BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1549 Hearing Date: 6/14/2016
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|Author: |Wood |
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|Version: |5/16/2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Randy Chinn |
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SUBJECT: Department of Transportation: state highway
rights-of-way: fiber optic cables
DIGEST: This bill requires Caltrans to maintain an inventory of
broadband conduit that it owns, collaborate with broadband
companies during construction projects, and install broadband
conduit in its construction projects for potential use by
broadband companies.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)As set forth in a 2006 Governor's Executive Order (S-23-06),
created the California Broadband Task Force to facilitate
widespread deployment of state-of-the-art telecommunications
technology. The Executive Order specifically requires, in
part:
a) The Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency (BTH)
to establish a database of current and prospective projects
for deploying broadband. The database is to be available
for use by broadband providers, state entities, and
municipalities.
b) State agencies to place broadband conduit in their
infrastructure projects for use by multiple government
AB 1549 (Wood) PageB of?
entities and broadband providers.
c) State agencies to expedite permitting for broadband
providers' requests for access to rights-of-way.
2)Generally authorizes Caltrans to lease to public agencies or
private entities the use of areas above or below state
highways, subject to any reservations, restrictions, and
conditions that the department deems necessary to ensure
adequate protection of the safety and the adequacy of highway
facilities.
3)Establishes the California Broadband Council to promote
broadband deployment throughout the state and, to that end,
improve coordination among state agencies.
This bill:
1)Requires Caltrans to maintain an inventory of all broadband
conduit that it owns, is located within the state highway
rights-of-way, and is installed on or after January 1, 2017.
Such inventory shall be made available upon request to
verified companies or organizations working on broadband
deployment.
2)When designing construction projects, Caltrans shall notify
the verified companies or organizations of those projects to
encourage collaborative broadband installations. If no
verified company or organization chooses to collaborate and no
broadband conduit previously exists, Caltrans shall install an
empty conduit for potential use by others.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. The United States compares poorly to other nations
in the speed, quality, and cost of broadband service<1>.
California is no different. That's largely because public
policy is caught in the middle. It has not supported a single
regulated broadband provider who would benefit from the
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<1> Federal Communications Commission: International Broadband
Data Report, August 13, 2012
AB 1549 (Wood) PageC of?
economies of scope and scale, as is the case in other
countries. And the competition that public policy has
encouraged has been too weak to result in high-quality,
high-speed service at reasonable rates. This problem is of
course worse in rural areas where the demand for broadband
service isn't as concentrated as in urban and suburban areas.
2)Not for lack of effort. Inadequate and costly broadband
service has been a longstanding problem for which California
has implemented many potential solutions. One of the most
significant efforts resulted from a 2006 Executive Order from
Governor Schwarzenegger. That order required the then-BTH to
encourage public/private broadband partnerships, required all
state agencies to place broadband conduit in their
infrastructure projects if there is sufficient demand, and
created the California Broadband Task Force.
The Task Force recommended that:
a) high speed broadband infrastructure be built out to all
Californians
b) model permitting standards be developed and
collaboration among broadband providers be encouraged
c) use and adoption of broadband and computer technology be
increased
This bill redoubles the broadband buildout effort. The
fundamental assumption in the bill is that landline broadband
infrastructure deployment can be done more quickly and
inexpensively when done in conjunction with Caltrans
construction projects. This may well be true, and was one of
the bases for the 2006 Executive Order.
As a result of the 2006 Executive Order, Caltrans created a
program to notify telecommunications providers of projects in
which they could install their fiber optic facilities during
the Caltrans construction process. No provider participated
in any projects and consequently Caltrans decided to
discontinue the program in 2014. That program was limited to
telecommunications companies licensed by the California Public
Utilities Commission. Caltrans has an existing program for
collaboration with companies that want to use their facilities
for wireless broadband purposes. This bill deals with
wireline broadband.
AB 1549 (Wood) PageD of?
1)What inventory? The bill requires Caltrans to maintain an
inventory of broadband conduit owned by the department. The
purpose of the inventory is to make it convenient for
potential partners to utilize Caltrans facilities. In order
to further that purpose the author and committee may wish to
consider specifying that the inventory shall be on a
centralized database.
2) Who? The bill uses the term "verified companies or
organizations," which is undefined. The purpose of the bill
is to encourage broadband deployment by existing
telecommunications providers, local governments, and
non-profit consortiums. The author and committee may wish to
consider clarifying the definition.
3)When? The bill calls for Caltrans to notify broadband
companies during the design phase of construction projects.
The notion is that freeways provide convenient, and sometimes
the only, physical connection between population centers, so
as Caltrans is fixing the road between city A and city B,
other companies should be permitted to install their conduit
and fiber optic cables in the trench for a fee, thereby
sharing costs. If no company chooses to participate, then
Caltrans shall install an empty conduit which would be
available to others. Rather than notifying companies, the
author and committee may wish to consider instead requiring
Caltrans to post a notice on their website, which will reduce
costs. Also, it may not be appropriate to have Caltrans
install conduit in all its construction projects. That's
because many, if not most, Caltrans construction projects
don't require trenching, such as road maintenance or repaving.
In those cases there would be no place to install the
broadband conduit. And some construction projects are
inappropriate for conduit (e.g., building an onramp, repairing
a culvert).
Instead of requiring Caltrans to notify companies and
installing broadband conduit on all construction projects, the
author and committee may wish to consider requiring this only
for longitudinal projects that span at least two intersections
for which a trench suitable for broadband conduit is being
dug.
Related Legislation:
AB 1549 (Wood) PageE of?
S-23-06 Governor's Executive Order: Twenty-First Century
Government: Expanding Broadband Access and Usage in California
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 78-0
Appr: 17-0
Trans: 16-0
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 8, 2016.)
SUPPORT:
California Center for Rural Policy
Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California
Placer County Board of Supervisors
Rural County Representatives of California
Tellus Venture Associates
OPPOSITION:
None recieved
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