After seeing the pro-incumbent, anti-muni wireless, anti-competition language removed from the language proposed by the telecommunications committee in the Texas House, it popped up again as a last minute amendment on the House floor. The member who reintroduced the language, Robert Puente, happens to serve in a district where an extremely large telecommunications company has its headquarters nearby.
While this amendment has some compromises thanks to few enlightened house members, no one has still answered the question why we are wasting taxpayer time and money building protection for companies that are near monopolies already. You can only assume that these state representatives have no clue how important broadband is to the livelihood of their citizens, their cities, their state, and this nation.
There are two places where this could hopefully be corrected. First, in the Texas Senate, and then lastly with the Governor’s line item veto. And remember, this is only one state. This battle is being waged in many, many states across the nation.
Interestingly, here is a new one: A state Senator in West Virginia has introduced a bill to "protect" and encourage muni-wireless. That’s a great idea for other states.
It is shocking that these local reps really don’t care if broadband deployment in America continues to fall further and further behind the rest of the world. Just shocking.