Telecommunications and Local Governments: The Challenge

If you are a local government official, city or county manager, or a telecommunications administrator, you are familiar with the set of challenges your community faces related to telecommunications issues, whether it’s the right of your jurisdiction to collect fees for use the rights-of-way from telcom, cable modem and broadband service providers, or first responder public safety communications issues, or zoning of wireless facilities, or the emerging questions about sales of local-into-local satellite services. Local governments are now forced to overcome a growing set of legal, regulatory and economic hurdles to guarantee that effective broadband and telecommunication systems reach all residents and businesses, while simultaneously ensuring that the public is compensated for the use of its property and that public safety is adequately protected.

Governing Members of TeleCommUnity receive
the following benefits:

• Timely and valuable information about federal telecommunications policy delivered through frequent conference calls, meetings, email bulletins and the website.
• Participation in policy-making decisions on federal telecommuni-cations issues.
• Frequent updates on the status of legislation, talking points, and strategy memos.
• Media kits that include legislative updates, talking points and model press releases.
• A subscription to Tel-Intelligence, a bi-weekly email newsletter covering timely developments on Capitol Hill.
• Staff support for meetings on Capitol Hill and at the FCC.
  
  ..and more. Review the entire list of benefits here

How TeleCommUnity Can Help

TeleCommUnity is an alliance of local governments and their associations which is refocusing attention in Washington on local government interests in telecommunications.

TeleCommUnity advocates for local governments’ interests on matters of federal telecommunications and broadband legislation that affect their authority, use and control over public lands and rights-of-way, zoning and public use of frequency spectrum. Among these interests are reasonable compensation for use of the public rights-of-way by telecommunications, cable, and broadband companies.

To carry out its mission, TeleCommUnity participates in lobbying, media education, and citizen outreach. The alliance also publishes white papers, submits testimony, and operates a speaker’s bureau, giving local officials the tools they need to communicate the importance of these principles in their community.

The power of collective voices can make a difference

We know that when local governments share our message with decision-makers, it wins. Our message, however, will not be effectively delivered to Congress or the media unless we commit the resources to deliver to it on a sustained basis -- it takes more than one meeting with more than one member to get the message across. Local governments’ efforts in Congress must commence now. Your community can be a part of this effort by joining TeleCommUnity today.