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Bill regulating fiber networks is resurrected By TONY BOOM SALEM � Municipally run telecommunication operations like the Ashland Fiber Network once again face potentially crippling regulatory proposals in the Oregon Legislature. Backers of an earlier measure succeeded in getting regulatory provisions inserted into a Senate bill that is headed to the House floor for a vote. The action came at a hearing before the House Advancing E-Government Committee on Senate Bill 479, which would have created tax credits for advanced telecommunication. The Senate passed the bill on April 27, but it now is a completely different bill, legislators say. "We are going to fight that thing," said District 52 Rep. Alan Bates, an Eagle Point Democrat. "AFN wouldn�t be there if this bill was in place." An earlier effort at regulating municipal telecom utilities, House Bill 2680, had been referred back to the Smart Growth and Commerce Committee for a second time on April 19. The bill was pulled from the floor then and on March 7 when it appeared there weren�t enough votes to pass the legislation either time. Provisions carried over from HB 2680 into the Senate measure would require cities or counties getting into the retail telecommunication business to present a three-year financial plan showing revenues and expenses and to hold a public hearing. A new provision calls for a vote to approve any initial financing mechanism. "The rest of the bill is gone," said Mike Dewey, executive director of the Oregon Cable Telecommunication Association, which has promoted the regulations. Measure supporters say the effort is designed to create a level playing field between private providers and government operations. Opponents of the earlier effort had criticized a provision that called for all expenses to be reflected in customer bills. Cities don�t pay property taxes but would have had to include a calculation for them in the bills. Backers had narrowed the initial bill after concerns that it might affect 911 emergency communication networks, libraries, port districts and other government entities. "They�re trying to slow down or discourage municipal utilities from offering telecommunication services," said Tom O�Connor, director of Oregon Municipal Electric Utilities. Existing federal and state laws provide sufficient regulation of the operations, O�Connor said. He represents a coalition that includes the League of Oregon Cities, Association of Oregon Counties and telecommunication consortiums in Southern and Eastern Oregon. Bates says the effort could make it more difficult for the small communities in Jackson County, Eastern Oregon and along the coast to gain world-class fiber networks. Big cable companies wouldn�t be interested in those locations for a number of years, he added. "At the end of the session it sucks your time away," said Bates, who indicated that work on the state budget is his top priority. "For a third time to go back again, it�s something that�s very frustrating." Ashland is the only city in the state providing both Internet and cable telecommunication services. AFN has a projected $3.2-million deficit for the end of the current fiscal year. It will cover the deficit by borrowing from other city departments. City officials expect AFN to be able to pay back the debt and show a positive cash flow by 2008. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.