NASHVILLE — Tennessee Cable Telecommunications Association legal counsel and chief lobbyist John Farris told commissioners the government needs to remove all barriers to private sector Internet providers.
The barriers include pole attachment rates charged by local utilities, which he stated were essentially unregulated monopolies concerning how much private sector companies pay. Another example of a barrier is the difficulty of a private carrier getting a permit from municipal electric companies.
Everything should be on the table.
“That would be number one. Remove all of those things before you consider any step forward with how the government, if the government should compete in this arena further than what they have,” Mr. Farris said. “Tennessee is alone, and I mean alone in a very negative way in all of those issues.”
He said if the General Assembly removed all barriers, “I think I can speak for the cable industry, that we would commit to consider moving outside our footprint and make a serious investment to try to get service to everyone.”
State Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, said state statute limits the amount of the pole fee to 50 percent of the normal charge in underserved areas. He said the Electric Power Board in Chattanooga charges $1.50 per pole, “but I guess that’s just an anomaly.”
He asked AT&T Tennessee Public Affairs Director Daniel Hayes if AT&T receives $26.1 million in federal funds for underserved areas. “What is the difference between those government dollars going to you and the government dollars that go to the municipal utilities?”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in a four-part series covering The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations held Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015, on the status and deployment of broadband Internet service in Tennessee.