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Broadband Talk From Wisconsin To Florida
by Michael Martinez
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle this week unveiled a plan to offer millions of dollars in tax incentives to companies that can enhance his state's high-speed Internet infrastructure.
Under Doyle's initiative, $7.5 million in tax credits will be made available to companies that provide broadband and cellular telephone service. He said the tax breaks will help attract more than $80 million in broadband-related investments.
The credits and exemptions are designed to encourage businesses to expand their services to parts of the state where broadband and cellular access is limited. In a statement, Doyle, a Democrat, said the project will reach 261 communities in 63 counties.
"To grow our entire state economy, we must work from region to region and develop efforts tailored to local communities," Doyle said. "For businesses, entrepreneurs and families to be successful, they need access to cell phone and high-speed Internet access."
A release issued by the Doyle administration this week said the tax credits will leverage broadband equipment investments from nine companies. The administration estimated that CenturyTel alone would account for $62.8 million in broadband investments.
In Massachusetts, meanwhile, the top official at the Telecommunications and Cable Department discussed details of her state's broadband expansion program with The Boston Globe.
Department chief Sharon Gillett, who was appointed by Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick this past spring, told the newspaper that improving broadband access in the Bay State is one of her top priorities. She said the $25 million incentive plan recently released by Patrick will play an integral role in making that happen.
Under Patrick's plan, public bonds will be used to purchase broadband infrastructure, such as wireless towers. The Patrick administration said it will select private partners to implement parts of the project, and the initiative also will make it more cost-effective for companies to enter underserved markets.
Gillett told the Globe that the general idea is to make it easier for private providers to come in and "do the rest of the job" of expanding broadband accessibility. But she also said it is important that communities retain the rights to own and operate their own broadband networks if companies do not want to come to them.
The Massachusetts Legislature is considering a proposal that would make it easier for video service providers to enter local markets by allowing them to apply for statewide franchises. Supporters of the legislation, including Verizon Communications, have advertised it as a way to promote more competition in those markets. Gillett did not comment on the bill.
County officials in one of Florida's most populated areas, meanwhile, said this week that technical glitches have delayed the implementation of a wireless broadband project there.
A spokeswoman for Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez told The Miami Herald that he is considering scaling back the broadband initiative to only cover the most densely populated areas. The Herald reported that county officials hit a roadblock in deploying the network when they recently discovered that sign posts were too short to be equipped with transmitters.
New York's Traffic Aid Not Focused On Tech
Federal transportation officials this week agreed to give New York City more than $350 million to implement a plan to reduce traffic in the Big Apple, but little of it is marked for the high-tech arm of the project.
The Transportation Department also announced on Tuesday agreements to fund traffic-reduction plans in Miami, Minneapolis, San Francisco and Seattle. But New York's high-tech plan has received the most attention. City officials want to deploy a computerized system to monitor traffic and impose driver fees on the busiest roads in Manhattan.
According to The New York Times, the city asked the federal government to subsidize nearly $180 million of $223 million it expects the computer system will cost. The department has agreed to direct $10 million for the system.
The agreement is contingent on state lawmakers approving the traffic-reduction plan within 90 days of the opening of the next legislative session. In a statement, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city and the state have a "golden opportunity" to move forward with the project.
In other news, the Illinois Transportation Department this week approved the installation of the state's first traffic-light camera systems on state roads outside Chicago.
The Chicago Tribune reported that the department is planning to deploy the systems at four intersections as early as this weekend. Transportation officials said the state is considering applications to install cameras in 50 other locations.
Meanwhile, AP reported that a Republican lawmaker in Oklahoma has offered a proposal to ban school bus drivers from using cell phones on the job. State Rep. Paul Wesselhoft has added the proposal to a bill he floated earlier this year that would prohibit drivers from sending text messages while behind the wheel.
And in South Carolina, new vehicle license plates will plug the tourism office's Web site. The state Motor Vehicles Department held an online competition to select the design for the plates. The winning design, which was submitted by a Mount Pleasant resident, features the state tree, and the Internet address of the South Carolina Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department.
Washington Mulls Internet Rules For Campaigns
A state agency in Washington this week met to discuss ways to regulate how the Internet is being used by political campaigns. The Olympian reported that the state Public Disclosure Commission met to consider whether political activity online should be regulated by new state rules.
Bob Stern, the president of the California-based Center for Governmental Studies, was among a panel of bloggers and online experts who warned the commission of the dangers of limiting online political activities. He suggested that the state only consider regulations addressing the solicitation of donations that meet a minimum threshold.
Commission Chairman Bill Brumsickle said he plans to move slowly on the issue because he does not want to act independently of the state Legislature.
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