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Amend SB 21, Floor Amendment No. 1, as follows:
(1) Delete new CHAPTER 66 of the amendment.
(2) Add the following new appropriately numbered SECTION
and renumber subsequent SECTIONs accordingly:
SECTION . STUDY ON RIGHT-OF-WAY USE AND COMPENSATION PAID
TO GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES BY COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY SERVICE
PROVIDERS. (a) In this Section, "committee" means the
Telecommunications Competitiveness Legislative Oversight
Committee.
(b) The committee shall conduct a comprehensive study and
file a report with the legislature not later than November 1, 2006,
containing the committee's revenue-neutral, technology-neutral,
and competitively neutral recommendations concerning compensation
paid to governmental entities, including municipalities, by
communications and technology service providers. The report shall
address the following items:
(1) all sources of compensation historically paid to
municipalities and other governmental entities by communications
and technology service providers for the use of the public
rights-of-way;
(2) the types of communications and technology
services available to consumers within municipalities, without
regard to the technology used to deliver such services;
(3) alternative funding mechanisms, including the
possibility of a new communications and technology assessment that
would include all types of communications and technology service
providers and that would be technology-neutral, revenue-neutral to
the municipalities, and competitively neutral in application to the
providers, their services, and consumers;
(4) the mechanism for the assessment, collection, and
payment of any fee, including franchise fees and right-of-way use
compensation paid to municipalities;
(5) the advantages and disadvantages of state-issued
franchises for the provision of cable and video services versus
municipally issued franchises for the provision of those services;
(6) the proper terms and conditions of a state-issued
franchise for the provision of cable and video service if such
franchise is recommended, and how the terms and conditions would be
imposed and enforced;
(7) the proper state agency for issuing a state-issued
franchise for the provision of cable and video service if such
franchise is recommended;
(8) the role of a municipality if the state issues a
franchise authorizing the provision of cable and video service
within the municipality, if franchising by the state is
recommended;
(9) whether any cable and video service provider
should be exempt from the application of a franchise requirement,
and, if so, the reasons for such exemption;
(10) issues with regard to the imposition of state
highway right-of-way charges on communications and technology
service providers; and
(11) a review of how utility relocation costs are
apportioned among communications and technology service providers
when a utility relocation in the public right-of-way is
necessitated by a public improvement project.
(c) The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall:
(1) assist with the collection and compilation of
information necessary to conduct the study under this section;
(2) maintain the confidentiality of information
collected under this section that is claimed to be confidential for
competitive purposes; and
(3) provide a summary of any congressional or federal
agency actions that have an impact on issues reviewed by the
committee.
(d) Information that is claimed to be confidential under
Subsection (b) of this section is exempt from disclosure under
Chapter 552, Government Code.
(e) The committee may request reports and other information
from the Public Utility Commission of Texas, from governmental
entities, and from communications and technology service providers
as necessary to carry out this section.