etopia Media's Broadband Wireless Access World (BWAW) contacted him recently to find out the nature of Verizon's involvement in regard to pending legislation and regulatory efforts affecting the emergence of municipal broadband, or "muni-broadband."

BWAW recently carried an interview with Indiana State Representative Ed Mahern, a co-author of Indiana House Bill #1148, which would limit the rights of Indiana municipalities to offer broadband Internet access to their resident.

In an e-mail responding to BWAW's inquiry regarding this matter, Verizon's Davies wrote that "we're not taking any position on the Indiana bill [House Bill #1148]. Instead, we're backing another piece of legislation, HB 1518, that would reform the state's regulatory system and create incentives for investment in broadband deployment and other advanced services in the state."

Indiana State Representative Bob Kuzman (D-District 19, Crown Point) writes in his February 4, 2005 "Statehouse Report," in a section titled "PHONE DEREGULATION," that:

"Members of the House Technology, Research and Development Committee heard testimony on a plan that would free major local telephone service providers from state regulations and pricing caps after 2010. A vote has not been set on House Bill 1518, but this measure has the potential to be one of the most controversial to be considered during the 2005 session.

"Supporters of the measure—which include SBC, Verizon and Sprint, as well as the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the Indiana AFL-CIO—say it will spur more investment in telecommunications technology and broadband services, and help provide new products and services at lower prices.

"Opponents of House Bill 1518—which include the AARP, the Citizens Action Coalition and United Senior Action—say it will remove any state regulatory control over telephone service and lead to large rate increases for consumers, particularly those on fixed incomes."

Turning to the regulatory situation in California, Mr. Davies' e-mail goes on to say that:

"At the [February 8, 2005] CPUC [California Public Utilities Commission] hearing on broadband deployment, Pacific Region President Tim McCallion responded to a question about municipal wifi by restating our general position that we feel it is not wise for financially strapped communities to put taxpayer dollars into projects that compete with private companies like Verizon.

"We are in a much better position to deploy rapidly evolving technologies, such as our Fiber-to-the-Premises initiative that's underway in California and elsewhere.

"While we feel municipal WiFi is a bad use of California's taxpayer resources, we are not going to get in the way of such deployment. To date, our advocacy efforts here have been directed at telling communities why they should not be building ubiquitous WiFi networks, and we have not taken any formal action to stop them."