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Iowa Law Removes Telecom Price Controls
by Chloe Albanesius
State telecommunications reform got a boost last week when Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack signed legislation that removes price controls from local telephone companies.
Under the law, area providers Frontier Communications, Iowa Telecom and Qwest Communications International on July 1 no longer will be subject to Iowa Utilities Board regulation of retail rates for local business and residential service.
"The one constant in this global economy we find ourselves in is change, and there is no better example than the area of telecommunications," the Democratic governor said in a statement. "New technologies are challenging the current structure of telecommunications. We must meet that challenge and allow people and businesses to determine rates."
The act will "encourage the growth of telecommunications opportunities at reasonable rates for businesses across Iowa," he said.
The utilities board will maintain control over service quality, and companies will be subject to re-regulation should the board determine, after notice and a public hearing, that one or more companies are dominating a particular market.
Also in Iowa, a high-speed Internet service provider penned an editorial Saturday for the Quad-City Times that slammed state efforts to establish city-owned communications networks.
"A government-owned communications system will eliminate private-sector jobs, stifle innovation and sends a terrible message to anyone who may want to make an investment in Iowa," wrote Scott Westerman, regional vice president for Mediacom Communications. He accused Opportunity Iowa, a group that supports such municipal networks, and founder Clark McLeod of "hanging out a sign that private businesses are not welcome in our community."
Westerman reiterated his support for two bills pending in the Iowa legislature, H.S.B. 182 and S.S.B. 1136, that would require 60 percent voter approval before a city could build its own information utility, prohibit cash transfers from other city accounts to pay for the information utility, and prevent consultants from bidding on construction and management contracts.
The bills have not moved from committee. Opportunity Iowa said on its Web site that it is watching the measures "very closely." If successful, the bills would eliminate alternatives to traditional communications utilities, the group said.
Elsewhere, the city of Buffalo, N.Y. is considering a plan to expand its five wireless "hot spots" to much of its downtown region and adjacent neighborhoods. The Buffalo News reports that the city's bond lawyer has questioned the $800,000 in proposed funding in the capital budget for the project, but organizers remain committed to the project's expansion.
And the Gazette-Times reports that the city of Lebanon, Ore., has crafted a plan to offer wireless Internet connections within city limits.
Va. Governor Submits Tech-Related Proposals
Virginia Gov. Mark Warner on Wednesday proposed several amendments to the state budget, including additional funding for the state's computer simulation center and a request that the information technology agency not increase its rates.
"The amendments I am proposing are concentrated on economic investment and missed opportunities," the Democratic governor said in a message to legislators. "In general, our joint efforts reflected our shared purpose that appropriations made in this session should sustain the long-term financial stability of the commonwealth."
Warner called for $1.45 million in fiscal 2005 and fiscal 2006 for the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center. "The use of mathematical modeling and computer simulation to explore complex problems, particularly in defense and homeland security, has grown enormously in recent years," he said. Such activity contributed an estimated $413 million to Virginia's economy in fiscal 04, he said, adding that he wants Virginia to be "preeminent in this field."
Specifically, the funds would "support focused research efforts and collaborative projects with the U.S. Joint Forces Command headquartered in Norfolk," he said.
Warner criticized a budget plan to increase rates at the Virginia Information Technology Agency (VITA) in order to recoup $6.1 million invested in regional startup companies. Such a move would mean a budget cut to agencies "whose budgets were not funded to absorb the increase," he said. "Moreover, some of these costs cannot be charged to the federal government."
He asked that the rate increase be eliminated. "Funds to cover the startup costs will come from unobligated year-end balances or will be addressed in next year's budget bill," he pledged.
Hawaii Bills Encourages High-Tech Investment
Hawaii lawmakers are working on two bills to encourage the development of high-tech companies in the state. Both bills gained Senate approval earlier this month and are currently pending in House committees.
Under one bill, S.B. 1695, the state would be authorized to provide $120 million for a fund that allows the state to provide bank loans to venture-capital firms via transferable tax credits, which they in turn could use to start technology companies. The House Financial Committee will consider the bill Thursday.
The other measure, S.B. 1696, would encourage investors to contribute funds to local high-tech companies.
Judge Upholds Nevada Internet Predator Ruling
Reno, Nev., law enforcement officials were dealt a setback Friday when a judge upheld an earlier decision limiting the methods police can use to catch online sexual predators.
AP reports that Washoe District Judge James Hardesty in December ruled that it is unlawful for police to lure online predators by pretending to be underage children. As the law is written, he said, the suspect must proposition actual children, not officers posing as minors. Judge Peter Breen upheld that decision Friday, saying that Hardesty's ruling was not "clearly erroneous."
Deputy District Attorney Jim Shewan said the ruling would not stop the state from prosecuting Internet predators, while a member of the Internet crimes unit vowed to continue its sting operations.
Governor Pushes Importation Plan
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is working hard to promote his I-SaveRx plan for importing prescription drugs, Copley News Service reports. The Democratic governor is requiring all state agencies to promote the program, which allows residents to buy prescription drugs from Canadian and European pharmacies.
"We're asking all the agencies to help us as they work with the uninsured to inform them of the program," spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said. "Every agency is setting goals internally."
Copley News Service also reports that Illinois state workers attended an after-hours meeting about marketing strategies for I-SaveRx and were paid for their time. The sessions apparently focused on issues facing the program, such as a lack of advertising funds, challenges from pharmaceutical companies and the federal government, and a competing Internet-based clearinghouse of prescription-drug programs sponsored by drug manufacturers and Illinois pharmacists called "Rx for Illinois."
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