Rep. Boucher's Bill Would OK Muni Services

REP BOUCHER'S BILL WOULD OK MUNI SERVICES
[SOURCE: Technology Daily 6/8, AUTHOR: David Hatch]
Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) soon will introduce legislation permitting local governments to offer telecommunications service, including wireless, high-speed Internet access and wireline telephone connections. The bill, already being drafted, mostly would benefit small communities in rural areas, such as towns in the rural southwestern Virginia district represented by Boucher. "These barriers need to be lifted," he said. "For a small investment, an efficient service can now be provided where no service was before," he said. Rep Boucher, a senior member of both the House Energy and Commerce and Judiciary committees, later said that he hopes to line up a Republican co-sponsor for the measure. "A lot of states prohibit their local governments from doing this," he said when asked why federal intervention is needed. The measure would be targeted to areas that lack various services or have only one provider, Rep Boucher said. "But my bill is not limited just to that scope. My bill would say any local government across the country is free to offer commercial telecom services."
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/2007/06/rep_bouchers_bill_would_ok_mun.html