Today, the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation is holding hearings on “State and Local Issues and Municipal Networks“.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Co-Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) have scheduled a Full Committee Hearing on State and Local Issues and Municipal Networks for 10am on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 in room 562 of the Dirksen Building (webcast).
Among the witness list:
- Diane Munns, President, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners
- John Perkins, President, National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates
- Michael F. Altschul, Senior VP and General Counsel, Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association - CTIA
- Donald Berryman, President of Municipal Networks, Earthlink
- Dianah Neff, Chief Information Officer, City of Philadelphia
Muninetguide provides a searchable online database of municipal and related Web sites with more than 7,500 listings of Web sites that pertain to state and local governments, agencies and related organizations.
MuniWireless.com and FreePress.org advocate community LANs. Telcos and cable MSOs have struggled to establish effective public advocacy organizations. The Heartland Institute, one such organization, has had difficulty establishing credibility. State telco and cable lobby organizations, targeting state legislatures, have had more success.Next up: Testimony on Video Franchising with Ivan Seidenberg (Verizon), Edward Whitacre (AT&T), Gene Kimmelman (Consumers Union) and Lori Panzino-Tillery (National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors).
Verizon says it has “over 300 negotiations in play” to offer video services in various municipalities. Verizon and AT&T hope to eliminate the city-by-city franchise process that cable operators must go through to provide video services. Their biggest advocate may be Kevin Martin.
The FCC held an Open Commission Meeting in Keller, Texas where Verizon launched their FiOS TV last September. They had support from the state legislature.
DailyWireless has more on FON-atics and Community LAN Partnership Models for do-it-yourselfers.
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