ATIC January 27, 2004 Press Release: Special Public Meeting on Broadband Deployment Legislation

ATIC Press Release: January 27, 2004

ATIC Special Public Meeting on Broadband Deployment Legislation in Arizona
Phoenix- January 27, 2004 The Arizona Telecommunications & Information Council (ATIC) has announced a Special Public Information Meeting on Tuesday, January 27, 2004 from 8:30 - 10:30 AM. The public is invited to attend this important meeting, "Recommendations and Legislation to Promote Broadband Deployment in Arizona," to be video conferenced live between Phoenix and Tucson locations as well as enabled for remote participation via audio and web conferencing. ATIC's Strategic Planning and Government Affairs Committees are drafting plans and legislation to promote broadband deployment throughout the state including:

A Broadband Development Authority
A Statewide Telecom Roadmap/Plan and Roundtable
Expediting access to local, state, federal and tribal rights-of-way
Continuing and expanding funding for the Community Telecommunications Assessment Initiative under the Arizona Department of Commerce.

This meeting will particularly focus on the legislation to implement the Broadband Development Authority that will provide incentives and low cost, long term financing to encourage private sector development of redundant, middle mile and last mile telecom solutions in the state. The purpose of this meeting is: 1) to engage all interested parties, 2) to ensure that they are informed about the content of the proposed recommendations and legislation; 3) to seek their comments and support.

The public is invited to attend and provide input and comments regarding the proposed Broadband Development Authority. ATIC programs continue to highlight the best of Arizona telecommunications and technology initiatives and engage the issues head-on. Attendance is free and open to all. Additional information on this program and these proposals is available on the web at http://www.tucsonlink.org/ATIC_Jan04/.

ATIC is grateful to AT&T for sponsoring our Public Meetings, to Lewis and Roca for hosting in Phoenix and Tucson, to Cox Business Services (CBS) for providing audio conferencing services, and to EDT Learning for providing web conferencing services.

ATIC's recent recommendations to the Governor's Council on Innovation and Technology are as follows:

Arizona needs to remove barriers and develop public policies and market-driven strategies that will encourage competition, private-sector investment in, and rapid deployment of advanced telecommunications services and affordable broadband Internet access throughout the State. ATIC recommends the following initiatives:

Establish a Broadband Authority to provide incentives and low cost, long term financing to encourage private sector development of redundant, middle mile and last mile telecom solutions in the state. The Authority should be empowered to: issue bonds and notes; make loans and provide joint venture and partnership arrangements to broadband developers and broadband operators for financing or refinancing; enter into contracts for the lease or management of the infrastructure; and enter into joint venture and partnership arrangements with persons that will acquire, construct, develop, create, maintain, own, and operate the infrastructure. Owners of the network may be private, public or public/private partnerships. Any funding for public or public/private networks using state or federal funds must be open on an equal basis to all. We need to explore the use of existing financing mechanisms such as the Commerce and Economic Development Commission and the Greater Arizona Development Authority. Funding may come from sources such as the Arizona Universal Service Fund, tax incentives, bonding, tribal gambling, E-rate, and other Federal programs including homeland security.
Provide state support for the development of a Statewide Telecom Roadmap/Plan and Roundtable. The Roadmap will provide the vision, framework and strategies for the development of a statewide telecom infrastructure. The related Roundtable will facilitate coordination of the many statewide telecom infrastructure initiatives in the state such as TOPAZ, the School Facilities Board, Arizona Telemedicine Program, Universities and Community Colleges, NAUNET, SACCNet, CANAMEX Corridor, etc.
Expedite access to local, state, federal and tribal rights-of-way. Create a committee to facilitate coordination and recommendations for legislation and Executive directives to enable one-stop-shopping, consistent fees, and expedited right-of-way permitting processes for last mile and middle mile inter-city/town transport.
Continue and expand funding for the Community Telecommunications Assessment Initiative under the Arizona Department of Commerce. The program provides funding for regions or "communities of interest" to identify community telecom assets, assess their needs, and develop and implement telecom infrastructure strategies and initiatives.

About ATIC: The Arizona Telecommunications and Information Council (ATIC) is Arizona's recognized and authoritative organization guiding technology policy development, serving as a leading source of information and expertise on telecommunications and information technology matters. ATIC develops, promotes and supports initiatives and guides adoption of effective public policies that encourages wide-scale deployment and availability of telecommunications services and information technologies to insure economic prosperity for the Arizona community, expand the region's global competitive advantage, enable continued educational advancement and support an enhanced quality of life.

SOURCE: Arizona Telecommunications & Information Council (ATIC).

Contact: Mark Goldstein, Secretary, Arizona Telecommunications & Information Council (ATIC), Voice & Fax: 602-470-0389, markg@researchedge.com