The key organizing principle for TeleCommUnity is a Local Government Communications Bill of Rights – a common set of principles that federal policymakers should respect in any telecommunications legislation or regulatory ruling.

This document, which will be shaped and revised by the TeleCommUnity board of advisors, will help policymakers, the public and the media understand concerns raised by local officials. The ten elements of the Communications Bill of Rights are:

1. Local communities have the right to locally control land use and zoning.
   
   Telecommunications infrastructure is necessary but burdensome. Local governments must exercise affirmative control over siting the new devices in public areas and on private property. No citizen should experience a decline in property values, an increase in safety risks or a deterioration in urban quality of life unnecessarily. Local governments must have the tools and authority to manage the transition and installation of these new infrastructures.
   
   Local governments want the new services and the enhanced economic activity they bring. The federal government must trust local elected officials as the best decisionmakers to balance conflicting community interests.
   

2. Local communities have the right to manage street cuts and construction in public rights-of-way and to regulate construction in all utility easements.
   
   Too many communities have been seriously damaged by fly-by-night construction of new telecommunications systems. Floods, gas line explosions, cut communications lines, auto accidents and pedestrian injuries are prevalent. Local governments must act to guarantee the safety of their communities and hold individual companies fully responsible for the harm they cause.
   
   Three thousand commuters caught in a three-hour traffic jam by uncoordinated street trenching is a heavy price to pay. Only local governments can get this problem under control. And the federal government must support local elected officials who act aggressively.
   

3. Local communities have the right to modernize governmental services and should be encouraged to use in-kind, as well as financial, rent payments to better serve their citizens.
   
   A major benefit of the new technologies will be improved government services at less cost to the taxpayer. Modern, broadband communications networks promise the opportunity for local governments to do more with less.
   
   Local governments have a right to expect privileged users of public property – that is, telecommunications companies using public roads and rights-of-way – to pay fair rent to the taxpayer for the public resource. Portions of this rent may be in the form of facilities and services that will help local governments better serve the taxpayers that paid for and built the roads.
   

4. Local communities have the right to protect local taxpayers from unwilling subsidization of private telecommunications companies and their construction projects.
   
   The common problem of multiple trenching of streets and roads must stop. Local governments should charge reasonable prices for the use of streets by telecommunications company to discourage overuse and inappropriate installations.
   
   Fair prices are necessary in any marketplace to avoid waste and overuse. Local rights-of-way are precious and scarce public resources. Fair prices will assure they are used as necessary and desired.
   

5. Local communities have the right to prevent injury to innocent third parties affected by communications construction projects and to require compensation for citizens injured or disturbed by communications construction projects.
   
   California has licensed more than 900 new telephone companies in the last four years. Only those that are willing to act in the best interest of the taxpaying public should be allowed to construct in the public’s streets and highways.
   
   Companies must prove financial capability, engineering expertise and adequate insurance to protect innocent third persons that may be damaged by construction projects. Every project is unique and warrants special review to assure remedies are available if things go wrong. The problems and risks of building in downtown Dearborn are different than residential areas of Tucson. The local officials must set and enforce the appropriate standards.
   

6. Local communities have the right to use local government authority to expand economic development and protect consumers' interests.
   
   For 65 years, the federal government has required broadcasters, telephone companies and cable operators to operate in the public interest. It is time to redefine the public interest in the era of communications competition and deregulation. Today, communications companies using wires and radio frequencies should address the local needs and interests of the communities they serve. Only local officials can define these in each community and negotiate the best manner for the companies to address these needs and interests.
   
   Local officials know what the community needs: jobs, economic development, improving quality of life, adequate education and governmental services and infrastructures. Communications companies are privileged beneficiaries of federal and local government property. They should be expected to address local community needs and interests.
   

7. Local communities have the right to attempt to build an adequate tax base that remains stable and growing in tandem with the larger economy.
   
   The convergence of technologies and the availability of similar communications services from different providers forces a major overhaul in local and state taxes. Traditional utility user excise taxes and utility property taxes do not work if they apply to only one or two of the competitors. Yet every competitor uses and needs governmental services.
   
   Competitively neutral systems of sales, property and income taxes must be developed to allow competition to flourish. These new tax structures must respect the needs of local governments for adequate revenues to provide needed public services.
   

8. Local communities have the right to provide their schools with state-of-the-art technology.
   
   Citizens must be able to use the new communications tools. Schools must teach the use of these tools. Every student deserves an equal opportunity to experience and learn the new ways of communicating.
   

9. Local communities have the right to federal protection of local public safety communications spectrum from interference created by commercial uses of federally-auctioned wireless spectrum.
   
   The auction of the 800 MHz spectrum for commercial uses has created interference problems within the portion of the 800 MHz spectrum currently by local public safety officials to provide vital communications between police, fire, emergency rescue and other public safety entities. These interference issues have not adequately been remedied by the Federal Communications Commission, and the upcoming auction of the 700 MHz spectrum is likely to create the same interference issues.
   
   The interference issues could be overcome if commercial spectrum users were required to trap interference-causing emissions as a condition of receiving a commercial spectrum license. Without stricter commercial use emission requirements, public safety officials must swap spectrum, alter public safety tower and/or antenna heights, or purchase new equipment.
   
   The purchase of new equipment – necessary to overcome the interference issues directly created by the federal auction of wireless spectrum – is an onerous burden that local governments should not have to shoulder. The FCC can and should require that commercial spectrum users prevent interference with public safety spectrum use as a condition of receiving a commercial license.
   
   Compared to the billions generated by the spectrum auction, the aggregate cost of new equipment for local public safety officials is negligible. The health and safety of every American must be protected. Public safety officials must have secure means of wireless communications. The federal government should consider returning a small share of the spectrum auction money to local public safety officials to ensure that local governments have the means to protect the health, welfare, and public safety of their citizens.
   

10. Local communities have the right to require operators to close – not widen – the Digital Divide. Broadband must reach all our citizens.
    
    Television is more than entertainment. Telephone is more than voice conversation. The convergence of digital transmission with fiber optic capabilities and powerful small computers is transforming the way Americans work, play and live in our communities. No citizen should be left out.
    
    The Digital Divide is a lack of infrastructure, a lack of money and a lack of education. Each of these problems can and must be solved through a combination of efforts. Communications companies must wire all neighborhoods and business districts with modern infrastructure. Schools and public locations must open their doors to all citizens. And community-based organizations must reach out and teach people how to use the new ways of communicating.

Download the Bill of Rights by clicking on the image on the right. Go here to learn more about the benefits of joining the TeleCommUnity Alliance.

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