By Ron Thaniel
February 15, 2010

Conference of Mayors President Burnsville (MN) Mayor Elizabeth B. Kautz on January 27 urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to “reject proposals that would limit local authority to manage rights-of-way and/or would negatively impact local budgets” as the Commission enters final deliberations on a National Broadband Plan. Kautz said, “Congress recognized the importance of local control in Section 253 of the Communications Act.” And she said, “Moreover, any local government revenue loss in these difficult economic times could very well result in additional cutbacks of critical city services.”

Speaking to the ongoing recession, Kautz said, “Cities of all sizes in all parts of the nation have been forced to institute layoffs, furloughs, service reductions, and fee increases. The next fiscal year looks even worse for cities, with more than four in five cities anticipating a budget shortfall. The nation’s mayors do not believe Congress or the Obama Administration intended for the National Broadband Plan to be used as a vehicle to take revenue from city budgets in order to subsidize private entities.”

Her January 27 letter was in response to increasing reports that the communications lobby is having success in convincing FCC staff that local rights-of-way management and fees are hindering broadband deployment – a claim the Conference of Mayors strongly challenged in Reply Comments to the Notice of Inquiry regarding the National Broadband Plan on July 21, 2009.

Referencing that cities and their metropolitan areas are where 84 percent of our people live and more than 90 percent of future economic growth will occur, Kautz said, “Mayors understand the role that broadband can play in enhancing educational opportunities, promoting economic development, improving health care delivery, assisting in achieving energy efficiency goals, and quite simply, determining if our cities can compete in the world economy.”

“We also believe that rights-of-way management has served to promote, not retard, universal access to broadband services, while at the same time protecting public health and safety and keeping rights-of-way accessible for safe transportation,” she added.

As part of the Recovery Act, the President and Congress charged the FCC with developing a National Broadband Plan. The plan should provide a roadmap toward achieving the goal of ensuring that all Americans reap the benefits of broadband and should be submitted to Congress by March 17.